Public Report

What stands out in Figure 4:

Almost half of the girls experience that social media have a bad influence on how they think about themselves, while this is only the case for almost a quarter of the boys. Boys are more likely to experience a good influence of social media on their self-esteem than girls.

Boy (17): “For me, social media is motivating. If you see someone who is shredded, all muscular, you want that too. You know what? I'm just going to exercise now, better go to the gym than lie on the couch.”

Age

16/17-year-olds are more likely (42%) to feel that social media have a bad influence on their self-esteem than 14/15-year-olds (31%).

Girl (16): “I think social media have brought my self-esteem down in the years I've been using it. When you see models all the time and all that and you're still very young yourself and you don't know how it all works.”

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