But recent research my colleagues and I have conducted suggests these platforms can also steer users back towards the very content they are trying to avoid.
We carried out in-depth interviews with people who had experienced eating disorders. Participants described how diet, fitness and body-focused posts repeatedly appeared in their social media feeds, even when they were actively trying to follow recovery content. Supportive and potentially harmful material often surfaced side by side during the same scrolling session.
Participants said they used social media to manage their mental health, following recovery accounts and blocking triggering material. At the same time, many felt recommendation systems continued to introduce weight-loss content, fitness imagery and appearance-focused posts.
Some felt this exposure had contributed to setbacks in their recovery or reinforced unhealthy thought patterns, although these are self-reported experiences rather than causal findings.
This qualitative research captures how people experience social media during recovery. It does not show that social media causes eating disorders, or that exposure to specific content leads directly to relapse. It does, however, highlight how users navigate platforms where recovery and diet content coexist, and how recommendation systems shape their feeds.
A growing body of research suggests this wider environment matters. Studies have linked social media use with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating symptoms, particularly among young people and women, though these relationships are complex and cannot establish causation. Exposure to idealised body imagery, “fitspiration” and diet content has been associated with increased concern about weight and appearance in observational research.
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For the full article by Professor Paula Saukko visit the Conversation.
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