Zara McDermott spoke at Sunderland College about her experiences on Love Island and social media, and how the negative comments about her appearance and accusations that she was negatively influencing others affected her mental health. She showed a documentary highlighting how social media can negatively impact people's mental health if they spend too much time comparing their real lives to the fabricated lifestyles portrayed online. The talk emphasized that both social media and the media industry can influence mental health, and that it's important not to believe everything seen online as perfection is often fabricated using today's technology.

1. Zara McDermott talk
12/12/2022
The Living Staircase, Sunderland College, Bede Campus
Zara McDermott talked about her experiences on love island and social media and how it affected
it affected her mental health due to comments about her physical appearance as well as blaming
her for being a negative influence on other people's mental health, she then showed us her
documentary on how social media can affect other people's mental health if they spend too much
time comparing faked images of a luxurious life and then comparing it to their own life whilst
showing us real life examples of the people that have had their mental health changed for the
worst through the false portrayal of a 'perfect' life
I learned that everything done in the media industry whether on social media or the film industry,
can and will affect people's mental health, regardless of whether its positive or negative it will
influence people in differently
I also learned that its important not to believe everything you see online as its so easy and
convenient with today's technology to counterfeit perfection as well as hide imperfections