Research questionS

Feminine and masculine bodies are becoming increasingly recognized and manipulated by algorithms on social media, specifically Instagram. The actions of social media users such as liking, tagging, swiping, sharing, etc., are accumulated in databases and overtime become algorithms that manipulate the content users see. Instagram’s recent change from chronological to non-chronological format manipulates and further drives the overrepresentation of female bodies that reinforce the Western beauty ideal. Images of attractive female bodies generate more likes, tags and views than other content, and overtime algorithms learn to make them more visible in order to generate profits. User’s exposure to an influx of female bodies that fit unrealistic beauty ideals result in women and men having a distorted view of the female body. In order to research attitudes about the presence of female bodies on social media and the manipulation of these images, 59 surveys and 3 qualitative interviews were conducted. Both research methods questioned participants on their social media usage and how the images they see on their feed affects their mental/physical health and wellbeing and relationship with their body.

The relationship between algorithms on social media and the overrepresentation of female body ideals is a widespread issue that explicitly and implicitly affects the everyday lives of social media users across the globe. Despite the prevalence of this issue, the topic has received little to no academic research. There is extensive supporting research conducted on the negative impacts social media has on body image and body confidence, although few pieces of literature acknowledge the role of technology and algorithms as a force behind the scenes of this issue. The lack of research on the topic makes it worth studying in order to help users understand the phenomenon behind their social media usage. The study has both theoretical significance in contributing to theories about social media and body image and practical significance by informing social media users of the impacts of their consumption and legitimizing the affects social media can have on one’s mental/physical health and wellbeing. This research study seeks to bridge the gap in research that links the overrepresentation of female body ideals to the algorithmic architecture of social media platforms by making connections between research on body image, social media and algorithms.

Literature Review

The article “Algorithmic Hotness: Young Women’s “Promotion” and “Reconnaissance” Work via Social Media Body Images” is one of few pieces of literature discussing both algorithms and body image on social media. According to Carah and Dobson, images that circulate social media platforms are becoming gendered through algorithms (2016). The actions of social media users such as a liking, tagging, swiping, sharing, etc., are accumulated in databases and overtime become algorithms that manipulate the content users see (Carah & Dobson, 2016). Images of attractive female bodies generate more likes, tags, and views than other content, and overtime algorithms learn to make them more visible in order to generate profits (Carah & Dobson, 2016).

The article “Playing the visibility game: How digital influencers and algorithms negotiate influence on Instagram” explores how algorithms affect social realities in unseen ways (Cotter, 2018). The article observes influencers’ interpretations of Instagram’s algorithmic architecture and how their goal to ‘influence’ and gain visibility relates to and uses algorithms to their advantage. Cotter coins the term “visibility game” to show the relationship between users, algorithms, platform owners and user behaviour (Cotter, 2018). The article also discusses Instagram’s recent change to a non-chronological main feed and how this changed their previous algorithmic ranking (Cotter, 2018).

In the article “‘I Click and Post and Breathe, Waiting for Others to See What I See’: On #FeministSelfies, Outfit Photos, and Networked Vanity,” Pham acknowledges the varying effects and experiences of social media usage. In particular, the effects of posting a selfie as both liberating and oppressive (Pham, 2015). The selfie can be perceived as a high-tech reflection of the way society teaches women that their most important quality is their physical attractiveness (Pham, 2015). Pham argues that “selfies technologize sexism by extending and making more efficient well-established ideologies and practices of objectifying women” in a digital space (Pham, 2015, p. 222). Taking and sharing selfies position women as “a collaborating partner in their own objectification and their own devaluation as individuals whose significance is reduced to their physical appearance” (Pham, 2015, p. 223).

The article “The Effect of Thin Ideal Media Images on Women’s Self-Objectification, Mood, and Body Image” examines the effects of media images on self-objectification (Harper & Tiggemann, 2007). Study results show that participants who viewed advertisements featuring a women who fits body ideals experienced “greater self-objectification, weight-related appearance anxiety, negative mood, and body dissatisfaction” (Harper & Tiggemann, 2007, 649).

Analysis

Once the research was conducted, the data from the interviews and surveys was transcribed and coded into themes and concepts to inform and develop theories and conclusions on the relationship between algorithms and the overrepresentation of female body ideals. The explanation of the phenomenon proves there is a direct relationship between algorithms and the overrepresentation of the female body on Instagram. The data derived from the interviews and surveys supports the various ways in which users interact with and experience social media and the common attitude amongst users that this influx of images seem to be inescapable. The synchronous answers position feminine bodies as one of, if not the most dominant type of image circulating Instagram.

In the first few preliminary questions, the survey reported that 83.1% percent of participants use Instagram multiple times a day for an average of 49.08 mins per day. The reported period of time that users spend on Instagram reinforces how embedded social media has become in user's everyday and provides insight to how the cyclical nature of participant’s usage and consumption generate algorithms and algorithms in turn manipulate the content users see and engage with, and so on. Out of the 59 survey participants, 71.2% said that social media is dominated by feminine bodies and 27.1% said that social media is dominated by both feminine and masculine bodies. No participants said that Instagram is dominated by masculine bodies which reinforces the presence of the male gaze on social media and the overrepresentation and sexualization of specifically feminine bodies.

When asked about the recent changes of Instagram’s format from chronological to non-chronological, 62.7% of participants feel that the content they see on Instagram has been more manipulated since the change while 37.3% have not noticed a difference. Similarly, 67.8% of participants would prefer if Instagram changed the order of posts back to chronological while 30.5% do not care either way. The percentage of participants that that have not noticed a difference or do not care may be evidence of lack of information and transparency on how the backend of Instagram affects user experience. When participants were asked what type of content they see the most on Instagram, feminine bodies was the most common response followed by food, travel, memes, fashion, beauty and art/aesthetic. Only 18.6% of participants reported masculine bodies as being a type of content they see most and only 6.8% reported androgynous bodies.

In order to promote the objectivity of participant’s answers, experimental based questions were asked requiring participants to use their devices and Instagram account to answer questions about the content featured on their explore page. It is common that users experience feelings of embarrassment or shame when it comes to their social media usage so asking objective questions with a direct answer derived from the app itself promoted objectivity and avoided the possibility of participants skewing their answers to be more desirable. Explicit instructions were provided on how to use the app to answer these questions for less experienced users. When participants were asked to describe the first post on their Instagram explore page, 54.2% of the images described by participants were an image of or related to the female body.

When assessing participant’s attitudes about social media, 76.3% of participants feel that social media is used as a tool for both self-empowerment and digital narcissism, reflecting their mixed feelings about the platform. Additionally, 61% of participants claimed that their attitude towards Instagram was neutral rather than positive or negative, with 22% holding a more positive attitude and 17% holding a more negative attitude. With an app designed for user’s pleasure and entertainment, it is notable that 61% of participants willingly use the app for approximately an hour each day when they feel “neutral” about its effects and do not report an experience that is more positive than negative. This notion illustrates the obsessive and addictive qualities of social media and the widespread acknowledgement of its negative effects with little to no action taken by users or developers to mitigate these effects.