In an age where media is disseminated digitally on social media, Asian American women are consuming digital media frequently. When there is a lack of representation in the media, social media may be used to find individuals of the same race or ethnicity. However, social media presents other problems that are detrimental to the body image of women. Sadly, there is minimal research on how social media use generally impacts Asian American women, so this section will use only studies which analyzed social media usage and consumption in American women. Overall, the research indicates that social media usage can damage the self-esteem and body images of American women.

​

Social media can be damaging to American women because the social media algorithm is built to value conventional beauty standards and upon the labor of women. The algorithm on Facebook and Instagram values “hotness,” which is defined through skinniness, curves, and tanned but white skin, and senses when people find posts to be engaging (Carah and Dobson, 2016, p. 8). Building the algorithm this way is problematic because the software defines what traits are feminine. Then social media users, predominantly women, position themselves to accentuate the most desirable traits of the body. Women use social media for social expression, but there is an element of labor that goes into creating social posts, even if they are just photographs. Researchers labeled the phenomenon where individuals use aesthetics and digital labor in postfeminist cultures as aesthetic labor (Carah and Dobson, 2016, p. 8). Women and girls are most likely to use aesthetic labor to create and maintain the algorithm in a form of social reproduction, the amplification of social, cultural, and interpersonal rituals. This ideology presents that social strategies are used to reproduce an idealized body (Carah and Dobson, 2016, p. 9). Through social reproduction, the algorithm rewards individuals with ideal body standards by amplifying their posts on other people’s feeds. For Asian American women who may not fit the standard of having white skin, being skinny, or having curves, the social media algorithm could prevent the amplification of their posts, leaving them out of the social construction of “hotness.” The sexist and racist nature of the social media algorithm could prove to be damaging for women of color.

​

Though social media literacy has been a proposed solution to fight against body dissatisfaction, much of the proposed education criteria may have minimal impacts on young girls and women. Social media literacy, defined as the process of critically thinking about digital content to effectively participate on social media, empowers young women and girls to look at digital images and recognize when they have been altered (Tamplin, McLean, and Paxton, 2018, p. 30). A study that looked at the impact of social media literacy education on teenage girls found that while the education protected girls against the damaging impacts of commercials, it did not protect against body dissatisfaction as a result of looking at peer photos (Tamplin, McLean, and Paxton, 2018, pp. 34-35). Though media literacy skills allow an individual to see the flaws of commercials on social media, it does not protect them from internalizing beauty standards from their peers. The Asian American women compare themselves to their white peers, so social media literacy would not protect them from negative body satisfaction. Another study found that digital editing knowledge increased with age, meaning that third-grade girls could not identify airbrushing while older students could (Kiefner-Burmeister and Musher-Eizenman, 2018, p. 649). Additionally, though identification increased with age, so did thin-ideal internalization, meaning that women of all ages struggle with body dissatisfaction. However, when college-age students reflect on their exposure to digital media over time, they may absorb more media positively and learn to identify airbrushing (Kiefner-Burmeister and Musher-Eizenman, 2018, p. 650). Learning to reflect on one’s exposure to digital media empowers girls to recognize the harmful effects it can have.

​

Digital reflection may help Asian American women develop a better relationship with their bodies, but they must have spaces to intentionally reflect on their experiences with body image. Digital tools such as Zoom can be used to start conversations about body image. Many of the participants expressed that the interviews gave them room to speak about these issues and reflect on them for the first time. By creating virtual meetings to discuss body image in the Asian diaspora, Asian American women can talk about the impact of hurtful comments and expectations in their communities. Additionally, tools such as Adobe Photoshop and ProCreate were used to design the images on the homepage. The intent behind those images was to turn pictures of the participants into illustrations to showcase that their bodies are art. In a time where the pandemic separates people, Asian American women can bond together over their collective experiences that reflect their experiences with body image.