Why do some women post a lot of photos of themselves on Facebook? A new study shows that it's because they are "more likely to base their self-worth on appearance and use social networking to compete for attention."
Overall, the results suggest that, compared with men, females identify more strongly with their image and appearance and use Facebook to compete for attention, said the lead author of the study, Michael A. Stefanone, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Buffalo.
The women who had the largest social networks and posted more photos of themselves were more highly vested in their appearance.
“The results suggest persistent differences in the behavior of men and women that result from a cultural focus on female image and appearance,” Stefanone said in a news release. “[I]t is disappointing to me that in the year 2011 so many young women continue to assert their self worth via their physical appearance — in this case, by posting photos of themselves on Facebook as a form of advertisement. Perhaps this reflects the distorted value pegged to women’s looks throughout the popular culture and in reality programming from ‘The Bachelor’ to ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians.’ ”
The authors also speculated that posting a lot of photos of oneself in the company of other people “may serve to communicate the importance of particular relationships because these bonds may provide security regarding ones appearance and self worth.”
Shari Loam of The Los Angeles Times explains: Link | Photo: Shutterstock
Because marketting is the foremost influence on a child's development, and the "sexy" is the primary association with which marketters do their dasterdly deeds. DeWalt can sell more tools if it puts them in the hands of bikini clad supermodels than if it tells you what the specifications are. Girls naturally want to be seen as attractive and that is primarily physical, whereas men also want to be seen as attractive through their dominance (ability to control the environment).
In-fact, Pick-Up theory, like that of Neil Strauss hooks into these very same psychological undertones. The egotism. Like Lucifer, we all want to shine brightest, or at least be recognized for being the darkest. We want to stand out, be noticed, get attention. If a commercial says "Do this and you will get attention!" a lot of us will do it. I don't know who exactly, all I know is that when Maybeline says "Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybeline" this was a major shift in marketting beauty products to women. The hook here is that a woman can look pretty, even if she isn't naturally pretty, and no one will know that underneath that whale fat and bile extract there is a natural woman with a natural face which by today's sensibilities would probably be called "hideous". Why? Because we are used to seeing a thick layer of plaster. We have adapted to the stimuli.
Social studies are interesting, though often times they're non-sensical (or darned obvious) on the surface.
In this particular study, I think there has always been people who crave attention. Facebook is an (easy) outlet for that. Had there been no Facebook, they'd still be clamoring for attention.
Dunno how that conversation got turned to brand loyalty though.