Social media has taken over the world, and all forms of media have changed along with its introduction. The way we interact with media has also changed, and things like “For You ” and things like on other platforms allow us to customize our experiences with media. This customization, along with its many benefits, does have major downsides. With the introduction and popularization of social media, eating disorders have also seen a steep rise. To the tune of 121%, this number is made bigger by the isolation of COVID-19 and further worsened by social media. Not all eating disorders, and not all disordered eating is the lack of food; it can manifest in any abnormal eating habits or heavy obsession with body image. This can be bingeing or a very restrictive diet. Alexander Dane, in an article about social media and its effects on eating disorders in teens, said, “Social media usage is a plausible risk factor for development of eating disorders.” Social media and its algorithms create a dangerous environment for its users.
Have you ever wondered how the “For You” page works? It’s an algorithm that promotes things that you have previously interacted with, which means if you like a post, it will most likely recommend things with similar hashtags or content. This is especially harmful when dealing with topics that encourage disordered eating. In an article about eating disorder recovery content, Shannon Herrick found that videos with the hashtag “#WhatIEatInADay” made up 15.3% of their sample of TikToks with “#EDRecovery” [eating disorder recovery]; these hashtags facilitated social media algorithms. In that same article, Herrick noted that videos with the hashtag “WhatIEatInADay” can promote positive and healthy food relationships, but other videos show struggles with eating. A thorough review of the hashtag “WhatIEatInADay” can also be found alongside hashtags such as “#thinspo” and “#wellness,” which can be genuine health advice but often blur the lines between health and extreme food restriction.
The danger of these algorithms does not lie solely with related content, but with the feedback loop it creates. Once interacting with content with the hashtags “thinspo,” “wellness,” or “WhatIeatinaday,” the algorithm will continue to recommend similar content to you. When investigating TikTok algorithms and thier effects on people with eating disorders, Scott Griffiths said “Our results showed that TikTok algorithms belonging to users with eating disorders delivered more appearance-oriented, dieting, exercise, and toxic eating disorder videos than algorithms belonging to healthy controls.” If you have noticed a spike in content related to any triggering content, please consult this resource.
To responsibly interact and consume media, we must know what can be done using that platform. Filters and other special effects are commonplace, and often, the users who are interacting with this media do not know that it is edited. Filters can enhance or minimize features and distort what is seen as reality. When studying body image in children using social media, An Voung said, “Adolescents are constantly exposed to unrealistic appearance ideals when engaging with peers and celebrities, which may heighten their body dissatisfaction levels.” This means when interacting with media, it is hard to determine what is real and what is fake, and that confusion leads to negative body image. Body image is what you think of your own body. A negative body image is often where eating disorders start.
Social media does not have proper guardrails in place to protect users’ well being. Algorithms pull you into loops of content; this is especially harmful to those who are already vulnerable and may already suffer. Not only that, these platforms give everybody tools to filter their lives, so what users see is not reality. It has changed how we look at ourselves, our bodies, and health as a whole. The more time people spend scrolling, the more eating disorders we are seeing, and social media is only getting bigger. This constant need for likes and validation is built around content that is not real and is pushed to users by the algorithms. If this keeps progressing, the impact on body image and mental health is just going to worsen. We need to rethink how they use these platforms, and it’s time to hold them accountable for what they’re doing. If you or anyone you are struggling, please use these resources for help.
