Social media is not real: The effect of ‘Instagram vs reality’ images on women’s social comparison and body image
Abstract
One recent trend on Instagram consists of posting ‘Instagram vs reality’ images containing side-by-side photographs of the same woman, one an idealized depiction and the other a more natural depiction. This study aimed to experimentally investigate the effect of such images on body image. Participants were 305 women aged 18–30 years who were randomly assigned to view one of three sets of Instagram images: ‘Instagram vs reality’ images, the ‘ideal’ side alone or the ‘real’ side alone. As predicted, viewing the ‘Instagram vs reality’ and real images resulted in decreased body dissatisfaction relative to the ideal images. Furthermore, the detrimental effects of appearance comparison were much less marked for the ‘Instagram vs reality’ and real images than for the ideal images. It was concluded that ‘Instagram vs reality’ and real posts have the potential to bolster women’s body satisfaction, but more research is needed to assess their longer-term impact.
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When using photo editing apps, social media users pay greater attention to how they look, which promotes acceptance of fake beauty.
“When using photo editing apps, social media users pay greater attention to how they look, which promotes acceptance of fake beauty28.”
From Association between beauty standards shaped by social media and body dysmorphia among Egyptian medical students (2025) · cites this paper as [28]
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References 44 · Cited by 326
- Authors
- Tiggemann, M., & Anderberg, I.
- Affiliations
- Flinders University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Tiggemann, Marika
- Venue
- New Media & Society
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-11-16
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2183-2199
- ISSN
- 1461-4448 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7315
- OpenAlex
- W2988176906
- Cited by
- 326
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 45 · 2025: 57 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 59 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 11
- FWCI
- 29.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- New Media & Society (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- Funders
- Australian Research Council (DP150101295)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- social media, body image, body dissatisfaction, social comparison, appearance comparison, women, idealized images, body satisfaction, self-presentation
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