Unraveling the impact of self-esteem on the utilization of Instagram filters: the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation.

The popularity of social media platforms, such as Instagram, has given rise to a surge in photo editing and filtering practices among users. Understanding the underlying psychological factors that drive individuals to employ filters is crucial in comprehending the impact of such behavior on self-perception and online interactions. This study aims to investigate the influence of self-esteem on the importance attributed to the use of Instagram filters, with a particular focus on the mediating role played by the fear of negative evaluation. A sample of participants (N = 2,657) from diverse demographic backgrounds has been recruited to complete a series of questionnaires measuring self-esteem, fear of negative evaluation, and Instagram filter usage patterns. Mediation analysis has been employed to assess the extent to which the fear of negative evaluation mediates the relationship between self-esteem and filter usage importance. In line with the hypotheses, the results revealed that participants self-esteem negatively predicted fear of negative evaluation, which in turn had a positive effect on use of filters. Furthermore, fear of negative evaluation fully mediated the relationship between self-esteem and use of filters. Overall, the implications of this research extend to both theoretical and practical domains. The findings can contribute to the existing literature on self-esteem, social media behavior, and body image by shedding light on the factors influencing digital self-presentation.

Related metacognitions, desire thinking and identity differentially predict compulsion and withdrawal symptoms in problematic Instagram use.

Work has identified that metacognitive thought results in desire-based thinking and perpetuates the magnitude and severity of maladaptive behaviour including problematic social media use, and also that one's ingroup identity is related to increasing problematic behaviour. No evidence has ascertained the relative contribution of these as related differential factors in the experience of problematic social media use. The current study explored the comparative importance of components of desire thinking, positive and negative metacognitions and dimensions of ingroup identity on degree of problematic use among 147 current Instagram users. Results showed that for predicting general problematic Instagram use negative metacognitive beliefs and the verbal perseverance component of desire-based thinking were significant. Importantly, however, different factors appeared to be important for predicting distinct aspects of problematic Instagram. For compulsivity indicators, negative metacognitions and verbal perseveration were essential, whereas for the withdrawal component identity centrality (and no other dimensions of identity) and imaginal prefiguration emerge as the sole independent predictors.

Cytopathology in the era of social media.

In today's medical landscape, social media (SoMe) platforms have expanded their reach beyond mere communication and entertainment, making a significant impact in the pathology field, including cytopathology. In recent years, SoMe platforms have become increasingly adopted by cytopathologists, facilitating continued education, professional networking, enhancing patient engagement, and entertainment. This adoption has influenced the professional growth of cytopathologists, and at its best, has led to the establishment of a robust professional online presence and ultimately contributed to leadership positions, fellowship opportunities, and academic promotions. Moreover, the integration of SoMe into the academic field has shown a profound impact on the visibility of academic journals and has provided a platform for lower-impact factor journals to expand their reach, ultimately increasing article citation rates and positively contributing to journal impact factor growth. SoMe platforms created a modern avenue for conference networking that has revolutionized knowledge dissemination and enhanced real-time engagement. The advantages of SoMe have extended to a global scale, positively enhancing professional expertise sharing, facilitating effective communication and teleconsultation worldwide, and reaching developing countries. Drawing insights from the recent medical literature and the practical insight from the experts' personal experience, this article provides a comprehensive review of how SoMe and cytopathology intersect to create new opportunities, facilitating informed discussions, global collaboration, and advancements in the field of cytopathology. This article also delves into the challenges surrounding SoMe platform navigation and addresses ethical and regulatory concerns, providing guidelines on what to post and what not to post on SoMe platforms.

Fertility education on Instagram: advertisements vs. educational content analysis for posts in Bahasa (Indonesian language).

