Young Females Appearance Anxiety in the Self-presentation of the Social Media Platform Xiaohongshu

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate how self-presentation on contemporary social media platforms propagates young females appearance anxiety, and takes Xiaohongshu, a social media platform currently very popular among young Chinese females, as an example. This study conducted an open-ended questionnaire survey with 40 young women aged 18-30 years old through qualitative analytical research methods, and further conducted one-on-one structured in-depth interviews with representative KOLs and KOC users on the Xiaohongshu platform. Their responses focused on the strategies for presenting themselves on social media platforms, platform interventions, and social aesthetic convergence influences. The findings demonstrate that self-presentation in social media exacerbates contemporary young female appearance anxiety inextricably linked to individual, platform and social factors. This effect is intensified through the platforms adverse value propaganda and influencer marketing interventions, the individuals reshaping of self-presentation based on socially comparative ideologies that conform to dominant aesthetic trends, and the relatively convergent and deeply ingrained aesthetic trends that prevail in contemporary societies.