Social media slammed as a tool to manipulate people

A Gold Coast PhD student who became accustomed to a line-free forehead since first getting Botox at just 17, says the more she knows about social media, the angrier she gets, as it “targets not only vulnerable people, but everyone”.

When Taliya Thompson was 21 and her latest cosmetic procedure had worn off she thought she looked “so old”.

The Gold Coast university student had become accustomed to a line-free forehead since first getting Botox at 17, but now admits she had “a distorted perception of my age”.

“I saw them again, the lines, and I was hyper-fixated. I thought I look horrible and so old,” Ms Thomspon, who lives in Mermaid Waters with her mother, said.

“It caused anxiety and depression for me, and so then I was like ‘OK, time to go back and get it done’.”

The now 23-year-old believes social media has played a hugely negative role in her life.

So much so that she is researching the effects of its algorithms on the way users see themselves, including the “upward comparisons” they make with others “so much prettier”.

Ms Thompson is doing a PhD in psychology at Griffith University and feels the more she knows about social media – particularly Instagram – the angrier she gets.

Taliya Thompson is a Gold Coast university student who says she had become accustomed to a line-free forehead since first getting Botox at 17. Pics Adam Head

“Social media makes me so mad,” she said. “There are a lot of unqualified people who use social media as a tool to manipulate people and get inside their head.

“It angers me because it targets not only vulnerable people, but everyone. And a lot of people don’t know how to do research for themselves.”

Ms Thompson sees the irony in her situation.

“I’m a case study on myself,” she said. “I definitely love a good cosmetic procedure and grew up in a household that was very appearance focused.

“When I was younger I was a size 6 … but when I got older I started to gain a bit of weight (to a size 8) and considered liposuction.”

Ms Thompson, who has had dermal fillers in her lips and Botox in her jawline (“to drop my chin so it’s not curved up”), said she was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder at age 20 and it manifested in “perfectionist tendencies” about her looks.

Upselling also hasn’t helped. When having a facial she said the therapist told her: “I could do so much with your face, I could play with it and make it so perfect.

“For someone like me it’s like just sign me up.”