The rise of social media airbrushing
How should brands treat people who use social media to portray an overly positive, ‘perfect’ image? Poking fun at them is one strategy…
Last week a mum of four caused quite a stir on Mumsnet with a post about “BeatYourselfupBook”, as she labelled Facebook.
She claimed that comparing her parenting skills with the “perfect lives” depicted on social media made her feel inadequate. The post struck a chord. Within a few hours it had generated 80 comments and coverage in the Sun and the Daily Mail.
But how widespread is the anonymous mum’s experience? Do many people feel dissatisfied by the idealised images projected on social media?
Our findings into social media airbrushing
ZenithOptimedia surveyed 300 nationally representative consumers to find out. Among our sample 26% said they had pretended to be happier, or more successful, than they actually were.
Furthermore, just over a third claimed that they feel unhappy when they see the success of others on social media.
A sizeable proportion, therefore, seem to agree with the Mumsnet thread. However, do these figures down-play the problem? After all, there’s a pressure to present a socially desirable image in surveys.
With that in mind, we asked the same respondents two questions. Did they believe other people crafted an overly positive social media image? And did other people feel sad when they saw these idealised images?
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In this variant of the questions, people were far more likely to admit ‘social airbrushing’ happened.
In fact, 60% claimed that their friends portray themselves as happier than they actually are on social media. And nearly two-thirds agreed that other people sometimes feel sad when they see their friends’ success on social media.
Our belief is that this question encouraged respondents to answer more honestly and therefore the results are more accurate.
How should brands apply these social media findings?
First, brands should query the accuracy of claimed data; asking a direct question might lead consumers to present themselves in the most flattering light. It’s sometimes more effective to ask people to speculate on how others might behave.
Second, this research can be applied tactically. Brave brands should gently poke fun at consumers who project a perfect image. After all, campaigns that tap into a fundamental truth about social media can be phenomenally effective.
Consider the Whopper Sacrifice. In 2009 Burger King realised that many people had collected Facebook friends who they barely knew. They used this insight to create one of their most successful promotions ever.
They cheekily offered a free Whopper to anyone who defriended 10 people – effectively valuing a friend at $0.37. Nearly quarter of a million de-friendings took place in a week – before Facebook pulled the plug citing privacy concerns.
Perhaps similar rewards will be reaped by the first brand to mock social airbrushing. More importantly, it will mean that we all feel less pressure to pretend we’re perfect – whether that’s as a parent or otherwise.
Richard Shotton is head of insight at ZenithOptimedia
Twitter: @rshotton