The Downward Spiral Of Instagram | Webster Kirkwood Times | timesnewspapers.com

| photo by Annie George of The Kirkwood Call Kirkwood High School senior Edie Wheeler sits on her bed during the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, scrolling through her phone. She sees videos of people exercising and doing two-week ab challenges while she sits and tries to relax during those long months. It comes as no surprise that she soon feels like she’s being lazy and isn’t doing enough. She begins to compare her body and her own productivity to those she sees on the internet, which leads to a downward spiral of  negativity.  “I saw people on social media doing Chloe Ting challenges and ‘Watch me try to lose weight during quarantine’ videos, and so I started doing all these workouts,” Wheeler said. “Everyone was losing weight and eating healthy, so … I stopped eating.” Sadly, Wheeler’s story isn’t uncommon. In recent studies, social media — and specifically the platform Instagram — has been proven to target teenage girls in more adverse ways than ever. While Instagram’s popularity rates are skyrocketing, girls’ self esteem is plummeting.As Instagram continues to grow, so does the content being advertised to women. The  platform is full of people posting pictures in which they have altered…
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