‘Selfie’ culture may be driving folks to get cosmetic surgery
The “selfie” culture on social media appears to be intensifying people’s desires to undergo cosmetic procedures, a new study suggests.
Time spent on Tiktok or Instagram seems to heighten a person’s interest in such procedures, researchers found. This was particularly true if folks used filters and photo-editing applications to alter the personal pictures they posted.
“While there are many factors that likely contribute to this, social media usage did likely increase the desire, among a subset of patients, to seek cosmetic procedures,” concluded the research team led by senior researcher Dr. Neelam Vashi, associate professor of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine.
Patients also were more likely to want a cosmetic procedure if they followed celebrities and influencers on social media, or if they followed accounts of plastic surgery or dermatology clinics that show the results of cosmetic procedures.
These factors all gained steam during the pandemic, with people stuck at home spending more time on social media and subsequently showing more interest in such surgeries, researchers said.
Study participants who followed social media accounts showing the results of cosmetic procedures rose from about 32% pre-pandemic to 51% postpandemic.
At the same time, those contemplating cosmetic procedures rose from 64% to 86%, while those who’d consulted with a doctor about a procedure rose from 44% to 68%.
Overall, about 78% of participants post-pandemic said they thought a cosmetic procedure would help their self-esteem, compared to 48% prepandemic, researchers found.
The study was recently published in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology.
For the study, Vashi and her colleagues surveyed 175 people at an outpatient dermatology clinic in Boston between October 2019 and June 2021. The survey included 75 cosmetic patients, 49 people there for general dermatology and 51 non-patients.