Can the negative psychological impacts of social media be reduced by online health warnings? An investigation of body image disturbance.

Females are increasingly experiencing concern with their own appearance. This may be exacerbated by exposure to social media (Grabe, Ward & Hyde, 2008), on which current trends suggests that in order for women to be considered attractive, they must look a certain way (Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2015).
Researchers and practitioners have started to look for methods of protection against the negative impact of comparing oneself to "thin" media models. However, effective means are yet to be identified regarding how this could be achieved on popular social media sites - a known cause of body dissatisfaction and therefore an expedient focus for providing protection.
The proposed research programme involves three linked studies to comprehensively investigate the connection between body image concern and online health warnings presented via social media, within young female populations. Studies 1 and 2 will utilise both qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore: (1) what young females are thinking/feeling while viewing different social media - including posts of thin females; and (2) social media users' perceptions of existing techniques for warning people about online content. The results will inform the design of Study 3, which will explore whether certain types of online warnings can successfully reduce the extent to which users see thin body frames as the ideal appearance.
It is anticipated that this research will make a needed and original contribution to knowledge regarding the psychological responses of young females when exposed to social media images, and the efficacy of different forms of warnings to provide some protective value.