Loving your appearance can be hard. It often seems like everywhere we look, we’re being told we’re not good enough. Not thin enough, not pretty enough, not curvy enough. Niamh Talbot discusses how these tides are beginning to change, starting with social media.
Stock photo from Pixabay.
Body image concerns are common among young women and can have serious negative consequences. Most young women use social media daily, and research suggests that viewing idealised appearance-focused content is associated with poorer body image. But perhaps social media isn’t all bad?
Looking back, social media hasn’t exactly been safe spaces for body positivity. However, a growing number of women online are pushing back against society’s ideals and the physical pressures engrained in so many of us.
A new “body positivity” or “BoPo” movement has emerged on social media in recent years. The movement aims to challenge narrow beauty ideals and encourage acceptance and appreciation of bodies of all shapes, sizes, and appearances.
Instagram is leading the way on social media with BoPo accounts such as @bodyposipanda gaining over 1 million followers. These accounts are sharing their stories with hashtags like #bodypositivity, #bopo, #bodyacceptance, and #effyourbeautystandards to promote the notion that all bodies are beautiful and worthy.
A search for the hashtag #bodypositive returns almost 9 million posts, and #effyourbeautystandards generates almost 4 million posts.
Research has shown that viewing body positive Instagram content may improve women’s body image, at least in the short term.
In a 2019 study, 195 young women viewed either body positive content, idealised content with thin women, or appearance-neutral content taken from Instagram.
Before and after viewing this content they were asked to rate their mood, body satisfaction, and the extent to which they focused on their appearance.
They found that brief exposure to body positive Instagram posts resulted in improved body image and mood in young women, compared to idealised and appearance-neutral posts.
These women felt more satisfied with their bodies and had a more positive mood. In contrast, those who viewed idealised Instagram posts had poorer body image and mood.
Popular Irish influencers have embraced this body positive movement, with the likes of Roz Purcell leading the way. Purcell has posted many ‘Instagram vs Reality’ shots to highlight that the version many people portray online is merely a polished persona. Speaking about her posts. She said, “In a world of beautiful strangers and comparison try remember what this place is, the highlight reel, that split second you see of someone’s day, that good angle or edited photo. That’s all it is – nothing more.”
Other Irish influencers are following suit, like makeup artist Aideen Murphy (@aideenkate).
Murphy hasn’t always had a good relationship with body image and explains it’s been a journey: “In the influencing world, you’re around a lot of women who have the ideal body type. It’s like people expect you to look exactly like them, and they expect you to want to look like them too. And I definitely did at one stage. I felt like skinny equaled successful.”
After nearly two years of a strict gym and diet routine, Murphy decided to finally give it a break. “I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted which was so frustrating, I still wasn’t as slim as my friends and it felt like my body just wasn’t built for it. Then I started to see a lot more women, who looked like me, posting content embracing their bodies and size. They could still post fashion and beauty content being so called “plus-size” and their followers loved it.”
“I just eventually decided, why am I being so hard on myself trying to be something I’m not. If these women could be confident in themselves and still be successful, why couldn’t I,” she said.
Murphy believes it’s imperative that influencers take responsibility when it comes to editing and posting photos, “It can be so dangerous for young girls to see perfect bodies and clear skin all over their feeds and think that people naturally look like that. I think seeing someone you admire post photos showing all their so-called “flaws” can hugely affect how you think about yourself, especially as a teenager.”
“Seeing other women in their bikinis and underwear with their rolls, cellulite, stretch marks, hyperpigmentation, and bellies on show normalised fat bodies for me and taught me not to feel ashamed in my own skin,” Murphy said.
“I saw these beautiful, gorgeous bodies and saw myself.”
Radio-cassette player used to listen to music in 2020-set film The Half of It (Photo: YouTube)
We check them up to 150 times a day — but is it good for our well-being? Tech insiders have described the methods used by app developers to effectively “programme” us to never put our phones down. TheCity.ie’s Paul Caffrey explains why he ditched his device after three years — and explores the beginnings of a backlash against them
On Friday night, Netflix released The Half of It, a thoughtful film depicting 17-year-olds posting each other handwritten love letters and listening to their favourite music on portable analogue radio-cassette players.
Modelled on the clever premise of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 classic Cyrano de Bergerac, the expert wordsmith here is “shy, straight-A student” Ellie (played by Leah Lewis), who ghostwrites all of “inarticulate jock” Paul’s romantic notes to Aster, the popular girl of his dreams.
