Haylee Palmer

Professor Gonzalez

ENC1102

27 March 2024

Annotated Bibliography

Todd, C. L. (2021, November 10). Bella Hadid shares tearful photos of her mental health “roller

coaster.” SELF.

https://www.self.com/story/bella-hadid-mental-health-struggles-instagram

This article is about a very famous model, Bella Hadid, who shares her story of the reality

of her life that isn’t ever portrayed on social media. In Hadid’s post, she shared photos of her

upset and crying to show people who look up to her that that’s the reality of her nightly routines

and they are not always perfect like they seem to be on social media. The article discusses how

Bella Hadid mentioned the mental health issues that she struggles with, because no one would

know that she struggled with anxiety and depression because news outlets and social media only

show the side of her strutting down a runway looking beautiful or Youtube channels posting

Hadid’s “everyday night time routine,” only showing the positive and aesthetic parts of it. The

article says that Will Smith inspired her to openly talk about her mental health because Smith

opening up about his difficulties made Hadid feel less alone, and she wanted to do the same for

her following.

I chose this article to include in my research paper because it shows how even celebrities

are aware of how daunting social media and its unrealistic reality can affect people. This article

gives a different but useful perspective to my research because it shows the point of view of a

celebrity, and how they deal and see the unrealistic expectations people perceive from social
media. It should become more normalized for celebrities that have millions of people looking up

to them, be aware that they are just as human as anyone else and they go through the same

emotions any other person would. My research paper is about how the unrealistic expectations of

life are portrayed on social media, and this article shows that it’s okay to be vulnerable online

and talk about the issues that can be uncomfortable to show or admit to.

Competiello, Sarah K, et al. “The Power of Social Media: Stigmatizing Content Affects

Perceptions of Mental Health Care.” Social Media and Society, vol. 9, no. 4, 1 Oct. 2023,

https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231207847.

In the article The Power of Social Media: Stigmatizing Content Affects Perceptions of

Mental Health Care written by Sarah K. Competiello, George Y. Bizer, and D. Catherine

Walker, it talks about the research behind how social media can affect the mental health of its

users. In this research, a study was conducted where 176 people were shown either a tweet that

humorizes mental health issues or a tweet that was innocuous. After the selected people viewed a

specific type of tweet, they had to complete a questionnaire right after, reflecting on how the

tweet made them feel, their thoughts on it, if they found it interesting, etc. the results show that

the women who participated in the study had a higher reaction and feelings towards the

stigmatized tweet, rather than the women who viewed the control tweets. After the article

discusses the results of the study, it includes how many people with mental health issues due to

social media don’t speak out for treatment. The research also shows that women have more

effects from social media posts than men due, which goes with my research that the “get ready

with me” or “day in my life” videos create an unrealistic reality that women viewers think they
need to live up to, even though that’s not the case and it’s hard for women to see past the reality

behind what's posted on social media.

I selected this source for my research paper because it is a clear and supported research

study that directly shows how social media can affect the mental health of the people who

heavily use it. It shows that a simple tweet that takes 2 seconds to type out, can severely affect

someone and the way they view themselves or other people. I like how this article includes the

implications of the study so that the readers know what else went into the research that could

have altered the results.

Valkenburg, Patti M., and Jessica Taylor Piotrowski. Plugged In: How Media Attract and Affect

Youth. JSTOR, Yale University Press, 2017,

www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1n2tvjd.16?searchText=social+media+affects+mental+health&s

earchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dsocial%2Bmedia%2Baffects%2

Bmental%2Bhealth&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly

-default%3A962a04afeaadecdf1f4da30ca6e13ffa&seq=25. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

The article, Plugged In: How Media Attract and Affect Youth written by Valkenburg,

Patti M, and Jessica Piotrowski discussed how social media affects the mental health of young

people and how it has changed over time. The book includes statistics about how many people

receive negative feedback and interactions on social media, which is drastically more than the

amount of people who receive positive feedback. The article concludes that one of the only ways

to consistently have a positive experience with social media is if you keep your followers and

follow your close friends, which close to no one does. In the section of the article talking about

self awareness, it touches on how some individuals base their confidence on how other people
perceive them, which is a huge issue considering that earlier on in the article they said that over

half of the feedback people receive on their social media profiles is negative comments. It is

hypothesized that teens who have more public self-awareness use social media at a higher rate,

because they enjoy interacting with those who give feedback or comment on their profiles. This

can make it harder for more introverted people who use social media more to view what others

post rather than posting what’s going on in their life because it will seem like their life isn’t as

good or they aren’t as pretty as the people who use social media extensively. However, that is

not the case because people who use social media a lot only post the highlights of their life which

is easily overlooked by its viewers because that is not something we automatically think to

consider.

