Camera-Ready: Young Women's Appearance-Related Social Media Consciousness

Social media use is now ubiquitous among young women in the United States. The current study examines a new construct related to young women's experiences with social media: appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC), the tendency for a woman's thoughts and behaviors to reflect an ongoing awareness of whether she might look attractive to an online audience. College women (N = 339; Mage = 18.35) self-reported their frequency of ASMC experiences. They also reported their overall time spent on social media, as well as their levels of self-objectification (i.e., body surveillance), body comparison, body esteem, and depressive symptoms. Women endorsed high rates of ASMC; for example, roughly three-quarters reported frequent ASMC experiences. In addition, results of 2 path analyses indicated that higher ASMC was significantly associated with (a) higher body surveillance, higher body comparison, and lower body esteem, controlling for time spent on social media; and (b) higher levels of depressive symptoms, controlling for body surveillance and time spent on social media. The results of this preliminary investigation indicate that ASMC may reflect a common set of experiences among young women and that higher levels may be maladaptive for psychological adjustment. This study also highlights the importance of understanding the broad and complex ways in which social media may affect young women's mental health and well-being. Public Policy Relevance Statement The current study examines a set of thoughts and behaviors related to young women's experiences with social media: appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC). ASMC is the tendency for a woman's thoughts and behaviors to reflect an ongoing awareness of whether she might look attractive to an online audience. College women reported high frequencies of ASMC experiences, and women with more frequent ASMC also reported more body image concerns and depressive symptoms. This study highlights the importance of understanding the broad and complex ways in which social media may affect young women's mental health and well-being.