Last Updated on 3rd January 2025 by Caroline Haye
Social media and body image research
Researchers in the USA conducted some research into the effects of Facebook use on users’ body-image and their findings (summarised below) come as no surprise. However, they are not quite those I would expect if they had conducted the same research on vitiligo sufferers… Which is why I’d love to know, is vitiligo an exception to the Facebook rule?
According to the research into social media users in general, about body image issues affected about 20% of adults and 40% of teenagers (that figure rising to 50% among teenage girls who, incidentally, spent, on average, one hour more per day on social media than their male counterparts). This was attributed to an unrealistic perception that others have better bodies and more beautiful faces by comparison with themselves.
The studies showed that the amount of time spent on Facebook and other platforms was directly related to the severity of negative feelings and unfavourable comparisons. In particular, for women who want to lose weight, more time on Facebook led to more attention being paid to physical appearance.
But would these findings hold true for vitiligo?
In itself, this is obviously not a healthy phenomenon. However, on the other side of the coin, I would be very interested to know (if anyone fancies funding a study into this) to what extent Facebook – and social media in general – has the opposite effect on those people who have vitiligo.
I know that before the age of the internet, when my vitiligo was at its worst, I felt completely alone, as though no one else in the world could possibly be going through the same experience as me. As far as I could see everyone else was normal and I was a freak. I was convinced that no one else would be able to look at me without my makeup and carefully chosen clothing and find me remotely attractive.
But (ironically for me, now that my vitiligo is virtually gone) today there are scores of vitiligo support pages on Facebook, plus hundreds of other sites and forums on the internet where vitiligo friends can swap photos, tips, experiences and encouragement and where comparing one’s appearance with others actually reinforces a sense of belonging and normality and where people can start to see beauty where they never saw it before – in the mirror.