Background: As one of Indonesia's major social media platforms, Instagram provides abundant information, including fertility topics. However, fertility information in Bahasa (Indonesian language) had never been mapped before. This study aims to determine the prevalence, authorship, and types of fertility-related information in Bahasa shared on Instagram using hashtag and content analysis. Additional outcomes included a comparison of post content stratified by author type (healthcare providers vs. non-healthcare providers). Materials and methods: Five hashtags comprising fertility terms in Bahasa (Indonesian language) were derived. Content analysis was performed on the top 100 posts for each hashtag to determine the authorship and content type. The contents posted by healthcare providers were analyzed and compared to those published by non-healthcare providers. Results: Our search yielded 3 883 000 posts for the five most popular hashtags. The three most popular hashtags were 'promil', 'program hamil' and 'bayitabung'. Authorship of the top posts for each hashtag was predominantly by for-profit healthcare institutions (27.6%), followed by commercial alternative/herbal medicine (20.2%), patients (20%), physicians (11.8%), allied health professionals (3.2%), professional societies (0.8%), and others (16.4%). Of these posts, 35.4% were advertisements, 28% were related to patient experience, and 18% were educational. Healthcare provider groups were more likely to author educational posts than advertisements, while non-healthcare providers were more likely to post content for commercial purposes (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Fertility-related posts were dominated by for-profit healthcare institutions and alternative/herbal medicines for commercial purposes. The physician group authored more of the educational content. There is plenty of room for optimal utilization of social platforms as educational media.

Interest in an Instagram-delivered gestational weight gain intervention among pregnant women with pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity.

Background: Barriers to attending in-person lifestyle interventions are common during pregnancy. The majority of young adults use Instagram, and pregnancy-related content abounds on this social media platform. The aims of this study were to assess interest in an Instagram-delivered gestational weight gain (GWG) intervention, examine characteristics associated with program interest, describe interest in specific program components, and to explore perceived advantages of and concerns about the proposed intervention. Methods: English-speaking pregnant women with pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity in the US who use Instagram completed a cross-sectional online survey (N=229). Participants reported interest in a proposed Instagram-delivered GWG intervention (very/quite a bit versus somewhat/a little bit/not at all interested), demographics, and Instagram use habits. Characteristics associated with program interest were examined using logistic regression models. Responses to open-ended questions about program likes and concerns were content-analyzed. Results: Thirty-four percent were very or quite a bit interested in an Instagram-delivered GWG intervention, and women with children, those who were more extraverted, and those with greater engagement on Instagram were more likely to report interest. Among participants with high program interest, 63-95% were interested in specific intervention components and 52-82% were willing to engage in different aspects of the intervention. Participants liked the potential for information, peer support, convenience, and accountability, but reported concerns about privacy/confidentiality, social pressure, time required, and negative psychological consequences. Conclusions: Fostering a positive, supportive group culture may be key to leveraging Instagram to deliver a GWG intervention.

The effects of Facebook and Instagram on the 2020 election: A deactivation experiment.

We study the effect of Facebook and Instagram access on political beliefs, attitudes, and behavior by randomizing a subset of 19,857 Facebook users and 15,585 Instagram users to deactivate their accounts for 6 wk before the 2020 U.S. election. We report four key findings. First, both Facebook and Instagram deactivation reduced an index of political participation (driven mainly by reduced participation online). Second, Facebook deactivation had no significant effect on an index of knowledge, but secondary analyses suggest that it reduced knowledge of general news while possibly also decreasing belief in misinformation circulating online. Third, Facebook deactivation may have reduced self-reported net votes for Trump, though this effect does not meet our preregistered significance threshold. Finally, the effects of both Facebook and Instagram deactivation on affective and issue polarization, perceived legitimacy of the election, candidate favorability, and voter turnout were all precisely estimated and close to zero.

Social Media for Nutrition Education-A Randomized Controlled Trial to Promote Fruit and Vegetable Intake in a University Setting: "The University of Valladolid Community Eats Healthy" Study.

Social media- and internet-based interventions are nowadays widely used tools in health interventions. Although evidence of their effectiveness is still low, their applications could be very promising due to their affordability and wide reach. The current paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program, "The University of Valladolid Community Eats Healthy" (UVEH), to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) intake in adults from the University of Valladolid (U. Valladolid) employing three online methodologies. A sample of 211 volunteers was randomly assigned into four groups: virtual campus (VC), Facebook (FB), Instagram (IG), and control. An intervention based on the Theory of Planned Behavior was implemented for seven weeks. Data were collected at the beginning (T0) and the end of the program (T1). The Predimed questionnaire was employed to assess FV intake. Vegetable intake was statistically significantly higher in the VC group (17.4% pre vs. 72.7% post). In the rest of the groups, there was also an increase in intake. Fruit consumption increased slightly only in the VC group (23.9% pre vs. 45.5% post). Participation decreased through the weeks: FB (week 2), IG (week 3), and VC (week 4). Retention was higher in the VC (48%) and control (60%) groups. Internet-based interventions employing interactive platforms such as virtual campus can be effective in enhancing participants' dietary habits in a clinically relevant manner.

