Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
Home> Volumes> Volume CHR Vol.17> Article
Research Article

Young Females’ Appearance Anxiety in the Self-presentation of the Social Media Platform Xiaohongshu

Yingtong LiThe University of Melbourne*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate how self-presentation on contemporary social media platforms propagates young females’ appearance anxiety, and takes Xiaohongshu, a social media platform currently very popular among young Chinese females, as an example. This study conducted an open-ended questionnaire survey with 40 young women aged 18-30 years old through qualitative analytical research methods, and further conducted one-on-one structured in-depth interviews with representative KOLs and KOC users on the Xiaohongshu platform. Their responses focused on the strategies for presenting themselves on social media platforms, platform interventions, and social aesthetic convergence influences. The findings demonstrate that self-presentation in social media exacerbates contemporary young female appearance anxiety inextricably linked to individual, platform and social factors. This effect is intensified through the platforms’ adverse value propaganda and influencer marketing interventions, the individual’s reshaping of self-presentation based on socially comparative ideologies that conform to dominant aesthetic trends, and the relatively convergent and deeply ingrained aesthetic trends that prevail in contemporary societies.

Keywords: social media; self-presentation; social comparison; young females; appearance anxiety
Published: November 28, 2023
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/17/20230883
Volume: CHR Vol.17
pp. 141-148
Download PDF

References

  1. Xu, Y., & Wang, Y. (2022, November). The Influence of Chinese Social Media”Xiaohongshu” on Appearance Anxiety Among University Students in Shanghai. In 2022 International Conference on Science Education and Art Appreciation (SEAA 2022) (pp. 1438-1444). Atlantis Press.
  2. Zhang, X., Zhu, W., Sun, S., & Chen, J. (2021). Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu). Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756010
  3. Deng, F., & Jiang, X. (2023). Effects of human versus virtual human influencers on the appearance anxiety of social media users. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 71, 103233.
  4. Zhong, Y. (2022). The Influence of Social Media on Body Image Disturbance Induced by Appearance Anxiety in Female College Students. Psychiatria Danubina, 34(suppl 2), 638-638.
  5. Marengo, D., Longobardi, C., Fabris, M. A., & Settanni, M. (2018). Highly-visual social media and internalizing symptoms in adolescence: The mediating role of body image concerns. Computers in Human Behavior, 82, 63-69.
  6. Evens, O., Stutterheim, S. E., & Alleva, J. M. (2021). Protective filtering: A qualitative study on the cognitive strategies young women use to promote positive body image in the face of beauty-ideal imagery on Instagram. Body image, 39, 40-52.
  7. Friedkin, N. E., & Johnsen, E. C. (2011). Social influence network theory: social comparison theory. Cambridge University Press, 7,160-184.
  8. Bue, A. C. C. (2020). The looking glass selfie: Instagram use frequency predicts visual attention to high-anxiety body regions in young women. Computers in Human Behavior, 108, 106329.
  9. Hawes, T., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Campbell, S. M. (2020). Unique associations of social media use and online appearance preoccupation with depression, anxiety, and appearance rejection sensitivity. Body Image, 33, 66-76.
  10. Lang, M., Chen, P., Li, X., & Ye, Y. (2023).” Refusing appearance anxiety”: A content analysis of body positive posts on Chinese social media. Body Image, 45, 414-419.
  11. Chen, L. (2023). Beginning to Dismantle New Stereotypes: Female Body Image Anxiety Formation and Change in Social Media, Using Red Book As an Example. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 157, p. 03009). EDP Sciences.
  12. Jin, Y., & Yu, H. (2021). Content governance mechanism of social e-commerce platform from the perspective of information ecology: A case study of Xiaohongshu. 2021 2nd International Conference on E-Commerce and Internet Technology (ECIT), 159-162. https://doi.org/10.1109/ECIT52743.2021.00043
  13. Sokolova, K., Kefi, H., & Dutot, V. (2022). Beyond the shallows of physical attractiveness: Perfection and objectifying gaze on Instagram. International Journal of Information Management, 67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102546
  14. Lian, K., Chen, Z., & Zhang, H. (2021, August). From the perspective of feminism: Market positioning of xiaohongshu. In 2021 5th International Seminar on Education, Management and Social Sciences (ISEMSS 2021) (pp. 190-194). Atlantis Press.
  15. Shao, L. (2023). The techno-beauty myth: the self-representations of young Chinese women on social media. Journal of Gender Studies, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2023.2207001
  16. Schäfer, M. S. (2015). Digital Public Sphere. In G. Mazzoleni (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Political Communication (pp. 322-328). John Wiley & Sons Inc. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1002/9781118541555.wbiepc087