A couple girls from our youth ministry recently posted Facebook profile pictures of themselves without makeup as a statement about what beauty is and is not, pretty courageous in the midst of allure to post the best (cutest, sexiest, skinniest, etc) pictures online. All these various social networking tools allow us to create a “self” to the world (or just our approved friends) that may or may not be fully true.

I found two great articles about this topic.

The first called What Our Facebook Profile Picture Really Projects- here’s a short excerpt:

“In the age of social networking, these all-too-familiar feelings young girls share are magnified. Unlike those of us who grew up before cell phones and the Internet, we might have found comfort in the fact that we could be wrong. Maybe no one actually noticed the totally unhip clothes we wore or the way our bangs didn’t lie just right across our foreheads. Unlike earlier generations, today’s preteens can track the number of people who are looking at them. They can see just how they’ve been judged by the “liking” and the commenting, and they are encouraged to judge one another.”

And the second article called What Facebook Does To Teenage Girls:

“That online self was less likely to be “smart” or “kind” — words the girls used to describe themselves as appearing in real life — and more likely to be “fun,” “funny,” or “social.” Also, girls with “low self esteem” were slightly more likely to describe their online persona as sexy (22% percent versus 14%) and crazy (35% versus 28%) than girls with “high self esteem.” At the panel that followed the presentation of the research last night, New York Times Magazine columnist Peggy Orenstein pointed out the risks of girls putting up every aspect of their lives for feedback — especially for younger girls, it makes sexuality something you show rather than something you feel or do.”

Both articles are worth a full read if you have time.

What both of these articles remind us as youth workers, mothers, big sisters, friends and mentors is that we need to be encouraging and praising students for being their true (holy) selves. As well as pointing students to how Godly living should be reflected in what they choose to post online and live out daily.

We can do this with words and with actions. Let’s lead the way in creating positive Facebook habits!

Here’s the challenge- post a funny, silly or makeup free picture of yourself as your profile picture on Facebook…and challenge your girls to do the same.

Here’s what I am posting:

Me totally make up free and being my true awkward self!! Love it!

What do you think? Can you be real online?