Eating Disorders

Game changer: Tweaking your social media feeds

November 1, 2016

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A Certified Eating Disorders Registered Dietitian (CEDRD) with a master's degree in dietetics & nutrition. My passion is helping you find peace with food - and within yourself.

Meet Katy

Social media is a powerful tool unlike anything we've ever experienced.  At our fingertips is the possibility to share something that could reach millions of people.  We also see things on social media from people we're closest to along with those we'll never even meet in real life.  Even businesses and doctors are harnessing the power of social media.  

When it comes to eating disorders, there are plenty of studies showing that exposure to social media is correlated with lower self-esteem and poor body image.  Most people are aware that images of celebrities and models are notoriously photoshopped and edited into unattainable masterpieces.  But then we see images from our friends who are "just like us" yet might have edited or filtered their photos, or at the very least chosen what they wanted the rest of the world to see.  It may or may not represent their real life.  When I'm on vacation I tend to post photos of the beautiful sights, or of the fun things I'm doing – not the boring drive to the hotel or the mundane moments that are unremarkable and aren't "like" worthy.  We see a pared down and edited version of peoples' lives.

Social media isn't all bad though.  We could wage a war against it and tell people it's harming their psychological health and to stop using it, but that's not gonna happen.  So why not use it for good?

What do you see when you scroll through your social media feeds?  If it is showing you a lot of content that conforms to society's pressure for thinness and narrow definition of beauty, let's change that.  

Unfollow the things that are triggering or unhelpful.  Some platforms allow you to "hide" posts from people you don't want to completely unfriend but also don't want to see their stuff in your feed.  

Then start to populate your feed with things that are inspirational and recovery-oriented.  Here are 10 of my favorites right now:

  1. Moderation Movement
  2. Academy for Eating Disorders
  3. Beauty Redefined
  4. Angie Viets
  5. Dare Not to Diet
  6. HAES Health
  7. National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
  8. REbeL Peer Education
  9. I Heart My Body
  10. Jenni Schaefer

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