An Unfiltered Look at Idealized Images: A Social Media Intervention for Adolescent Girls

ABSTRACT

Current literature indicates that adolescent girls are more likely than their male counterparts to identify with social media figures and to use social media for peer comparison and feedback-seeking. Among adolescent girls, YouTube and Instagram comprise two of the most widely-used social media platforms and, thus, function as prominent forces for influencing adolescent culture and identity formation. Given social media’s capacity to facilitate prosocial behaviors, as well as its potential to generate negative self-concepts among users, this article aims to (a) highlight current social media trends; (b) examine the impact of social media on adolescent girls in the United States; (c) outline a psychoeducational activity intended to help adolescent girls process and recontextualize the idealized images of beauty commonly portrayed on social media.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescent girls
• creativity in counseling
• identity development
• psychoeducational group activity
• school counseling
• social media literacy