GHOSTWRITER: Leah Lewis plays Ellie, a shy student who favours pen and paper over messaging apps, in The Half of It, released by Netflix on Friday 1st May (Photo: YouTube)
Currently, a whopping 91% of Irish people own a smartphone, but I was never so keen on the idea. Until 2016, I resisted owning one and brazened it out with my no-nonsense 2007 Nokia.
It wasn’t easy shrugging off the endless comments about my stubborn refusal to switch over to the latest techology that’s been firmly in fashion since 2012.
Finally, I gave in and purchased an Android, internet-enabled device — the cheapest, least advanced Huawei that I could find. Suddenly, a whole new world of apps and 24/7 internet in the palm of my hand opened up to me.
A Nokia 2007 model (Photo: Paul Caffrey)
At first, it was exciting. I found endless uses for the device, both professionally and socially. But it quickly took control of my life. Like a love/hate relationship, I couldn’t seem to get any peace from this thing until I switched it off at night.
After three years, I ditched it. I’m now back to a basic phone with no internet function and I’m managing fine.
I can Zoom, Facetime or Skype call — and tune in to a range of radio and television stations around the world — using my laptop.
I watch Sky News, CNN, BBC News, Netflix, the Dáil channel and RTÉ on a TV and enjoy listening to our native radio stations on an analogue radio set. I like the intimacy and sense of shared experience of live radio.
I listen to my favourite CDs on a hifi (though also own an iPod), and regularly buy newspapers and current affairs magazines (though also hold online subscriptions to some publications).
In short, in terms of keeping up with the latest goings on, I don’t miss much.
During the extended Covid-19 lockdown period, the internet is certainly a lifeline to many for keeping up with studies, work and friendships.
But I personally don’t feel the need to access that world using these rather bulky handheld computers.
RETRO-STYLE: Some smartphones are being styled as cassettes in a nod to the era that went before (Photo: Pinterest.ie)
I’m not missing Whatsapp at all. Each Whatsapp group I joined began with a sense of shared purpose and camaraderie — and went downhill from there. I’ve found there are other ways to stay in touch with friends and colleagues.
Moreover, as President Michael D Higgins told the Irish Daily Mail in March 2018, social media can be used as “an instrument of abuse, which it so unfortunately has been for so many.”
President Michael D Higgins was interviewed by the Irish Daily Mail in March 2018 (Photo: Paul Caffrey)
By any reckoning, the endless rise of “social” smartphone apps has enabled bullies, crooks, scam artists and worse to thrive like never before using platforms that let them pose as anyone they want to be.
The internet has long been a world of opportunities for those who wish harm on others; smartphones increase their opportunities.
Smartphone app Tinder and its ilk are reportedly popular with so-called “romance scammers” who seek your cash rather than your love using false profiles. So much so that gardaí have issued official advice on how to spot such confidence tricksters.
WATCH: The 2011 film Cyberbully illustrated the psychological effects of relentless online bullying on teenagers in a realistic way (Video: YouTube)
For anyone who hasn’t suffered consistent bullying or depression before, it may be hard to understand my instinctive aversion to being permanently hooked up to the world wide web.
Had smartphones been on trend when I was at secondary school, my life would certainly have been much worse than it already was on a daily basis.
Relentless harassment and threats (of physical harm and even death), along with ritual violence and humiliation — while existing in constant fear of being beaten up — was bad enough.
I won’t understate the huge impact on me when there’s any kind of reoccurrence of that trauma in my present-day life.
As I’ve discovered myself, online bullying and harassment doesn’t just affect schoolchildren. Owning an internet-enabled smartphone for three years in adulthood showed me that even now, I’m not immune to it.
As one good friend remarked to me recently: “I’m glad you’re still here.”
Coco’s Law: Nicole Fox Fenton, 21, had been constantly bullied online (Photo: Facebook)
As it turns out, I’m far from the only adult who feels smartphone-phobic. Something of a movement against the devices has been underway for the past few years, with some tech experts on board.
Former Google employee Tristan Harris says we check our smartphones about 150 times a day and that we’re all being “programmed” by tech giants to never put our device down.
Google headquarters in California where Tristan Harris worked (Photo: Twitter)
App developers use techniques that “work on everybody” to get our attention “at all costs” and keep the world’s three-and-a-half billion smartphone users hooked 24/7, he says.
Harris told America’s PBS NewsHour in 2017 that, after spending just 20 minutes scrolling through his own smartphone:
“I don’t feel very good after that. I feel like my anxiety goes up.”
Tristan Harris describes how ‘your phone is trying to control your life’
The Stanford University graduate set up the Center for Humane Technology in 2018 that urges tech executives to consider the mental health of consumers instead of always looking to their company’s bottom line.
