Claire Solomon

10/25/14
Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric
Part 1: Research Proposal
YOUR NAME: Claire Solomon
TOPIC: I am studying the impact of social media on the body image of young girls.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS: I am studying this because I want to understand the less
obvious effects of the ever-popular social media craze. I want to find out how these
outlets can act as a sort of market to sell products to young people girls in particular
and how these websites are positively or negatively affecting the next generation of
women.
AUDIENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE: My research assignment would primarily be aimed
at young girls and their parents. This topic is important for parents to understand in order
to better raise young girls and help to form them into confident, happy people. It is wise
for parents to be educated about these possible dangers in order to prevent or stop young
girls from developing a negative body image or low self-esteem. In addition, it is vital for
young girls to be aware of the hidden risks involved in becoming active in the world of
social media. They may not realize whats happening to them until it is too late.
CONTEXT: As the effects of social media on youth are being unveiled through
numerous research ventures, its important to be aware of how this media affects the lives
of young people because more and more companies are taking advantage of its
commercial benefits. Social media is a straightforward, inexpensive, and effective way to

advertise products to young people. The issue is also especially timely since social media
is taking over many aspects of life today.
KEY SOURCES FOUND SO FAR:
MLA Citation

Type of Source

Russello, Salenna (2009)

"The Impact of
Media Exposure on
Self-Esteem and
Body Satisfaction in
Men and Women,"
Journal of
Interdisciplinary
Undergraduate
Research: Vol. 1,
Article 4.

Article from the Journal of

Interdisciplinary
Undergraduate Research

Clay, Daniel, Vivian L.

Vignoles, and Helga
Dittmar. "Body
Image and SelfEsteem Among
Adolescent Girls:
Testing the
Influence of
Sociocultural
Factors." Journal of
Research on
Adolescence (2005):
451-77. Print.
Mabe, Annalise G., BS, K.
Jean Forney, MS,
and Pamela K. Keel,
PhD. "Do You
like My Photo?
Facebook Use
Maintains Eating
Disorder Risk."
International
Journal of Eating
Disorders 47.5
(2014): 516-23.

Article from the Journal of

Research on Adolescence

Article from the

International Journal of
Eating Disorders

What does the source

offer to your project?
It offers a lot of interesting
facts and outlines different
topics surrounding the
topic: internalization of
sociocultural ideals, selfesteem, weight issues, and
social comparison all
things that can result from
exposure to social media. It
also describes an
experiment that concerns
these issues in college
students.
It offers another
professional look at the
issue. Its interesting
because it compares the
general self-esteem of
women and men. It
addresses media in general
not just social media
sources.

Although I havent read the

article in full yet (I am
going to obtain a hard copy
at the library), the article
addresses Facebook social
media royalty and its
affects on women
specifically in the realms of
anxiety, body
dissatisfaction, and the
development of eating
disorders.

Print.
"Impact of Social Media on
Teenagers Dove
Self-Esteem."
Doveselfesteem.
Unilever, 26 June
2013. Web. 24 Oct.
2014.

Online article from the

website of Doves SelfEsteem Project

This article discusses the

impact of social media on
teenage girls and gives
advice for parents to avoid
the problems that can come
with social media.

Part 2: Exploratory Draft

I am studying the impact of social media on young girls in order to shed light on a
source of insecurity in these teens in order to better combat depression and other mood
disorders in adolescents. This topic is exceptionally engaging for me because I have a
couple close friends and relatives who have struggled with low self-esteem, insecurity,
and other disorders that can arise from these issues. I have always tried my hardest to
help my friends and be a reliable support system. The topics of depression, anxiety, and
insecurity have been becoming more popular as more is being learned about these
devastating diseases; social media has been rapidly taking over from traditional means of
communication. Many people might not link these two seemingly unrelated aspects of
our world, and because of this, many young girls are becoming victims to the devastating
effects that can result from increased exposure to social media, one of which is lowered
self-esteem and increased insecurity.
Young girls and their parents are the main audience members for this project. The
young women are especially important to address because they are the ones who can
suffer from these effects of social media. It is important to educate them in order to
prevent negative feelings that may cause problems later in life, as well as equip them with
the tools they need to recognize if theyre already suffering from social media in order to

become wiser users of this new form of communication. Parents are also important
audience members because they can help their children develop responsible Internet
habits as well as a healthy, positive self-image.
I realize that my topic is a little broad, but I think it will give me the freedom to
explore different aspects of the effects of social media on young girls lower selfesteem, development of altered eating habits, increased competition with friends for the
perfect social life, and other effects that I may not even be aware of at this point. I
dont want to only focus on the lower self-esteem aspect, because I dont know if I could
pull out a whole 8-10 page paper on that alone. Having this topic will allow me to
research and choose a few consequences that really interest me further and help me
firmly develop my claim.
So far, Ive found a lot of articles from scholarly journals, which provide accounts
of different studies that have been performed on the topic. That information will
definitely be helpful because they provide concrete, scientific evidence behind my
claims. It will provide proof to those who may disagree with me. I think some young girls
might disagree with me because they cannot recognize the effects that can appear from
using social media, or by those who are not impacted. I want to find more nonfiction
books that may address the topic and some first-hand accounts of those who were
negatively changed by social media.
I really like my topic so far, but Im a little anxious about narrowing it down to a
few specific points. Im not used to getting materials from the schools library, so Im
interested in learning about how to check out books and other materials as well as use the
photocopying machine. Knowing me, I think Ill have a little trouble stringing my

thoughts and points together to form a coherent, logical argument. I havent written a
research paper in a while, so this project will definitely be a challenge but Im looking
forward to it.