Breanna Hines

EN 101

Argument Essay

14 December 2020

The Dangers of Social Media and Eating Disorders

Social media can be a self-esteem-crushing monster, especially for someone with an

eating disorder. Social media is a place where people seek validation, something a person with

an eating disorder thrives off of. Imagine a person so concerned with body image, someone who

craves validation, someone entirely consumed by self-ridicule; now imagine how quickly the

abrasive nature of social media could break that person. While some people believe social media

to be a body positive place, it is, in reality, extremely dangerous for people with an eating

disorder by spreading harmful information within online communities, bullying to the point of

triggering a relapse, and encouraging extreme weight loss.

Some people believe that social media is an accepting and positive space for people with

eating disorders. According to author Tao Wang et al. in “Social Interactions in Online Eating

Disorder Communities: A Network Perspective,” there are “so-called pro-recovery communities

where members share treatment advice and provide support for people moving towards

recovery” (par. 1). These communities are useful to people who seek help, but most eating

disorder patients often refuse to admit they are in need of help. However, Wang et al. also

believe that online communities and social media are the only ways that some people suffering

with an eating disorder feel comfortable reaching out (par. 1). For people with eating disorders,

fear is an extremely prevalent issue. They fear judgment of themselves and other people, and
they fear what the results of getting help entail for their vanity. In one case in particular, a

woman named Amber had been suffering with bulimia nervosa on and off for several years. She

was bullied in her youth for her physical appearance and was verbally and physically abused by

her mother. Amber had gone through relapses a few times, each lasting no more than a few

months, but her last relapse lasted for a few years. Over time, her condition worsened. It was

documentaries and online research that convinced her to seek help. Doctors told her that if she

continued to go down the same road, she would have no more than a year and a half to two years

to live, if she was lucky. She almost died because “Hatred of fat, inexplicably linked to fear of

fat, is . . . deeply embedded in the collective consciousness . . .” (Knapp 195). Fear prevented her

from seeking help until it was almost too late, but the internet saved her life.

Although there is plenty of undeniably positive information that can be found on the

internet, there are also chat rooms and groups on social media for people with eating disorders

that encourage extreme dieting methods and dangerous actions. According to Wang et al., there

are many pro-eating disorder communities online that “glorify ED (anorexia in particular) as a

legitimate lifestyle choice rather than an illness” (par. 2). These communities encourage eating

disorders instead of providing a much-needed system of support to help people beat their eating

disorders. Wang et al. believe that chat rooms and posts in pro-eating disorder communities are

far more prevalent on social media than helpful online communities (par. 2). Having easy access

to such negative content is extremely dangerous to people in such a fragile mental, emotional,

and physical state, such as those with an eating disorder. In these pro-eating disorder chat rooms

and groups, people with eating disorders can easily find thousands of posts called “thinspiration”

or “thinspo.” The “thinspo” posts usually consist of quotes like “If you begin to get cravings say
this to yourself: skip dinner to wake up thinner” written over a picture of an emaciated looking

girl. Things like these chat rooms and ‘thinspo’ posts can lead sufferers of eating disorders to

their deaths. Sadly, pro-eating disorder groups can leave wounds of equal depth to that of

cyberbullying.

Social media trolls can be ruthless in comment sections, making social media a

dangerous place for people with an eating disorder. In “5 Ways Social Media Can Trigger an

Eating Disorder,” Carrie Hunnicutt, an author and behavioral health specialist, states that “65%

of people with an eating disorder say that bullying contributed to [their eating disorder]” (par.

16). Cyberbullying is an inescapable form of bullying, often leaving the victim feeling trapped,

which, in turn, can create a sense of being overwhelmed for the victim. Hunnicutt accurately

explains the effects cyberbullying can have on eating disorder victims by mentioning how eating

disorders thrive off of things caused by cyberbullying like social anxiety, depression, and fear

(par. 16.). Eating disorders alone put major strain on sufferers, so when cyberbullying is piled on

top, things quickly become messy. There was a girl, for example, who struggled with anorexia

nervosa all through junior high and high into school. At one point in time, she had begun to

recover , but all of her progress was quickly diminished by a single comment under one of her

Instagram posts calling her “fat,” telling her she “looked so much better when she was thinner.”

She was crushed within seconds and has yet to recover from the comment even two years later.

She is one of the many victims of social media who have been triggered by its harsh environment

and have fallen victim to a major relapse.

Alternately, just as people intentionally trigger people with eating disorders, they can also

unknowingly encourage an eating disorder through social media. In the case of the famous
YouTuber Eugenia Cooney, who suffers from extreme anorexia nervosa, social media has only

fueled her desire to be thin. As Sean Kernan states in a blog called “Is YouTube Incentivising

Eugenia Cooney To Starve Herself?,” “It is but another modern problem: a mental health

condition becoming a path to internet fame and fortune” (par. 4). People are as equally fascinated

as they are concerned by her condition. As a result, Cooney has over 2 million subscribers and

roughly 243 million views, estimated to earn her a little over 500,000 dollars (Kernan par. 4).

Sadly, Cooney’s success has relied solely on her skeleton-like figure, leaving the question of

what is Cooney without her disorder? When visiting her still active YouTube account, it is easy

to find all the comments about her appearance and none about the actual context of her video

(Kernan par. 7). Some comments express concern for her health, while other commenters and

fellow eating disorder sufferers admire her thinness. Although most people are concerned for her

health, they do not realize the negative attention they are giving Cooney, which is only hurting

her dwindling condition.

In summary, social media is a great danger to people with eating disorders despite all the

positive communities. Eating disorders are a mental illness, and sometimes that is a hard pill to

swallow for sufferers. They want to believe that eating disorders are a sustainable lifestyle, so

they make pro-eating disorder communities. The degrading comments left on social media only

worsen eating disorders and give life to the inaccurate body distortion people struggling with

eating disorders see when they look in the mirror. Lastly, the fame that can be achieved through

“flaunting” a mental illness such as an eating disorder is sickening. Onlookers are so consumed

by the shock factor of someone who resembles a walking skeleton, that they forget the mess they
are creating for the person with the eating disorder. For people suffering with an eating disorder,

social media is, more often than not, a monster waiting to swallow them whole.

Works Cited

Hunnicutt, Carrie. "5 Ways Social Media Can Trigger an Eating Disorder." Clementine, Monte

Nido and Affiliates, 13 May 2020,

clementineprograms.com/social-media-trigger-eating-disorder/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.

Kernan, Sean. "Is YouTube Incentivising Eugenia Cooney to Starve Herself?" ​Mental Health,​

Data Driven Investor,

medium.com/datadriveninvestor/is-youtube-incentivizing-eugenia-cooney-to-starve-herse

lf-7aafe04becd7. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021.

Knapp, Caroline. “Add Cake, Subtract Self-esteem.” ​Acting out Culture: Reading and Writing,

3rd ed., Bedford/St. Martins, 2011, pp. 188-201.

Wang, Tao, et al. "Social Interactions in Online Eating Disorder Communities: A Network

Perspective." ​PLoS ONE​, vol. 13, no. 7, 30 July 2018, pp. 1-17,

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0200800. Accessed 9 Dec. 2021.