Meanwhile stars like Tom Cruise, Vince Vaughn, Robbie Williams and Elton John refuse to own a mobile phone.
Big Little Lies star Shailene Woodley owns an iPhone (with no data) that she uses like a portable computer when wifi is available, but only communicates using a basic T-Mobile flip phone. The star told Jimmy Kimmel Live last year:
“We don’t notice each other any more.”
Shailene Woodley, 28, blames smartphones for a “bigger lack of camaraderie and community than there’s ever been.” (Photo: YouTube)
Businessman Steve Hilton refuses to own a mobile phone (Photo: Twitter)
And after three years of being connected to the world wide web at every waking moment, I found that I’d had enough, too.
Enough of the incessant social media updates, non-stop email alerts and continuous news flashes at every moment of the day.
My own inability to stop impulsively posting status updates on social media at any given moment was becoming problematic. The more I used the thing, the lower my overall mood became.
Break-out panel: Paul Caffrey
Does the smartphone and its ever-enticing LED screen limit our ability to make conscious choices about how we spend our time? It certainly had that effect on me.
The world changed in the early 2010s when smartphones became universally popular. The days of using our laptops to surf the internet — while separately picking up the phone to make a call — were gone.
In the 2000s, we had more stuff, but perhaps a more restful night’s sleep. Nowadays, our internet-enabled smartphones have replaced items like alarm clocks (Photo: Paul Caffrey)
In short, this cassette-sized appliance was taking over my life. Before long, it controlled me, commanding my non-stop attention to the exclusion of all else. So I quit.
This AsapSCIENCE video that explores how our smartphones alter how our brains function — and suggests we all take a “smartphone vacation” — has had 63,000 likes on YouTube.
Since doing away with my smartphone, I’m unable to obtain apps that range from the handy but laughably unnecessary (turn my heating on before I get home or switch on the kettle remotely from the sofa) to the downright ludicrous (an app which tells me if it’s dark outside).
I’ve been reading more newspapers and books and find that I’m more alert because I’m forced to use my brain more. My sleep is less disturbed and I feel less anxious in general. Social media is still a part of my life but I can put it away when I want to.
And what do you know, I’m somehow in a majority after all. Currently, 55% of the world’s entire population do not own a smartphone, according to number crunchers Statista.
With the vast interconnectivity that the world now experiences due to the growing population of internet users, unforeseen consequences have arisen that are yet to be remedied.
One of these problems is the rise of what many like to call “fake news”. This is falsified information that is interwoven into news articles that are designed to be as believable as possible, aiming to stir hatred, bolster political agendas, or simply to modify events to suit one group over another.
The term “fake news” has been called into question however, with many now preferring to call it disinformation. This helps to illustrate better that it is much closer to propaganda than it is to actual news.
Propaganda has permeated the social media and news website landscape, many no longer realising what is propaganda and what is not, which makes the jobs of groups such as EU vs Disinformation that much more difficult.
The EU vs Disinformation campaign was established to combat primarily Russian generated propaganda and disinformation online, and was set up by the European External Action Service East Stratcom Task Force.
Russian backed propaganda has caused a mass influx of lies and deceit that has infested almost all forms of media. To understand the extent of disinformation that has been spread by pro-Kremlin sources, since its inception in 2015 the EUvsDisinfo taskforce has uncovered more than 3,800 cases. This year alone (2018), there has been almost a thousand such cases, coming in at around 977 at the time of writing. In the last week alone there has been roughly 35 cases.
While it is not only pro-Kremlin disinformation that is being published, EUvsDisinfo works solely against this form of news propaganda. This has been a point of contention for many who are against groups such as EUvsDisinfo, as it could also be very easily claimed that a large number of pro-White House disinformation also exists, and to a far lesser extent pro-EU disinformation (this latter, however, would not be backed by the institution).
It is undeniable that the pro-Kremlin sources of disinformation are much more prevalent, however, as there is no other country that has managed to spread into so many other countries with such success.
An older example of Russian disinformation and propaganda that a lot of people may remember is the chemical weapon attack that happened in Syria earlier this year. At the time it was said that upwards of 70 civilians were killed. This attack was followed by a coalition airstrike, and this is where some EU nations come into play, orchestrated by forces from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France among others, which reportedly killed a further 40 people or more.
Moscow sources had been very forward in denying that chemical weapons were even used to begin with, but there is little to no evidence to support this. According to the BBC, the United Nations Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was delayed in surveying the scene of the attack, as they had come under fire during their risk assessment. Russia had also used the coalition airstrikes to boast about the Syrian Army’s own superiority, claiming falsely that 71 of 103 coalition missiles were shot down.
