Actor Sydney Sweeney, best known for her roles on Euphoria and The White Lotus, has opened up about the pressures of social media, stating that Instagram is the ‘most unhealthy’ part of her life.
The 23-year-old is currently doing press for her new thriller, Voyeurs, which follows a couple that begin spying on their neighbours. A metaphor for the social media culture we live in now, where we’re constantly stalking each other’s lives, Sydney explained that the film highlights the dangers of comparing your life to someone else’s.
‘I’ve never seen a movie, especially present day, explore the detrimental side of our society,” she told the Independent. ‘Because you’re constantly comparing yourself to their lives, what they’re wearing, where they are, what they look like, and I think that’s something that [my character] Pippa totally has a lot of problems with, and she’s comparing herself to across the window and the couple.
‘[Instagram is] the most unhealthy part of my life,’ Sydney went on to say. ‘The fact that I am second guessing and having anxiety over posting a picture is sickening.’
The young actor has been open about her anxiety due to social media in the past, posting a tearful video about the impact of trolling in May this year.
‘Apparently I am trending on Twitter right now for being ugly,’ she said on Instagram. ‘I think it’s really important for people to see how words actually affect people. I know everyone says, “You can’t read things,” and “You shouldn’t read things,” but like, I’m a fucking person! I’m just sitting here with my dog Tink watching HGTV wearing my Snuggie. People need to be nicer on social media, because it is really f*cked up.’
Her warning comes at the same time as Girlguiding’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey 2021, which revealed that young women’s overall happiness has dramatically declined in the last decade. According to their study, 45% of girls aged 11 to 21 said images they had seen online had made them feel insecure about their appearance – rising to 50% of 17- to 21-year-olds. More than 94% of girls and young women in the study said that more should be done to protect young people from body image pressures online.
As such, Girlguiding is calling for urgent action from the government to better support young women’s wellbeing, education and wider opportunities and thus increase overall happiness. As part of this, the charity has demanded that all online harms legislation include the acknowledgements of the harms girls face online, including pressures around their appearance.
‘Sadly I don’t find the results of the research surprising,’ Girlguiding Advocate, Amanda, aged 17, told Grazia. ‘We’re exposed to more and more pressures, both online – from harassment to images portraying unrealistic ideals of “perfection” – and as a result of the pandemic and the disruption it’s brought to everyday life. Pressures like these are directly impacting the confidence and happiness of girls and young women in the UK.’
‘It breaks my heart that almost half of the girls and young women in the UK have been left feeling insecure about their appearance because of unattainable standards of “perfection”’ Sasha Pallari, creator of the #FILTERDROP campaign on Instagram, added. ‘Over the past 18 months, we've been challenged in so many ways, especially since spending so much time online so it doesn't surprise me at all that feelings of self-consciousness and insecurity are on the rise.
‘We need to see more being done to protect young women's wellbeing and self-confidence if we are going to revert this level of unhappiness. The filters allow us to heavily rely on a false reality and I believe removing them is the first step to acceptance, and after acceptance we can rebuild confidence.’
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