I get lots of approaches every day asking me post pre-written content on my blog, or asking me to write something. Most of them I turn down. I also see opportunities and think “that won’t be a good fit so I won’t bother applying”. Working with Dove on their self esteem project was an opportunity I leapt at when I saw that Mumsnet were looking for bloggers with teens.
Self esteem and doing all I can to help my kids with theirs is something I am passionate about. I am also passionate about helping other people, my generation, with theirs. I don’t belittle or undermine people if I think it will affect their self esteem. One crushing comment can be something that a person remembers for months, years after, regardless of how much positivity they also received.
The Dove Self-Esteem Project is also the global sponsor of Women in the World – a summit that brings together extraordinary female leaders and change-makers to help build better lives for women and girls – and the exclusive sponsor of the new girl-focused platform ‘Generation Girl’, an inspirational series of all-girl programming, introduced for the first time at Women in the World London. The event is taking place on the 8th and 9th October in Cadogan Hall.
The Dove Self-Esteem Project is kicking off the #NoLikesNeeded campaign at Generation Girl to show girls that, while today’s socially driven landscape can amplify beauty-related anxieties, the only ‘like’ that counts is their own. By using the #NoLikesNeeded hashtag, girls will be urged to reconsider our image-obsessed culture, their personal ‘branding’, and the changing perceptions of body image, identity and sense of self.
I, and a number of other bloggers, was challenged to take part in the #NoLikesNeeed campaign across social media for one day, and to use it as research shows teen girls do. Actually it isn’t teen girls. It is how I use it too, just without so many selfies. 50% of girls say they are using social media networks “all the time” and are using four different types of social networks at any given time. Part of my challenge was to mimic that but when I thought about it I think I do that anyway, much more so than my peers I am sure. Working on my laptop I always have Facebook and Twitter open and when I am messing about on my phone or bored then I have Instagram on the go too.
What I don’t do though is post selfies. Just because I don’t think anybody is interested in seeing pics of me, and it all feels a bit vain to be doing that when you are 46. I decided to pick three of the challenges set.
- Post one photo featuring yourself: the average girls posts 7 photos of herself each week
- Post four photographs over the course of the day: the average UK girl posts 35 photos a week on Facebook and 29 on Instagram
- Before posting a selfie prep for the photo: the average UK girl spends 12 minutes doing hair / make up lighting / background before taking the photo they post
- Take 9 photos before posting the one: this is a typical average
- Take one photo, regardless of how you feel you look and post it: 69% of girls with low body confidence avoid posting photos of themselves if they don’t like how they look
There were other challenges too such as refraining from hugging other members of the family until you have 50 likes as 24% of 13-23 year olds said they would rather receive 50 likes than a hug.
God that saddens me. That makes me really really depressed. I have to say that when I post a photo on instagram I have no idea how many likes it gets, I don’t really check. 19% of girls do though, constantly.
The picture at the top is my final pic of the day, I did post several random pictures throughout the day, mostly of the cat as there wasn’t much else happening today. But that pic is my final one of the day, my one photo posted regardless of how I look. I am in bed and I am about to fall asleep hopefully.
So this is my selfie that I spent time prepping for (not that you can tell, but I did actually brush my hair, put on some make up and make sure the lighting was vaguely right).
I did also take more photos before posting that one, probably not nine though it was certainly around 6 or 7.
And do you know what, I just can’t be bothered with it all. I don’t know how girls do it. I asked Ellie why she posts selfies and she said she doesn’t do it for the likes she does it for a laugh, she is always pulling daft faces and she certainly doesn’t spend 12 minutes getting ready for it. But then she is incredibly self assured.
Maybe it is me that is not. Maybe that is why I don’t post selfies but stick to kitchen disasters and fat cats.
I really hope this campaign does go some way to getting girls to rethink how they see themselves and that they don’t need lots of likes to make them feel good about themselves.
They just need the one, their own.
You can get more info here
“I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network Research Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity”. I have been compensated for this post by way of a shopping voucher.