The Role of Social Media in Building Awareness of Body

Abstract The culture of the modern world assigns a huge importance to the beauty of the external body, treating attractive appearance as a determinant of success and happiness. Physiological changes taking place in the body of a young person correlate with changes in the perception of his body. The article aims to define the role of social media in influencing the perception of the body by adolescents aged 16-19. The survey questionnaire was used as a quantitative research technique created by the authors and the Sylwetek test (DRS, Contour Drawing Rating Scale). 190 teenagers were included in the study. The conclusion to be drawn from the conducted empirical study is that social media are an important factor in creating a vision of one’s own body among maturing people. The statistical analysis of the test results showed a statistically significant discrepancy between the ideal self and the real self in the body image among the examined group of young adolescents.