An interdisciplinary Working Group explored the impact of social media literacy on users’ mood and body image and presents their insights.
Many experts agree that social media can negatively affect mental health. Images of seemingly perfect and extremely fit influencers can lower self-esteem, affect eating habits and reduce concentration. Furthermore, this can sometimes lead to serious issues such as eating disorders and depression. Nevertheless, despite this problem being well-known, to date surprisingly few solutions have been suggested. It may well be that either the issue is simply too complex for the application of basic solutions or that insufficient research has been undertaken.
Our interdisciplinary working group was set up to tackle this research gap by combining expertise from diverse fields. We were especially interested in how improving social media literacy – defined as a conscious and critical engagement with social media – could help address these pressing problems.
Interventions
Based on a thorough literature review, we developed two potential interventions to enhance users’ social media literacy. Both are subtle and designed such that they could principally be implemented on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok:
• Education Intervention: A notification – similar to a pop-up window – that explicitly reminds users of how many images are staged and edited for commercial purposes (Figure 1 below).
• Interaction Intervention: An additional button allowing users to rate the authenticity of the images they encounter, serving as a subtle cue about whether an image has been edited (Figure 2 below).
Study
To assess the effectiveness of these interventions, we conducted an online experiment with around 300 participants. Participants were shown a series of typical social media images featuring men and women of either average appearance or exceptionally attractive. One group received an Education Intervention before viewing the images. Another group was presented with the Interaction Intervention. A third group experienced both interventions, whilst a fourth group received no intervention at all. Afterwards, we surveyed all participants regarding their social media literacy, mood and body image.
Results
Our findings revealed no significant differences between the groups. In other words, within the scope of our study, neither intervention effectively improved social media literacy, mood, or body image. Hence, it appears that the solution is not as straightforward as we had hoped.
One possible interpretation of these results is that the interventions may not have been impactful enough to influence these outcomes. Alternatively, participants might not have answered truthfully, instead responding in a way that reflected their desired self-image. A potential direction for future research could involve employing more complex measures of social media literacy, mood and body image that cannot be easily manipulated by participants.
The Value of Interdisciplinary Collaboration
While our working group did not find any directly applicable solution for enhancing social media literacy, mood and body image, we did nevertheless gain invaluable insights throughout the process. Engaging with diverse perspectives enriched our exploration of this complex issue. For instance, psychologists delved into the nuances of mental health related to social media, focusing on cognitive pathways that our interventions could address. Economists sought to design the study so as to identify causal effects, while our legal expert concentrated on practical applications of our findings.
This collaboration not only introduced us to new methodologies, but also prompted critical reflection on our own practices. We frequently had to justify our choices: Why did we select one intervention over another? Which items were included in the study? How could we incentivise participants to engage with the survey? This enriching experience broadened our horizons and deepened our understanding of the challenges we face.
Interdisciplinary working groups are a fantastic concept that should be maintained and further encouraged. They foster a unique environment where diverse perspectives can converge, driving innovation and deeper understanding in complex areas such as social media literacy.
bidt-working groups
The blog posts published by bidt reflect the views of the authors; they do not reflect the attitude of the institute as a whole.