Pattern hair loss and health care professionals: How well are we connecting with our audience?

BACKGROUND: Pattern hair loss, the most common form of hair loss, affects millions in the United States. Americans are increasingly seeking health information from social media. It would appear that healthcare professionals contribute relatively minimally to pattern hair loss content, thereby posing serious concerns for credibility and quality of information available to the general public. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluates popular pattern hair loss-related content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, aiming to understand effective engagement strategies for healthcare professionals on social media. METHODS: The top 60 short-form videos were extracted from Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, using the search term "pattern hair loss" and inclusion of USA-based accounts only. Videos were categorized by creator type (healthcare vs. non-healthcare professional), content type (informational, interactional, and transactional), and analyzed for user engagement and quality, using engagement ratios and DISCERN scores, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare professionals, especially dermatologists, play a crucial role in delivering credible information on social media, supported by higher DISCERN scores. Multi-platform presence, frequent activity, and strategic content creation contributes to increased reach and engagement. Duration of short-form videos does not impact engagement. The "Duet" or "Remix" options on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube serve as a valuable tool for healthcare professionals to counter misinformation. Our study underscores the importance of optimizing educational impact provided by health care professionals at a time when the public increasingly relies on social media for medical information.

Personality of organizational social media accounts and its relationship with characteristics of their photos: analyses of startups' Instagram photos.

BACKGROUND: Organizational accounts of social networking sites (SNSs) are similar to individual accounts in terms of their online behaviors. Thus, they can be investigated from the perspective of personality, as individual accounts have been in the literature. Focusing on startups' Instagram accounts, this study aimed to investigate the characteristics of Big Five personality traits and the relationships between the traits and the characteristics of photos in organizational SNS accounts. METHODS: The personality traits of 108 startups' accounts were assessed with an online artificial intelligence service, and a correspondence analysis was performed to identify the key dimensions where the account were distributed by their personality. Photo features were extracted at the content and pixel levels, and correlational analyses between personality traits and photo features were conducted. Moreover, predictive analyses were performed using random forest regression models. RESULTS: The results indicated that personality of the accounts had high openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness and moderate extraversion and neuroticism. In addition, the two dimensions of high vs. low in neuroticism and extraversion/openness vs. conscientiousness/agreeableness in the accounts' distribution by their personality traits were identified. Conscientiousness was the trait most associated with photo features-in particular, with content category, pixel-color, and visual features, while agreeableness was the trait least associated with photo features. Neuroticism was mainly correlated with pixel-level features, openness was correlated mainly with pixel-color features, and extraversion was correlated mainly with facial features. The personality traits, except neuroticism, were predicted from the photo features. CONCLUSIONS: This study applied the theoretical lens of personality, which has been mainly used to examine individuals' behaviors, to investigate the SNS communication of startups. Moreover, it focused on the visual communication of organizational accounts, which has not been actively studied in the literature. This study has implications for expanding the realm of personality research to organizational SNS accounts.

Female genital cosmetic surgery in Indonesia: a qualitative analysis of medical advertising on Instagram.

Research on female genital cosmetic surgery usually comes from Anglophone countries. We investigated female genital cosmetic surgery in the predominantly Muslim South-East Asian country of Indonesia, aiming to identify the procedures offered by medical clinics on Instagram, how they are justified, and what they claim to achieve; and to understand what this means for women and their bodies. The 184 eligible posts from 19 clinics between 1 January to 31 March 2021 offered vaginoplasty, labiaplasty, hymenoplasty, and other procedures. Reflexive thematic analysis yielded three themes: Why you should have female genital cosmetic surgery, Indications for female genital cosmetic surgery, and What you will gain from female genital cosmetic surgery. Posts were similar to those identified in other countries, revealing implicit vulvar aesthetics, expectations that women choose to 'improve' their genitals, the need to please men, and that female genital cosmetic surgery is straightforward. Two differences from Anglophone advertising were the use of euphemisms to describe the vulva and an emphasis on physical 'virginity'. Across countries, female genital cosmetic surgery advertising appears to arise from patriarchal constructs of women's bodies and determination to control them. We contend that Indonesia shares with other countries the need for education-of medical practitioners and the general public-about sexuality and the vulva, and that the advertising of female genital cosmetic surgery should be regulated and rigorously monitored.

