Within the last decade, social media platforms have become a popular form of self-representation and self-expression, primarily amongst most teens and twenty-somethings. Selfies, self-portraits, have become a popular trend in social media that have replaced portraits with self-enhanced pictures. Selfies "capture and preserve ourselves in [a] material[istic] way", through self-awareness from a controlled "projected awareness" (Suler 175). This allows the artist to create their own identity, allowing their self-portraits to reveal what they want their audience to see. Meanwhile, detaching themselves from the body and objectifying their pictures through the eyes of the audience. While selfies play a large role in self-presentation within social media, how do selfies encourage body dysmorphia, self-objectification, and lower self-esteem in young adults using social media platforms?

Selfies are a self-portrait of the artist, created as an identity for a general or specific audience. Due to the media 's "exposure to ideal body shapes," the Creator may get lost in this new-found identity in response to the "social pressure to conform to a [specific] body form" (Helmick 290). Resulting in signs of body dysmorphia. Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a chronic mental disorder which causes a person to have obsessive-compulsive tendencies over their appearance and body image. They often groom and seek out reassurance for their appearance throughout the day no matter how minor or