Chinese Females' Visual Sharing Obsession: Battling for Filtered
Identity on Social Media
Jiaqing Xu, Mumtaz Aini Alivi, Siti Ezaleila Mustafa,
Nasrullah Dharejo, Maria Brony, Ikhtiar Ahmed Khoso
Much literature regarding body image focuses on young adults, mainly females, and outcomes as body image dissatisfaction. However, their mental, social, and psychological desires, which compel them to objectify on social media, are rarely discussed. The current qualitative study, through in-depth interviews with young Chinese females from 18 years to 25 years, delved into their visual sharing practices. The study’s findings exposed their overwhelming indulgence in visual sharing, which has become an obsession. They find alternate ways to craft their online personas and objectify themselves in the best possible manner. The study findings conclude that young Chinese females face growing psychological turmoil to compete in the virtual and visual context. The study recommends further research to offer a better policy to safeguard from potential psychological effects they might encounter.
Keywords: Visual Obsession, Chinese Young Females, Filtered Best self, Social media, Body Image