The Link Between Problematic Instagram Use and Body-Image Investment Dimensions: The Mediating Role of Social Comparison on Instagram and the Need to Conceal Body Flaws.

Objective: The negative effects of Problematic Instagram Use (PIU) on self-evaluations of one's appearance (i.e., body-image satisfaction-dissatisfaction) are well-known, whereas less explored is its role on body-image investment dimensions. By adopting the Social Comparison and the Self-discrepancies theories as the framework, the present study hypothesized that PIU negatively affects body investment and appearance management behaviours through the serial mediating role of actual appearance comparison on Instagram (IG) and the need to conceal body flaws. Gender, age and trait appearance comparison were controlled for. Method: A convenience sample of 323 participants (F = 70.3%; M= 28.92 + 10.96) was recruited, and well-known self-report measures were administered online. Results: The structural model produced good fit indices [χ2/df = 2.36, RMSEA = 0.065 (0.053 - 0.077), CFI = 0.962, SRMR = 0.038], and the variables accounted for 79% and 32% of the variance in body investment and appearance management behaviours, respectively. PIU was associated with body investment both directly and indirectly, whereas it affected appearance management behaviours only via appearance comparison on Ig. The tested alternative model has a poorer fit than the hypothesized model, and the former fitted significantly worse than the proposed one. Conclusions: The present study represents a step toward a better understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the link between PIU and body image investment dimensions.

Orthodontists on Social Media: Instagram's Influence.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine how orthodontists utilize the social media application Instagram for health communication. Methods: Four Turkish keywords were manually searched on the Instagram platform on February 12, 2022: "orthodontist" (ortodontist), "orthodontics" (ortodonti), "orthodontic specialist" (ortodonti uzmani), and "doctor of orthodontist" (ortodonti doktoru). A total of 195 orthodontist accounts matching the inclusion criteria were divided into two groups: public and private. Profile information analyses were performed, and the results for public and private accounts were compared. Public accounts were further divided by gender and whether they shared a company name in their profiles. Groups were compared according to post content and type of patient photo. Statistical analysis involved the Shapiro-Wilk test, an Independent Samples t-test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and chi-square and Kappa tests. Results: The number of posts (96.06±149.30 vs. 195.36±248.51) and followers (1,250.56±2,347.47 vs. 4,071.43±6,557.63) were higher for public accounts. The number of followers (3,171.62±4,645.08 vs. 5,472.57±8,595.99) and daily posts (0.17±0.37 vs. 0.23±0.43) were higher for accounts with a company name. In the content analysis, posts on clear aligners (1.51±4.74 vs. 6.60±18.60, p<0.05) and patient and company advertisements were more common (0.49±1.85 vs. 3.70±10.70, p<0.05) for accounts with a company name. Conclusion: While public orthodontist accounts commonly promote fixed mechanics as a treatment option, accounts with a company name adopt a different approach, emphasizing the sharing of information about clear aligners.

#Wematter: Creating culturally tailored health promotion content for Black and Latina college women on Instagram.

Objective: Although students at Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCUs, HSIs, TCUs, AAPISIs) have been found to make sound health choices as compared to their counterparts at Predominately White Institutions and have positive expectancy outcomes of physical activity engagement, it is consistently suggested that MSIs examine and bolster health enhancing avenues. Black and Latina women frequently use social media platforms to connect to content that can initiate and support lifestyle changes or improvements. Thus, establishing culturally relevant health related social media content geared toward Black and Latina College Women (BLCW) may be successful in achieving health-related goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study using social identity theory as a theoretical lens, was to identify the fundamental characteristics of culturally tailored health-related content for BLCW. Method: This study employed a qualitative approach to ascertain the characteristics of culturally tailored health-related content for BLCW. Black and Latina college women were asked to provide feedback on mock culturally tailored health-related content in semi-structured focus groups. Participants discussed the authenticity and cultural relevancy of images designed to promote physical activity engagement and other healthy behaviors. Results: Results indicated that at a minimum, culturally tailored health-related content should include an array of body shapes, authentic language and messaging, in relevant settings. Moreover, BLCW prefer content that is realistic, reflects their experiences, and embodies their relevant identities. Conclusion: Social media content designed to attract and promote healthy lifestyles of BLCW must be comprised of imagery and language that represent the diversity of the priority group. The findings from this study can help to establish best practices when designing content intended to strengthen wellness among college students and young adults.

