Guadalupe Cumplido

Dr. Santosh
English 113B
23 February 2016
The Dark side of the Social Media Empire
The biggest breakthrough in the internet is Social Media. There is nothing like a big
worldwide community that shares and communicates on the daily basis with this tool. The
biggest social media outlets of communication in the internet are Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram. Although social media has provided an easier way for people to share information,
build relationships and communicate emergencies with an ease; people have turned social media
into a space to stay updated with the latest trends of popular culture. It has become more like an
empire where the elite are the most famous and the users are ordinary people. Most of Reality
TV celebrities or music artists govern over the social media game. They influence the lives of
young adults with social trends, beauty standards, and lifestyle; all of this is bad because people
are no longer living their authentic selves.
Most of the youth population focuses on the new trends of social media. The latest
articles, shoes, clothes, and cosmetics has become the identity of many young adults. According
to the Oxford Reference Dictionary of Media and Communication, popular culture is defined as
the everyday life and or artefacts seen as reflecting the tastes and values of the masses (1).
Artefacts are posted and promoted by celebrities on their social media accounts. People that
follow them will spend a lot of money for what they see online promoted by their favorite
celebrities. The effectiveness of celebrity featuring advertisements has often been attributed to

the fact that consumers generally regard famous people as highly dynamic, appealing and
likeable personalities, which, in turn, attracts their attention to the products promoted (Atkins
and Block 3). People dont release that while celebrities get richer because of these type of
deals; they are adding more to their debt, depending on their financial circumstances. Since
social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were invented, everyone tends to want
what is popular in there. Woman focus most on cosmetics and they tend to want to have the look
most girls have on Instagram. Men focus on the latest brand of shoes and articles. People that
always stay updated with the latest trends fit in and tend to be the most popular ones. They live a
life of filters, creating their lives around artificial items and always trying to fit in.
Beauty standards are in another level because what is posted in social media. Most of the
woman, people define as beautiful on social media are the ones that have a glamorous makeup
and hair. People are so use to see woman with make up on pictures that if they dont see them
dolled up they dont look pretty anymore. Also, people admire the famous because they are the
ideal human bodies (Atkin and Block 57). People have always want to alter their image to fit in
the spectrum of the accepted culture found in social media. Last year alone, there was a big
popularity in big lips and buts. These body parts are considered to be attractive if they are bigger.
This ideology was projected all throughout social media and music. Music was a big influence;
famous artist made songs about big butts such as the Anaconda song by Nicki Minaj, Booty
by Jennifer Lopez and more. Trends all over twitter and Instagram where displayed about big
booties for days. This later became a big effect on social media when girls would post more
selfies with their backs displaying. Another big event on social media was the viral challenge
called The Kylie Jenner Challenge, where many teens tried to plump their lips up to look like
kylie Jenners with a glass shot or anything they could suck their lips into, however the cruel

reality was that many harm their lips by bruising and swallowing them, some even end it up in
the hospital. Most of the news outlets cover the Kylie Jenner challenge such as the USA Today.
They said it was a viral challenge that started on a Sunday night on twitter with the hashtag
kylie Jenner challenge (Oldenburg 1). This challenge on social media is a reflection of what
people observe and imitate on celebrities. Kylie Jenner seems to be the ideal image for many for
most young adults teenagers and seems like there is an aim to look like these celebrities. Many
people look on social media for the new trends when it comes to beauty, but the reality is many
feel out of place when they cant look nor be like the famous people they see on social media.
Social media has become a lifestyle for many young adults. On any given day, youth in
the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment (Wallace, 2015).
Many use social media as an escape. They are able to observe how the lifestyles of others are.
However, others use social media as a way to show a different lifestyle than their real lives. They
tend to show off what who they are with or what latest items they have purchased. They focus on
their cloths and physical appearance. Andy Bennett explains in the opening of his book Culture
and Everyday Life that as with culture, everyday life can no longer be regarded as a
homogenous term that bespeaks an essential truth about the ways in which individuals
experience the world around them (Duncan and Dimitris 307). Many young adults on social
media tend to live a superficial life, never their own because they cant get as much attention as
they would with their unrealistic selves and they only focus on the extravagant, going out, and
partying.
Lastly, social media is a great way to communicate with others, but it has become a
whole different world where the influence of the famous rule over the decisions of young adults.
Social trends are ways teens stay updated with what is popular. Beauty standards are defined

differently in social media and the way of life style has become very unrealistic of what life is
really about.
Works Cited
Atkin, Charles and Block, Martin. "Effectiveness of celebrity endorsers." Journal of Advertising
Research, Vol 23(1), Feb-Mar 1983, 57-61.
Chandler, Daniel, and Rod Munday. "Popular culture." A Dictionary of Media and
Communication. : Oxford University Press, 2011. Oxford Reference. 2011. Date
Accessed 7 Feb. 2016
Duncan, Derek, and Dimitris Papanikolaou. "Popular Culture." Year's Work in Critical and
Cultural Theory, 16.1 (2008): 302-324.
Ed. John Woodward. "Preface to 'What Values Does Popular Culture Promote?'." Popular
Culture. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.
Oldenburg, Ann. "Ouch! Don't Take the Kylie Jenner Challenge." USA Today. Gannett, 21 Apr.
2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Wallace, Kelly. CNN: Teens spend a 'mind-boggling' 9 hours a day using media, report says. 3
Nov 2015. Web. 10 Nov 2015.