Facebook Might Be Making Women Feel Bad About Their Bodies

Facebook can make us feel many things: joy over a friend's wedding, sadness over the ensuing divorce. And if you happen to be a woman, it could be making you feel something else: out of shape or plain fat.

That's according to an international team of researchers who, after surveying more than 800 women at an unnamed Midwest college, concluded that "more time on Facebook could lead to more negative feelings and more comparisons to the bodies of friends." Much of the problem in their view is that Facebook is a fantasy land of human anatomy: The ability to self-curate one's page allows people to publicize the most flattering photos of themselves (and untag or not post at all if they're embarrassed). After gazing at one tight, toned body after another, the researchers say, a woman using Facebook might be apt to develop a "poor body image."