Social media – have you thought of what it’s done to the notion of image and perception in the last 10 years? For starters it’s created more work for small businesses in order to provide “interesting” content to potential buyers. But with so much free information out there, are people still buying? You know that saying, “Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?” Well historically that saying was reserved for women who didn’t respect themselves enough in a relationship and were looking for men to propose marriage to them. However the same saying could potentially apply to small businesses because now you can get so much information for free at the tap of your fingertips that potential customers no longer feel the need to buy…

However social media has affected more than just small businesses. Have you thought about how social media is affecting the image of women? “Are you on Instagram?” asks a 20 year old. “Are you on Twitter?” asks a 30 year old. “Are you on Facebook?” asks a 40 year old. No matter what age you are, if you’re using Instagram, Twitter, and / or Facebook as your personal photo album to post sexy photos of yourself, then men will only perceive woman as sex objects – as if they don’t already think enough about sex!

And fidelity? What’s that? There’s no need for men to buy Playboy or Maxim magazine anymore, they just have to go onto the Internet and find a website full of half naked women or troll social media websites and make new “friends.” Do you know how many marriages have been salvaged from divorce because people are using social media to “make new friends” as an escape from their marriage? “Oh it’s not cheating, we’re just Facebook friends”…says your spouse. The next thing you should ask your spouse is if he or she knew this Facebook friend before they were “Facebook friends…”

But who are these women who pose provocatively on the Internet? Do they have high self-esteem? Do they even care about having a monogamous relationship? Or are they just looking for the next best option? Or are they just looking for more attention to build their self-esteem? Social media has lead society to become ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Yesterday’s news used to be old news. Now old news just happened 30 minutes ago.

Growing up in a generation full of women who were bread to be intelligent, hard working and career oriented, what has happened to all these successful women in their 30s? They’re single and have never been married – even causing a dating coach to build a website focused on these type of women as a niche in the market for his services. How do you think these women feel when they get requests from men to send them naked or provocative selfies of themselves because these men are used to seeing these types of pictures on Facebook and Instagram or they are used to women with low self esteem sending them these types photos? We all know that sex sells. However once women start sending men naked selfies of themselves, men will always expect all women to send naked selfies of themselves… and what happens to those who don’t send these types of photos? Must all women really sell themselves as sex objects first in order to get the attention of men?

And with the popularity of all these social media websites, what are women in their 20s doing? This generation didn’t grow up as fast as the generation before them. Some still live at home – share their parents cell phone plans; others can’t find high paying jobs despite having a stellar education, and they are addicted to their mobile phones, constantly connected checking out social media, which is fine as it’s a form of entertainment. However when you see a couple, constantly looking at their Facebook at a 5-star restaurant or a group of girl friends checking out their Instagram while sitting at a table in a lounge, then what’s the point of interacting face-to-face anymore when you can’t even enjoy the company you are with and would rather see what others are doing? And what mostly grabs attention of people on social media? Pictures of hot women with hardly any clothes on or with tight clothing on leaving nothing to men’s imagination. So ladies, tell me, do you think you’re presenting an image for men to respect? Or are you giving men even more reason to disrespect you? So why buy the cow when the milk is free?

Some of you may shrug your shoulders and say what is this woman talking about? I’m sexy and I know it. So why not flaunt it?

There’s one thing to be sexy and you know. And there’s another thing to always flaunt it on social media. The key is to know when to flaunt it. If you’re always flaunting something, eventually people will not appreciate it as much and will loose interest. When you know when to flaunt it is when you build your value in the eyes of individuals. People want what they can’t have. By respecting yourself and not always leading with your sex appeal, you gain the respect of men and they’ll want you even more!

Let’s discuss why it’s important to respect yourself. As you grew up, ideally you were taught to respect your elders. What is that? Speak to individuals politely, with decorum, dignity, and appropriateness, rather than order someone to do something and expect that they do it – entitlement. As you mature, respect within interpersonal relationships in your family and with a significant other fosters healthy communication, an interest in developing collaboration and admiration for one another, which in turn helps you build healthy working relationships with your colleagues within the workplace. In short, respect is the foundation of all relationships.

So, social media…what has it done to society?

When respect gets replaced with mobile phones, sexy photos, and ADD, you get a society with poor interpersonal and social skills, low morals and values, and increased infidelity, which will ultimately result in the demise of humanity unless someone does something about it…

About Sterling Personal Styling

An innovative and revolutionary form of image consulting and personal styling established by Sterling Style Academy‘s Michelle T. Sterling to re-build the self-esteem and self-worth of humanity through the clothing your wear and the behavioral messages you communicate in order to evoke respect, self-esteem and success in your everyday life.  With offices in Miami, New York, London and Dubai, schedule your image consultation in person or via Skype today.

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