A much more recent example of the prevalence of disinformation comes in the form of information that was being spread in relation to the yellow vest protests in France, with pro-Kremlin sources having a penchant for portraying Europe as being almost close to breaking point, or more extremely France being on the verge of full scale civil war.
Alternatively, the USA has been portrayed as being the driving force behind the yellow vest protests, oddly enough. “We have also witnessed a well-known blame game, with the US shown as the one provoking the ‘yellow vests’ protests, in the hope of weakening Europe’s position in the world. A classical move of pro-Kremlin disinformation, strengthening the picture of Europe in weakness, chaos and disarray.”
A long, never-ending repeating cycle of disinformation and propaganda has continued, and may go unending if it was not for the work of EU vs Disinformation and other task forces like it that battle it wherever it may pop up.
This year, the internet went insane with the theory that our phones are listening to us. F.B.I. spy memes went viral and conspiracy threads clogged Twitter – everything we type/say into our phones is being read and heard by Mark Zuckerberg, the government and, if some Reddit threads are to be believed, aliens too.
It’s certainly happened to many of us. Phone nearby, you have a conversation with a friend about food supplements, for example. Soon after, your Facebook and Instagram feeds are filled with ads for Holland and Barrett.
Or, you could message a friend via Facebook and make plans to meet at a certain venue. Suddenly that exact place appears on your feed as a suggested page to follow. With so many people reporting instances like this, it’s easy to assume that to some degree, we are being monitored.
Facebook issued a statement in 2016, assuring users that their conversations were not being recorded or listened to:
“Facebook does not use your phone’s microphone to inform ads or to change what you see in News Feed. Some recent articles have suggested that we must be listening to people’s conversations in order to show them relevant ads. This is not true. We show ads based on people’s interests and other profile information – not what you’re talking out loud about.”
Facebook may deny using smartphone microphones to monitor users, but what about in-app conversations via WhatsApp and Instagram? As WhatsApp and Instagram are owned by Facebook, user information may be shared between the three applications. It’s highly plausible that an algorithm exists to scan user conversations, find key-words and target ads towards the user.
With this theory in mind, we conducted our own experiment to test whether WhatsApp and Instagram direct messages are being monitored in order to reveal user preferences and personalise advertisements.
Using two iPhones, we restored them to factory settings and wiped them clean to ensure no history of data is left on the phone to determine the outcome. We also inserted two Eir sim-cards with new, unused numbers.
Following that, we created two separate Facebook accounts depicting two middle-aged women, named Anna Boyle and Margaret Freeman. We also created two Whatsapp accounts registered to our new numbers, and two Instagram accounts under the same names.
We then started conversations between both Whatsapp and Instagram accounts, including a number of pre-picked keywords: Yankee candles, Brylcreem, ice hockey, Camile Thai, Tupperware and Johnson’s talcum powder. Repeating these keywords, we continued the conversations everyday at the same time for two weeks.
Conclusion: It can be accepted that WhatsApp seems to be fully encrypted, as none of our chosen keywords appeared as ads on Facebook. However, two of the keywords we mentioned via our Instagram chat appeared as ads.
While of course we can’t declare for 100% fact that Facebook is monitoring Instagram’s messaging feature, our experiment results definitely lean towards a possible algorithm being in place. Without sounding too ‘big-brotherish’, it’s safe to say that your phone definitely knows a whole lot about you.
We’re always looking for the next series to keep us occupied, whether you are the type to become engrossed – following all the stars across social media platforms and declaring how much you ‘stan’ them – or simply the person who needs background noise in their room and pays minimal attention to the actual plot of the show.
From the co-creator of Parks and Recreation Michael Schur, The Good Place, is now available on Netflix.
The Good Place revolves around Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell: Frozen, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and starts with the beginning of her post-death life.
This afterlife is explained as being split into ‘The Good Place’ and ‘The Bad Place’. It quickly becomes clear Eleanor does not belong in The Good Place despite finding herself there.
She meets the architect of The Good Place Michael (Ted Danson), who then introduces her to her ‘soulmate’ Chidi (William Jackson Harper), an excruciatingly indecisive and kind-hearted ethics professor from Nigeria. She also meets Tahani (Jameela Jamil) who is a cheery and seemingly oxymoronically egocentric philanthropist from Pakistan along with Tahani’s soulmate Jianyu (Manny Jacinto), a supposedly silent Buddhist monk.
It would be an understatement to label the group juxtaposed.
