"It has to be a really good picture": Young people and gender in social media environments

This paper explores the social media environment of young people, focusing on looks, body image and gender norms. Social networking sites provide a setting for identity exploration, particularly as the content is created, shared and engaged with in ways that reinforce pressures to conform to gender norms. Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews (10 males and 10 females, aged between 14 and 21 years), it was found that nearly all the females were anxious about their body image. The one female who was less concerned did not engage in social media. Only 4 of the males were concerned about their body image (focusing on muscularity and fitness) compared with 6 males that were less concerned. It seems that the social media environment exacerbates the focus on body image and serves to constrain gender fluidity as part of nano-regulation and nano-surveillance. Whilst these young people were aware of gender fluidity and non-binary ideas, the social media environment hampered the application of these ideas to themselves and their own identities at this stage in their lives.