I chose to use this source for my research paper because it includes a lot of different

perspectives on social media and more aspects that can contribute to how social media causes

mental health issues in teens by making it seem like people’s life is more perfect than it is in

reality. For my research paper, I am going to be focusing on the chapter titled Self-Esteem, Self

Awareness because that closely relates to the purpose of my research. This article can benefit my

research because it looks at social media from many different angles and talks about how people

can use it in different ways.

Hill, Amy. “GRWM”: Modes of Aesthetic Observance, Surveillance, and Subversion on

YouTube.

https://mediarep.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c7141d34-580d-437b-a655-807ff52f8cc3/

This source focuses on what goes on behind the scenes of posting “uplifting” things on

social media such as getting ready for a fun event or having a perfect productive day. The author
of this article, Amy Hill, talks about how young girls are so active on social media nowadays and

see all of the famous influencers and celebrities posting the highs and rich aspects of their life,

without realizing all of the editing that goes into it, which is the whole purpose of Hill writing

this article. The author talks about how the majority of the TikTok content creators who make

GRWM use subtle filters that change their face shape to make it look better, which a lot of the

viewers don’t notice and become insecure of themselves since they don’t naturally look like they

have a filter on their face. Also, Hill also makes a point how when TikTokers make GRWM

videos, they often over exaggerate the event they are getting ready for to sound more fun,

therefore the viewers will think their life isn’t as exciting because they aren’t able to go to these

“incredibly fun” events.

I chose this source because the article differs from all of my other sources but still

supports my claim because it talks about all of the editing that goes on behind making videos for

social media. Instead of talking about all the toxicity caused to viewers after they are posted, it

goes into detail about the editing that the creators do to make their videos seem more aesthetic,

put together, and to make themselves look more flawless.

Norton, Kate. “Becoming “That Girl”: A Digital Ethnography of Productivity and Wellness

Culture on YouTube.” Knowledge UChicago, knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/5989?

ln=en&v=pdf. Accessed 13 Mar. 2024.

This source acknowledges how the “it girl” aesthetic seems to be such a motivational and

inspiring thing for girls, however it is actually making them more self conscious and insecure of

themselves. This article adds a helpful perspective to my research paper because it is written by

another college girl around the age of the majority of social media users who are affected by the
toxicity in the fakeness posted on social media. Kate Norton, the student who wrote this paper,

discusses how the way TikTok videos and social media posts in general are perceived differently

as the viewers vs the content creator. Being the “it girl” is promoted as looking clean at every

moment, never having messy hair, outfits always matching perfectly, keeping your room clean at

all times, etc. which is honestly a lot of work to do in reality. However, content creators are

making it look easy and their lives look perfect because they are able to edit out and choose what

to film in order to show the best version of themselves, which causes viewers to become more

critical of themselves on a daily basis.

This source is different from the other sources because it is another paper written by a

student at the University of Chicago, that is researching and analyzing the same topic that I am

writing about. This author focuses on the “it girl” aesthetic which is often used in productivity

videos or “day in the life” videos to make the creators life seem more aesthetic and energetic.

Unlike my other sources, this paper goes into detail about specific things celebrities and

influencers unintentionally say that can cause the viewers to feel more insecure about

themselves.

Sweeney-Romero, Katlin M. “Wellness TikTok: Morning Routines, Eating Well, and Getting

Ready to Be “That Girl.”” TikTok Cultures in the United States, 1 Jan. 2022,

www.academia.edu/85307816/Wellness_TikTok_Morning_Routines_Eating_Well_and_

Getting_Ready_to_Be_That_Girl_. Accessed 9 Nov. 2023.

