![]() Still, the companies could do much more to reach vulnerable people, the researchers insist, and many of their efforts wind up failing to fully fix the problems at hand. There are also some signs that people are indeed seeing or being directed to more body-positive content and health information resources, whether by the platforms themselves or fellow users. Tumblr and Instagram representatives told BuzzFeed News that they are committed to making problematic posts harder to find and see, and to steering people to outside health resources. The same researcher also found a wealth of pro-anorexia content in a 2015 study of Tumblr.įour years after these platforms adopted official approaches to pro–eating disorder content, the landscape is as complicated as ever. Last month, a team led by a Georgia Institute of Technology researcher published a study showing exactly how pro–eating disorder hashtags - and engagement on them - multiplied after Instagram changed its policy. But new research underscores just how hard it is for platforms to take even basic steps to limit harm-inspiring posts. No act on the part of any social media company is going to cure eating disorders, much less erase them from the internet. “In hindsight, it almost made the problem worse because there are hundreds of hashtags, instead of just, like, a couple.” “You could still find things just as easily, unfortunately,” Coombs, who lives near London and is now recovering at age 17, told BuzzFeed News. Instagram had previously faced criticism for its perceived hands-off attitude to this community, as had Tumblr - which, a month prior, had also announced that it would take down and moderate pro–eating disorder blogs.īut as well-intentioned as it may have been, Instagram’s approach backfired. “Thinspiration” morphed into “thynsperation” “ana” into “annaa.” Coombs was witnessing the fallout of a policy implemented in April 2012, in which Instagram rendered key hashtags unsearchable, added content advisory warnings over others, and disabled accounts that promoted eating disorders and other acts of self-harm. ![]() Then, Coombs recalls, the number of hashtags seemingly exploded overnight, this time misspelled in subtle yet purposeful ways. Before she entered treatment for anorexia in October 2013, Hannah Coombs spent hours diving down what felt like a “rabbit hole” on Instagram: bony torsos and skeletal limbs, all punctuated by comments from girls encouraging each other to stop eating, and easily findable thanks to popular hashtags like #anorexia, #ana, and #thinspiration.
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