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Hello everyone!
My name is Carly, and as a senior at BASIS Scottsdale, I get to spend the last trimester of school doing a Senior Research Project (SRP). During this time, my peers and I can explore our interests to answer a research question of our choosing. No more classes? I can watch Netflix all day then, right? Actually, as part of our SRPs, we must have an internship, where we can further our knowledge on our topics and work to answer our research questions. Starting in early February, I will be an intern at A New Beginning, the excellent outpatient treatment center for eating disorders.
So I suppose I won't be wearing sweatpants while re-watching full seasons of old shows all day, but the internship will be a far more valuable experience. As a teenage girl growing up in America, I have been unable to escape the use of social media. When Instagram first gained popularity, I thought, "This is pointless. I'm never going to get an Instagram." Later, I realized Instagram contained more than a ton of ego-centric "selfies," so I decided to create an account for "following" others, but not for posting my own pictures. While I do frequently see Arizona sunset pictures on Instagram (Arizona really does have the prettiest sunsets) and a gamut of other random things, I still see a ton of "selfies," or pictures of people taken by someone else (which no longer makes them "selfies," technically, to anyone reading this who is not super Instagram-involved). While these pictures of people may seem harmless, maybe they are not. Perhaps constantly seeing pictures of other people in bikinis with their "perfect bodies" during the summer makes other people feel badly about their own bodies, for example.
I hope to analyze the impact of social media on eating disorders, focusing primarily on anorexia for my research question. I will be spending the next 3 months developing an answer to this question. I will post weekly on this blog about what I find regarding my research question, and what I learn during my time at A New Beginning.
Thanks for checking out my blog!
Until next time,
Carly Sykes
Great research project idea! I am so excited to read your upcoming posts and find out what you uncover about anorexia in relation to social media. Also harmful are the filters that most people apply to their pictures before they post them. Filters portray a fake and unrealistic image, making the self-taker appear flawless, which can be dangerous to those who are comparing themselves.
ReplyDeleteI am excited to read more about your experience at A New Beginning and your findings about the harmful effects of social media on anorexia.
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting! As someone who uses social media a lot, I can completely relate to what you are saying. Seeing pictures of other people's perfect bodies can definitely make others feel unhappy about their own selves. I am sure the outpatient facility will be such a good opportunity and experience as well. I can't wait to see what you find!
ReplyDeleteWill you be conducting interviews at A New Beginning? Or will you be observing?
ReplyDeleteHi! Sorry for my delay in responding. To be honest, I was not sure of the answer to this immediately because I needed to discuss confidentiality limitations with my on-site advisor. To answer your question, since the clients' information is private, I cannot be a part of their treatment and cannot interview them. I hope this clarifies!
DeleteWow! What a great project!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ellie and I am from Lutheran High School in Parker, Colorado. I found your project proposal so interesting, and I think this is a really important subject to be researched. Your work is very relevant, and I think that's great. As someone who can pull from personal experiences, social media can be absolutely detrimental to people who are struggling with these types of things. Society just won't stop telling us what we need to be and what we need to look like, and it's so many people all throughout America. I think that what you are studying is great, and I can't wait to see more of what you find.