This article focuses on how certain events that have become popular/trends on TikTok

over the years and how content creators romanticize them in their social media. Specifically, she

discusses certain content creators like the Brooklyn and Bailey twins and Emma Maguire who
put out content that younger girls tend to compare themselves to. Romero also mentions the

popular trend of “BamaRush TikTok” where girls would post GRWM to rush a sorority at the

University of Alabama, which is one of the most popular greek life schools in the nation. From

experience, going through rush to find a sorority you fit in with was not a fun, happy, and

glamorous experience and I know it is even more serious at Alabama. This causes girls to have

the wrong perception of people's lives when in reality, it is not as fun as they make it seem and is

rather draining.

I chose this article because it discusses the different TikTok trends that allows people to

“romanticize” their life and make it seem better than it actually is. The author adds in popular

hashtags that were popular as well as the “it girl” aesthetics. The article discusses how even

though influencers and celebrities post healthy lifestyle videos thinking they are promoting a

well being, it can be overwhelming to the viewers to feel that they have to live up to the

expectations that content creators seem to have as a normal lifestyle.

For my research paper this semester, I am writing about how social media can be toxic to

users, but more specifically how Get Ready With Me Tik Toks, productivity videos, the “it girl”

aesthetic, and more can cause mental health problems amongst younger girls. For my research I

have gathered six articles, journal entries, and papers to analyze what other people have found on

this topic. Each source adds a different perspective on my claim because they all discuss

different things about how said videos can be toxic to the viewers mental health. The purpose of

my research paper is to explore how social media content can create toxicity for social media

users, even though those types of content seem to promote happiness and well being at surface

level. After finding these six sources that I will be using to support my research, I have come to a

better understanding of the conversation I am going to support and research for my paper. The

reality and emotions that come out of social media are extremely overlooked especially in this

generation since our lives are so influenced by the content we see and hear on all social media

platforms. To add to it, anyone has the ability to become a content creator and gains thousands of

followers to have the freedom to post whatever they want, and the whole reason people gain

followers is by following the popular trends that unintentionally cause its viewers to be more

insecure and expect an unrealistic reality for life.

This topic is important because not a lot of people understand the causes and factors

behind the toxicity of social media. Influencers believe they are putting positive work out on

their platforms by posting fun, edited, and filtered “Get Ready With Me” videos productivity

videos, even though that is not realistically what they look like when they get ready or how they

spend their morning everyday. Social media users don’t see all of the editing that goes on prior to

influencer or celebrity posts, and it’s crucial to be aware of it because it will help followers
understand the difference between reality and what is posted on social media. Without

understanding the difference, it’s easy to feel insecure about our own lives because we are

constantly seeing the positive, productive, and pretty side of these famous people. Other

researchers should care about this topic because it is something that can be controlled and

prevented, so with social media having such a big impact on our generation and those to come, it

is crucial that we take power over this matter before it gets too out of hand.

The six sources I chose to support my research all connect to my purpose, but serve as

different focus points and perspectives in doing so. For example, Amy Hill wrote “ ‘GRWM’:

Modes of Aesthetic Observance, Surveillance, and Subversion on YouTube” which discusses the

editing aspect of what content creators do before posting content, making their lives look better

and making themselves look different with beauty filters. Whereas Katlin Sweeney Romero

author of, “Wellness TikTok: Morning Routines, Eating Well, and Getting Ready to Be ‘That

Girl.’” focuses on how certain events can be portrayed differently on social media and seem

more fun and exciting than they are in reality. Both of these articles contribute to my purpose of

researching how social media is fake and doesn’t show the reality and normalcy of life, however

they contribute different topics that back up my research in a similar way. Another source I will

be using titled “Becoming ‘That Girl’: A Digital Ethnography of Productivity and Wellness

Culture on YouTube” written by Kate Norton shows a perspective of a young girl who also

experiences the trouble of comparing your life to those on social media and feeling like you have

to live up to the unrealistic “it girl” aesthetic. This contributes to my research but differs from the

other articles and books I’m using because it shows how real and accurate this issue with social

media can be, and is not something that people over exaggerate the effects of.
 Overall, the goal of my research paper is to show how social media and the content

produced on different platforms can affect the viewers perspective of their own life, which

majority of it leads to a negative perspective. Each source contributes to this claim in their own

way and will create a conversation for the audience to understand my research and findings.