The Influence of Social Media Use on Peer Relationships and Appearance Anxiety among Teenagers

Abstract

The influence of social media on teenagers is one of the key research topics today. Researchers have found that social media can impact on teenagers’ peer relationships and appearance anxiety, but a unified explanation is still lacking. Therefore, the research topic is the impact of social media on adolescent peer relationships and appearance anxiety. This review collects many summaries of papers and research results related to the topic, and finally summarize and generalize the conclusion. Social media has multi-dimensional influences on the peer relationships of teenagers. At the level of friendship, increasing the frequency of interaction can promote the establishment of friendship, but the virtuality of online interaction may weaken the depth and stability of friendship. Secondly, loneliness may be exacerbated by fear of missing out (FOMO) and online rejection, or it may be alleviated by expanding one’s social circle. Finally, participation in online communities can enhance a sense of group belonging, but it may also weaken it due to group exclusion or the label of “niche”. In terms of appearance anxiety, there is a two-way correlation between social media exposure and appearance anxiety. The use of social media may exacerbate appearance anxiety, while those with high appearance anxiety may use social media more frequently. The study suggested teenagers should balance online and offline interactions, avoid neglecting the establishment and maintenance of real offline relationships due to excessive reliance on online social interaction (such as short videos and social media), and enhance their ability to distinguish online information.