Social Media and Body Image in 2021: Our First Podcast!
Who are we and what was our “mission?”
Our names are Vic and Steph, and we are current juniors at Emmanuel College. Steph is a marketing major with a minor in communications, and Vic is a communications major. Over the past few years, we have both struggled with body image and the effects on body image through social media. Within the past year, life has gone almost completely digital. With a global pandemic, most of everything we do has resorted to happening on a screen. The amount of media we consume on the daily is at an all-time high, and with the new apps such as Tik-Tok, social media influencers have been able to use their platform to easily skew personal perceptions of ourselves. One example that is very prevalent are the “what I eat in a day” Tik-Tok videos. Famous social media influencers have taken to social media in order to somewhat glorify unhealthy habits revolving around eating and body image, which in return has made impressionable young girls suffer. With the peak of media use due to COVID-19, social media influencers have been given an incredibly large platform, and have at times used it in a negative way when portraying body image, which in return has impacted people of all ages, including young girls. Vic and I use this podcast as a platform to spread awareness and truly talk about the ways in which media can hurt you in 2021.
Me (Steph Veerman)!
My lovely friend and cohost, Vic Leyden!
We consulted the expert:
In order to have a different perspective from someone who is a social media influencer, we interviewed a Boston SoulCycle instructor who has a very strong social media presence. Bridget Sirotnak is a certified personal trainer and studies health and wellness, upon being a fitness instructor. She is constantly being immersed in an environment surrounded by fitness and body image, and by speaking with her we were able to gain a first-hand look into how influencers deal with the pressures that are put on them and how there are influencers who have taken the road less traveled in media, and have decided to defy beauty standards by showing reality. Clearly, no one is perfect, which is hard to believe when Bridget states that social media is “a constant highlight reel.” How will the cycle of toxic media end, and body positivity begin? Bridget shares her personal experiences on body image in the media, as a social media influencer.
SoulCycle instructor and media influencer, Bridget Sirotnak. @bridget.sirotnak on insta
Now listen and enjoy!!!
Here is the link to our very first podcast! Relax, grab a snack, and enjoy some ~intellectual~ conversation from Vic and I. Oh, and also try and look past our editing skills, or lack there of. We tried. So hard. Feeling like a boomer with all this technology.