Social networks, appearance and self-esteem: a literature review from 2002 to 2021

Abstract

Vilarim, J.R.L.; Lorena, J.S.F.S.; Silva, M.E.A.; Luna, M.S.; Brito, M.A.S.; Silva, N.S.A.; Araújo, S.M.G.S.; Felix, P.T. Social networks, appearance and self-esteem: a literature review from 2002 to 2021. Abstract: With the popularization of social networks that focuses on the dissemination of images, much of society follows the "rule" that everything is likely to be seen, everything is photographable and everything generates content. This enhances our willingness to record everything we see and, especially, what we experience. Using social networking apps as a means of personal dissemination and work is a custom that has transformed society. People want to be accepted and, for this, select angles and moments of their own that show a reality that does not exist for the majority of the population and often not for themselves. They're fragments of "perfect lives." In order to follow the standards established by society, including that of the digital world, people practice a digital "self-distortion" of appearance and this occurs, fundamentally, to feel accepted, desired and loved. Cases are increasing that this "self-distortion" is being brought to real life, through plastic surgeries and facial harmonization's so that they can see in the mirror what they see on the screens of smartphones. This fact is getting sick of people, who see themselves compared, often by themselves, with the perfect celebrities of social networks or even their own faces through filters. In this context, in this study, data were collected from bibliographic surveys of numerous national and international authors in several databases.