A truly diverse group of people slowly bond together as outrageous details about Jianyu’s past emerge and Eleanor ducks and dodges the potential for Michael to discover she doesn’t belong there and send her to eternal damnation in The Bad Place.
The end of the first season offers a shocking discovery by the gang about the afterlife which paves the way for the intriguing storyline that follows.
Now into its third season, with a new 20 to 25-minute episode each Friday, The Good Place is a multifaceted series which offers plenty. From comedy to drama to education all the way to abnormal romance, its comparatively short episodes and quirky characters make it not only straight-forward viewing, but genuinely enjoyable.
Ireland ranks dead last in reading news online and has one of the highest percentages of booking travel and holiday accommodation in Europe.
A 2017 edition of Eurostat’s ‘The life of women and men in Europe’ shows there are large differences in how Irish men and women use the internet and how that compares to the rest of the EU.
On average 72 percent of men and 68 percent of women use the internet to read news online, whereas in Ireland, only 53 percent of men do and less than half of women (46 percent) who use the internet read news online. These figures are enough to rank Ireland last out of all EU countries and not exactly close to the second lowest country France (Men: 57%; Women: 55%).
When it comes to online shopping, Ireland is right up there with the highest spending nations. Sixty seven percent of men and women have booked travel and holiday accommodations in the last year, 15 and 16 percent over the EU average respectively.
According to the report, Irish men and women use the internet in a lot of similar ways but there are some categories where there are differences.
The report also shows what men and women are buying when they are online shopping. Overall, 68 percent of women buy clothes and sports goods online and 17 percent buy electronic equipment. On the other hand, only 53 percent of men use the internet for buying clothes and sports goods and 35 percent buy electronic goods.
In total, 74 percent of women spend time on social media compared to 66 percent of men. It’s the opposite story searching for jobs online however where twenty percent of men seek employment online which is just below the EU average, but only 14 percent of women do (less than two-thirds of the average).
As another chat app raises fears about online harassment of children, it’s clear that parents, teachers and young people must work together to challenge this behaviour. Eimear Dodd reports
With award season upon us and some controversy about political speeches, Eimear Dodd suggests that award shows might provide a platform to start a wider conversation.
Numerous cases of ‘catfishing’ have come to light in recent times, illustrating just how dangerous the web can be and highlighting a grave concern over just how safe an individual’s images and personal details are on the world wide web.
A ‘catfish’ is an individual who pretends to be someone they’re not using a social media account for the purpose of creating a false identity.
‘Catfishing’ is a startling reality in today’s era of digital communication and can have serious repercussions for those affected.
Many of the ‘do-no-gooders’ hide behind a computer/iPod/tablet screen as they scam their way into building a romantic relationship with unsuspecting victims.
Not only do those responsible for catfishing steal the identity of other individuals, but they post false information alongside the image they have stolen of an individual they may or may not know.
Aida Skirmantaite, a fourth year journalism student in DIT, spoke about her experience of being catfished and the terror associated with realising that someone somewhere is pretending to be you.
Aida couldn’t understand why she had fallen victim to catfishing and what had attracted the perpetrator to her page. “I asked myself why would they choose me,” she said.
For Aida the whole experience of being catfished started when the fake page was suggested to a fellow Facebook friend.
That friend happened to run the page by Aida, as he knew the profile picture was of Aida but the name underneath was far from hers and instead supposedly was that of an Irish woman.
Aida’s boyfriend added the fake page in order to discover who the personal identity thief was but to no avail. Aida then immediately reported the site to Facebook who took action by removing the page.
Since the experience Aida has tightened the security surrounding her online social media profiles and is more aware of what can happen in a realm of virtual communication. She now searches for any associations with images on her social media account through an application called ‘Tineye.com’, a “reverse image search engine” that has the ability to find out where an image online came from, how it is being used online, and if any modified images exists.
Another social media account holder Jennifer McDonald commented, “I’ve never been catfished but I get loads of friend requests and messages from profiles that are clearly fake and are people catfishing. I usually go onto the page and block them and I usually don’t write back to them but I did once and it was a weird experience so I just block them all now.”
Essentially catfishing is pretending be someone you’re not on popular social media accounts as seen in the case of 21-year-old journalist Emma Nolan whose images were uploaded to a Tinder account and used for online dating purposes.
A 2010 movie entitled Catfish brought to light this shocking scenario by telling the tale of a 28-year-old man named Nev Schulman who fell head over heels in love with a stranger’s Facebook profile picture only for her picture to be remarkably different to what she looked like in reality. The movie was a success and furthermore went on to inspire a series of documentaries on the issue.
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