Script informative speech
Assalamualaikum and hi everyone. I heard this great analogy about when we see ducks
swimming in a pond, it just looks like they are kind of seamlessly floating out there. That is all
we see. Yet if we are looking underneath the water, their little feet are flapping away to try to
keep them afloat. This quote by Andrea D. Vazzana compares swimming ducks on social
media. The perfect pictures that we see on Instagram are like the behind the scenes of each
picture posted. I have done a lot of research for this topic, and it is important for you to listen
to my speech today as social media can open opportunities for us to compare our self with
others and can also create negative effects on one’s body image and mental health. By
triggering comparison with others, it can raise doubts about self-worth, leading to mental
health issues such as anxiety and depression. As the young generation, we might easily be
affected by social media as we spend most of our time scrolling through the internet. Today I
would like to explain about how social media affects our self-esteem and its trend on young
generation.
Let’s move on to the first effects of social media on self-esteem.
Social media has created a view of the world that is completely different from the lives we
live in real life. According to some studies, social media use does appear to cause a
decrease in self-esteem, with the age group most affected being girls between the ages of
10 and 14. This is because this age group is already more likely to succumb to self-esteem
issues, as they’re less aware of who they are and fraught with comparisons, including
appearances, clothes, grades, and other interests. Social media has created a view of the
world that is completely different from the lives we live in real life. Comparison with others
can lower self-esteem of the individual. Self-esteem refers to a person’s positive or negative
evaluation of the self; to the extent to which an individual views the self as worthwhile and
competent. Comparing oneself to unrealistic images of others is harmful, as decreased self-
esteem can potentially lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. For
example, when a person with decreased self-esteem scrolls through social media and sees
any good happening in others life, they start comparing those with what they have or do not
have, which triggers anxiety and start creating a false world where everybody is happy,
except them. People with decreased self-esteem start using ‘perfectly edited feeds’ as a
smoke screen over their real problems and portraying a false identity of themselves which is
completely different from who they are in real life. Watch for these warning signs of low self-
esteem in yourself. If they speak negatively about their life, judges themself, has negative
body image, they may be suffering from low self-esteem brought on by the excessive use of
social media apps. Hence, don’t determine your self-worth based on social media.
Let’s move on to the percentage of media impact on body image and self-esteem.
In a study that was conducted by Ricciadelli, L. and McCabe, weight loss is common
amongst adolescent girls because of the social pressures which are placed upon them. This
is because girls feel the need to be thin and skinny to be classified as beautiful and
attractive. The practices that girls undertake to lose weight to achieve the ‘perfect body’ can
be dangerous both physically and psychologically. Here is the percentage of media impact
on body image and self-esteem. The results which have been collected show that there are
a few significant issues that impact upon body image and self-esteem for adolescents. From
this survey we can conclude adolescents need to be educated so they are continued to be
made aware of the risks associated with extreme dieting, body dissatisfaction, peer
pressures and the media.
Let’s move on to the conclusion. Today I have discussed about social media’s effects which
can lower our self-esteem and percentage of media impact on body image and self-esteem.
We should try to portray ourselves on social media the way we are in real life. Realizing that
we are not in actual world what we are on social media can affect our self-esteem up to a
greater extent.
