Before the days of social media apps like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, we were only exposed to the perfect bikini body and abs on billboards, magazines and commercials. With this, the viewer would often do a quick workout and soon forget about it. However, with the rise of social media and the media in general, we are constantly seeing these images of human perfection. Our anxiety then rises as we wonder why our bodies or clothes don’t reflect those we see all over our feeds.

When we first download the various social media apps our friends rave about, we soon become addicted to the reassuring, relieving approval of the retweets and thumbs up. After a while, we begin to rely on what other people are telling us rather than ourselves. This leads to the shocking statistic that 53 percent of 13 year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies according to the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health. This number grows to 78-percent by the time girls reach 17. According to BBC, in 2013, two thirds of teenagers signed up for Facebook, where millions of images are shared everyday. Not only does seeing these pictures potentially ruin a person’s self esteem, but they have also led to a 20-percent increase in cosmetic surgeries. People are getting so self-conscience because of social media that they want to physically alter themselves to fit the so-called “perfect” image.

However, social media has not brought upon only negative body images. With social media, we can inspire others with our posts, reconnect with old friends and discover something new about ourselves. Our body image may be damaged by the stigma of it all, however, once we get over all the likes and shares, we can realize being ourselves is the “perfect” we’ve been searching for.