Watching Less Than 3 Minutes Of A Particular Type Of Post On Social Media Is Enough To Make A Man Feel Insecure, Says Study
cottonbro studio | Pexels It's no secret that scrolling social media can have a negative impact on a woman's body image. But what's not as widely publicized is that it impacts men, too.
A study published in the journal Body Image found that for young men in particular, watching just a few minutes of fitness content on socials can leave them feeling insecure, affecting their mental and emotional well-being. The TikTok content wasn't just about watching guys lift in a gym, either. It was anything regarding body image, supplements, and overall fitness.
Watching less than 3 minutes of fitness videos on social media is enough to make a man feel insecure.
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Based on the study's findings, researchers found that young men scrolling through TikTok who spent less than 3 minutes watching fitness-focused videos felt much less satisfied with their body image. It's not much different than women watching beauty content, but it speaks to the fact that comparison culture is wreaking havoc on the confidence of anyone who engages with social media, even if it's for only a few minutes at a time.
Men who watched fitness TikToks also reported lower nutritional satisfaction, meaning these videos made them feel that they weren't eating the right foods and taking the right supplements in order to get a better body.
Short-form videos flooding young men's feeds are reshaping how they feel about their bodies.
Participants in the study were randomly split into three groups. One group watched about 3 minutes of TikTok fitness content featuring muscular men demonstrating workouts and offering exercise tips.
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Another group watched supplement-focused TikTok's featuring similar muscular men discussing protein powder, creatine, and other workout-enhancing supplements. While the third group, the control group, watched travel TikToks.
After watching, men who viewed either fitness or supplement TikToks reported feeling much more insecure about their body image than those who watched travel videos. The study concluded that young men who spent just three minutes interacting with fitness content were enough to affect their satisfaction with fitness and even nudge them to consider taking supplements.
Experts have long found that social media contributes to men suffering from body dysmorphia.
According to the American Psychological Association, teens and young adults who reduced their social media use by 50% for just a few weeks saw significant improvement in how they felt about both their weight and their overall appearance compared with those who scrolled without restraint.
"Youth are spending, on average, between six to eight hours per day on screens, much of it on social media," explained lead author of the study, Gary Goldfield.
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He continued, "Social media can expose users to hundreds or even thousands of images and photos every day, including those of celebrities and fashion or fitness models, which we know leads to an internalization of beauty ideals that are unattainable for almost everyone, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with body weight and shape."
Just as social media can greatly affect how young women see their bodies and appearance, the same can be said for young men. Considering that young people spend so much time on social media watching and consuming others' lives, it's easy for them to fall into the trap of thinking someone else's life looks better than their own. Appearance is no exception.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
