Scroll. Compare. Scroll again. That’s the routine. For so many girls my age, TikTok and Instagram aren’t just apps–they’re mirrors we didn’t ask for, but feel forced to look into every day.
On my page, I see perfect skin, slim waists, toned legs, and “effortless” beauty routines that somehow take an hour to do. Filters smooth out pores, editing apps shrink bodies all while influencers swear they “woke up like this.” Like yeah, sure you did. And even though I know it’s fake, it all still gets to me. It makes me wonder why I don’t look like that, why I don’t fit the beauty standards, why am I not like them.
Now I don’t hate social media – I use it. I love it. Like hello I’m a 16-year-old girl, of course I’m going to be on social media. It’s funny, entertaining and sometimes inspiring, but we need to be real here, the way these apps are running, they are destroying the way teens see themselves, especially girls. And pretending it’s “just social media” doesn’t change the damage it’s doing.
The problem is, these platforms are shaping what we think is normal. When every viral video shows the same body type, the same face shape, the same “clean girl aesthetic,” it sends a message: this is what beauty looks like, this is what people look for, this is how I should look and anything and everything else is less. That constant pressure is exhausting. Girls start obsessing over calories, angles, and lighting instead of focusing on school, sports, their own health or just being a teenager.
What makes everything worse is how normalized it is. Comments like “bod goals,” “I wish I looked like this” or even “remind me not to eat today” build a culture where value is tied to appearance. Mind you, you don’t even have to search for these videos – the algorithm pushes it to you. I could be watching dance videos or funny content, and suddenly I’m comparing my body to someone I’ve never even met.
It’s not just entertainment– it’s influence, and it’s powerful.
Still, social media isn’t all bad. I’ve seen creators who show real bodies, talk about acne, stretch marks and reality in general. Those videos feel like a breath of fresh air. They remind me that real people don’t look like edited insta highlights 24/7.
So yes, TikTok and Instagram one hundred percent impact body image. They can hurt, but they can also help– depending on who we follow and how we see them. As girls, we need content that makes us feel confident, not insecure. And as users, we need to remember that a filtered screen should never define our worth.
Because at the end of the day, we are more than a scroll, more than a trend and definitely more than a beauty standard.