Does source matter? Examining the effects of health experts, friends, and social media influencers on young adult perceptions of Instagram e-cigarette education messages.

PURPOSE: Young adults' e-cigarette use is a leading public health concern. Using messages from credible sources can help improve message acceptance, yet little research has examined the role of source credibility on young adults' responses to e-cigarette education messages. METHODS: We examined the impact of source on young adults' perceptions of e-cigarette education messages and e-cigarettes. In July 2022, we conducted an experimental study using an online sample of young adults (N=459, Mage=24.6) who were randomized to one of three source conditions: expert, friend, or influencer, and viewed e-cigarette education messages. We used one-way ANOVA to estimate the association between the conditions and outcomes (perceived source credibility, message trust, curiosity, use interests, perceived message effectiveness, beliefs, harm perceptions, and intentions to refrain). RESULTS: The expert condition was associated with significantly higher perceived source credibility (vs. friend, influencer; p<0.001), message trust (vs. friend, influencer; p<0.001), and curiosity (vs. influencer; p's<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Public health campaigns may leverage health experts to deliver e-cigarette education messages targeting young adults to improve effectiveness of the messages.

Two sides of the self-love coin: Self-compassion text-only posts and body positive photo-based content both positively affect body image.

Although body-positive content is associated with increased positive body image, concerns regarding the continued focus on appearance have emerged. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine whether self-compassion text-only content provided benefits beyond traditional photo-based body positivity content. Undergraduates (n = 283; 179 women, 104 men) were randomly assigned to view body positive photos, self-compassion text-only content, or architectural images (control condition). Participants assigned to both experimental conditions demonstrated a significant increase in measures of state body appreciation, state body satisfaction, and state self-compassion, however they did not differ significantly from each other. The self-compassion condition also differed significantly from the control condition. Trait appearance comparisons moderated the relationship between experimental condition and state body appreciation and state body satisfaction, and gender did not affect the relationship between condition and the outcome measures. Results of this study support the inclusion of body-positivity images and self-compassion text-only content in social media interventions for improving body image for men and women.

Does Male Skin Care Content on Instagram Neglect Skin Cancer Prevention?

This research letter assesses male skin care content on social media in order to bring to light the lack of content regarding skin cancer prevention posted on Instagram for male audiences.

Social Media Use in Dermatology in Turkey: Challenges and Tips for Patient Health.

Social media has established its place in our daily lives, especially with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has become the leading source of information for dermatological literacy on various topics, ranging from skin diseases to everyday skincare and cosmetic purposes in the present digital era. Accumulated evidence indicates that accurate medical content constitutes only a tiny fraction of the exponentially growing dermatological information on digital platforms, highlighting an unmet patient need for access to evidence-based information on social media. However, there have been no recent local publications from Turkey analyzing and assessing the key elements in raising dermatological literacy and awareness in digital communication for patients. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first collaborative work between health care professionals and a social media specialist in the medical literature. Furthermore, it represents the first author-initiated implementation science attempt focusing on the use of social media in addressing dermatological problems, with the primary end point of increasing health literacy and patient benefits. The multidisciplinary expert panel was formed by 4 dermatologists with academic credentials and significant influence in public health and among patients on digital platforms. A social media specialist, who serves as a guest lecturer on "How social media works" at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, was invited to the panel as an expert on digital communication. The panel members had a kickoff meeting to establish the context for the discussion points. The context of the advisory board meeting was outlined under 5 headlines. Two weeks later, the panel members presented their social media account statistics, defined the main characteristics of dermatology patients on social media, and discussed their experiences with patients on digital platforms. These discussions were organized under the predefined headlines and in line with the current literature. We aimed to collect expert opinions on identifying the main characteristics of individuals interested in dermatological topics and to provide recommendations to help dermatologists increase evidence-based dermatological content on social media. Additionally, experts discussed paradigms for dermatological outreach and the role of dermatologists in reducing misleading information on digital platforms in Turkey. The main concluding remark of this study is that dermatologists should enhance their social media presence to increase evidence-based knowledge by applying the principles of patient-physician communication on digital platforms while maintaining a professional stance. To achieve this goal, dermatologists should share targeted scientific content after increasing their knowledge about the operational rules of digital channels. This includes correctly identifying the needs of those seeking information on social media and preparing a sustainable social media communication plan. This viewpoint reflects Turkish dermatologists' experiences with individuals searching for dermatological information on local digital platforms; therefore, the applicability of recommendations may be limited and should be carefully considered.

