Does My Bum Look Big In This Photo? Written by Jessica Leeman?In an age obsessed with appearance, we have to ask: are social networking sites such as Facebook having an effect on not only how others view us, but howweview ourselves?In days gone by, if we wanted to update or improve or 'look', we would raid our piggy banks and go running out to buy a new pair ofeye-wateringly-expensiveshoes, or allow our hairdresser to do whatever the heck they wanted to our hair -often resulting in some ridiculous impulse-hairstyle which you would then cry over for about a week and half. Then, (when the tears eventually stopped), we'd attempt to cover the monstrosity that is our barnet with an equally embarrassing hat.What do we do today, then? I hear you ask. Well, its quick, simple, and far easier on your pockets than a pair of Jimmy Choos... We change our profile picture, of course! Then, we sit back wait for all the 'likes' to flood in. But what if they don't? Do we cry like we did over our horrendous haircuts? Down a bottle of wine as if there's a 1000 cheque at the bottom? Is this actuallyaform of rejection that ultimately has an effect on our self-confidence? Do we secretly want to receive these 'likes' so we can feel accepted by our friends, colleagues, and peers?We are all well aware (or should be well aware!) of the privacy risks we all take by uploading both personal and professional information onto our Facebook profiles - our contact information, our daily exploits, an entire album of photos from our birthday night-out (cringe!). It seems, however, we are completely oblivious to the threats Facebook can have on our self-esteem. According to media experts, we expose ourselves to a host of threats online every day. Some have suggested that the most harmful threat on Facebook is in fact, ourselves.So, experts think social media can be bad for our self-esteems. Researchers into this relatively new area of study have discovered that Facebook has varying effects depending on age and gender. For teenagers, social networks play a huge part in their everyday interactions between friends and peers. This can be quite harmful, however. A study has found that the more time teenage girls spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to develop an eating disorder. This is largely due to self-comparisons against other young girls within peer groups, as well as exposure to unrealistic images of models and celebrities. Cyber-bullying can also be a major issue within social networking, and users could even suffer from Facebook depression', as a result (68% of young girls have either been cyber-bullied or gossiped about on Facebook and Twitter, and 48% of girls feel social networks make friends jealous of one another).A study from York University found those with low self-esteem engage in more Facebook activity than those with higher self-esteem. It's not all bad news though. Some experts have argued that, despite the risks, social networking sites can actually make teenage girls more emotionally safe, and closer to their friends. 56% of young girls believe social media sites have actually helped them to feel closer and more connected with friends, and 30% feel their friendships have improved as a result of social networks. According to some (rather more optimistic) experts, Facebookcanhave a positive influence on a young adults self-esteem. This is perhaps due to the fact that users can carefully contrive their own online image or 'appearance'. In that we choose exactly whatother people (i.e.our Twitter 'followers' or Facebook 'friends') see from us, thus allowing them to form an opinion of us based entirely on what they see/read online.