In today’s society, social media and short-video platforms are in full swing, especially among the younger generation, which is my research population, Chinese women in Generation Z. I recently read an academic article about the effects of short-video use on depression among Chinese female university students. I recently read an academic article about the impact of short video use on depression among female college students. The article explores the association between video use, female self-objectification and body satisfaction, and depression. This blog post aims to provide an in-depth analysis of these findings, as well as critical thinking and reflection.
Firstly, there is the content of the article and the mechanisms of influence. The main finding of this study is that short video use is positively correlated with depressive symptoms and self-objectification and negatively correlated with body satisfaction among female college students. These findings raise an important but complex question: why do short videos affect depression in female college students?
1, Self-objectification: Short video platforms often have a heightened focus on women’s bodies and appearance, which may lead women to see themselves more from others’ perspectives and thus fall into a state of self-objectification.
2, Social Comparison: Short video platforms are full of carefully curated and retouched content, which can easily trigger users to make unhealthy social comparisons, thus affecting body satisfaction and mental health.
3, Information overload and anxiety: the fast pace and large amount of information in short videos may lead to increased psychological stress, further affecting mental health.
However, I have also critically thought and reflected on this article. Firstly, the lack of cultural context: although the article targets female college students, it does not delve into China’s unique cultural and social environments, which may further influence the impact of short videos on women’s depression. Second, the limitation of a single platform: the study mainly focused on short video platforms, but the social media ecosystem is much more than that. This limits our understanding of how social media affects female body image and depression across the board. Therefore, given the shortcomings in this article, I plan to conduct further research. This will include conducting in-depth interviews with others to obtain more comprehensive and accurate information. contributing to our fuller understanding of the impact of social media on women’s body image and mental health.
Whilst this article provides useful preliminary data, it also exposes a number of issues that need to be explored further. The impact of social media on women’s body image and mental health is a complex topic that requires multiple perspectives and levels of research to fully parse. This blog aims to provide a critical and reflective analysis to facilitate further discussion.
Referenceļ¼The Impact of Short-Video Use on Depression of Female Undergraduate: A Chain Mediating Model of Self- Objectification and Body Satisfaction
Liang Xiaoyan, Guo Xiaorong , Zhao Tong (School of Educational Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006)