Exploring How People Interact With Dental Misinformation on Social Media: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Social media has been widely utilized to spread health-related information, which has led to the possibility of spreading medical misinformation. The extent of the issue is unknown, even though policymakers, researchers, and medical professionals agree that health misinformation must be controlled and combated. OBJECTIVE: A cross-sectional study was conducted by the faculty of dentistry at Damascus University. METHODS: This quantitative cross-sectional study used a voluntary questionnaire distributed online in social media groups. Participants were of different ages, genders, and educational levels. RESULTS: Of the 301 questionnaires collected, 291 were analyzed. The study sample comprised secondary education certificates, university students, and postgraduate students. 96.6% of the study sample used two or more SM applications. 71.5% of the study sample uses Facebook more than other applications for dental information research, followed by Instagram (14.8%), Telegram (8.2%), and finally WhatsApp (5.5%). There was a significant difference between the age of the respondents and the SM application they used most (p = 0.027). 46.4% of the study sample were neutral in their answer about what they believed in the trust of information on SM sites, followed by 42.3% who did not agree with the trust of information on SM sites and 11.3 who agreed. 89.7% of the study sample visit the dentist when facing a medical problem, while 10.3% follow advice on SM sites. There was a significant difference between the age of respondents and the source they relied on when facing a medical problem (p = 0.019). 50.2% of the study sample sometimes feels that the advice on SM sites is marketing for a company or product or advertising for doctors and not others. CONCLUSION: In particular, understanding the methods and prevalence of health misinformation, as well as the current gaps in knowledge in this area, will help us to guide future research and, more specifically, to develop evidence-based digital policy action plans targeted at addressing this public health issue through various social media platforms.

How social media images of sexualized young women elicit appearance commentary from their peers and reinforce objectification.

Social media platforms like Instagram enable users to share, view, and provide feedback on images, including photographs of oneself (e.g., selfies). In a 3 × 2 between-subjects online experiment, we investigated how women evaluate and react to photographs of their peers on social media and the role that feedback might play in both objectification of others and oneself. U.S. adult young women (N = 256; Mage = 20.06, SDage = 1.57) viewed social media images of sexualized peers, non-sexualized peers, or landscapes (control). Then, they provided feedback on the images via social media hashtags (#) or not (tagging vs. no tagging). Results revealed that participants who viewed sexualized peers demonstrated the highest levels of state self-objectification and were more likely to dehumanize the women in the photos. Hashtags generated by participants indicated that those who viewed sexualized peers engaged in greater appearance-related objectification, specifically related to body parts, and sexual objectification than those who viewed non-sexualized peers. In addition, generating hashtags that specifically focused on body parts heightened viewers' state self-objectification. These findings illustrate the complexities of social media content production and consumption, particularly for young women.

The association between use of social media and the development of body dysmorphic disorder and attitudes toward cosmetic surgeries: a national survey.

Introduction: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) causes distress due to one's negative appraisal of their body image. The development of BDD has been linked to the passive use of social media and photo-editing apps. People with BDD typically pursue cosmetic surgeries to remedy their perceived flaws. The dramatic increase in the use of photo-editing apps and their well-established effects on mental health is a public health concern. Purpose: To study the association between use of social media and the development of BDD and acceptance toward cosmetic surgeries (ACSS) among Saudis. Methods: An online, cross-sectional, validated survey conducted among Saudis 18 and older. Descriptive analyses were utilized for demographics and prevalence rates of main study variables. ANOVA was used to compare mean scores in BDD and ACSS among different demographic groups. Tukeys post-hoc test was done to identify the categories that were different when the ANOVA test showed a statistically significance. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 1,483 Saudi adults completed the questionnaire. Key results showed that BDD was found in 24.4 % of the sample. The percentage of participants with BDD who spent 4-7 h per day on Instagram and Snapchat (29%) was significantly higher than those who spent only less than an hour per day on these platforms (19%) (p < 0.001). Individuals with BDD had a significantly higher risk of accepting cosmetic surgery compared to those without BDD (p < 0.001). Conclusion: A growing body of evidence suggests that social media may impact mental health in different ways. This study reveals that heavy use of these platforms is associated with negative appraisals about one's physical appearance, and it fosters one's tendency toward cosmetic surgery, especially among females.