Social media began in 1997 with the website Six Degrees which allowed users to create profiles and then befriend other users they wanted. By 2000, over 100 million people had access to the Internet, and social media was on the rise as people increasingly began using a variety of chat rooms to make friends, hang out, and discuss a wide range of topics. It was only in 2003, after the creation of the social networking site Myspace, that social media began to grow and attract more people leading to the creation of Facebook in 2004, Twitter in 2006 and Instagram in 2010; to date, Facebook is the leading social network with approximately 2,070,000,000 monthly users, followed by Youtube with 1,500,000,000 monthly users and Instagram with 800,000 monthly users. Over time, social media has begun to influence and contribute to the development of a variety of different industries in the modern world with its accessibility to large numbers of people, of all ages, at the same time. Social media has had a major influence on a $3 trillion fashion industry, helping to promote products and increase profits. While on the surface social media's impact on the fashion industry may seem positive, it has destroyed many businesses, some leading to violence. This essay will address the use of social proof, model choice, false advertising and racism in the industry and the impact that the use of social media has had on it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay For this project, I used a variety of sources from the Internet, including articles from BBC News and Adweek. Founded in 1983, many of my statistics come from the British Fashion Council, an organization which "aims to advance the interests of the British fashion industry and its designer businesses by harnessing and sharing the industry's collective knowledge, experience and resources." In an era dominated by social media marketing, social media has a positive influence on the fashion industry and has the power to increase the profits of many companies through the psychological and social phenomenon of social proofing. Social proof is where people assume that the actions of others reflect the correct behavior in a given situation; this is undoubtedly one of the biggest psychological factors in marketing since, no matter how strong a person may believe they are, social media has the power to make an impact without people realizing it. One of the main goals of anyone involved in the fashion industry, whether it is the designers of the clothing brand or the models who carry and promote the brand, is to keep up with the trends since fashion is all about how you look visual and aesthetic. The industry uses its social media platforms to widely promote its businesses