How Social Media Shapes Eating Disorders And Body Image (And what to do about it)
Most of us spend about two hours every day scrolling through social media. What started as a fun way to connect with friends has become something that changes how we see ourselves. Studies show that looking at lots of perfect, filtered photos affects how we feel about our own bodies. This is especially true for teenagers and young adults who are still figuring out who they are.
How Social Media Shapes Our Perception
When we look at "perfect" photos on social media, it triggers several psychological processes that affect how we feel about our own bodies. Research from the field of social psychology has identified several key mechanisms at work:
Social Comparison Theory:
Humans naturally compare themselves to others as a way to evaluate their own attributes and abilities. When we're constantly exposed to idealized images, we tend to make "upward comparisons" – comparing ourselves to those who appear superior in some way. Studies by researchers like Vogel and colleagues (2014) found that viewing attractive profiles on social media led to more negative self-evaluations.
Unrealistic Standards:
The images we see are often heavily manipulated. A 2017 study found that 91% of photos on social media are edited before posting. This creates beauty standards that are literally impossible to achieve without technological intervention, yet our brains process these images as realistic comparisons.
Frequency and Duration:
The effect is dose-dependent. Research shows that spending just 30 minutes daily viewing appearance-focused social media content significantly increases body dissatisfaction. The more time spent viewing such content, the stronger the negative impact.
Internalization Process:
Over time, repeated exposure leads to the internalization of these beauty ideals. A longitudinal study by Tiggemann and Slater tracked 438 adolescent girls and found that social media usage predicted increased internalization of the thin ideal, which in turn predicted increased body dissatisfaction over time.
The Highlight Reel Effect:
People typically share only their best moments and appearances online, creating a skewed perception that everyone else looks perfect all the time. This "highlight reel" effect makes us compare our full reality to others' carefully curated presentations.
Brain Imaging Studies:
Neuroimaging research shows that viewing idealized body images activates brain regions associated with negative self-reflection and decreases activity in areas linked to positive self-evaluation.
Demographic Differences:
The impact varies across different groups. Adolescent girls and young women tend to be most vulnerable, though research shows increasing effects among boys and men as well, especially regarding muscularity ideals.
Contextual Factors:
Simply adding disclaimers about photo manipulation helps reduce some negative effects. Studies where participants were explicitly told images were edited showed less negative impact on body image than when viewing the same images without disclaimers.
This research helps explain why even knowing intellectually that images are unrealistic doesn't fully protect us from their emotional impact. Our automatic comparison processes often override our rational understanding, which is why intentional strategies to counter these effects are so important.
Social Media Impacts The Development Of Eating Disorders
Social media images can significantly influence eating disorder behaviors through several powerful psychological and neurobiological mechanisms. First, it showcases extreme behaviors by hosting communities that normalize restrictive eating, over-exercising, and other disordered behaviors. Content using hashtags related to "clean eating," "fasting," or "what I eat in a day" often showcases extremely low-calorie diets that meet clinical criteria for disordered eating, yet are presented as healthy lifestyle choices.
For individuals already vulnerable to eating disorders, seeing idealized bodies can trigger intense comparison behaviors.
This body comparison often leads to feelings of inadequacy that reinforce the eating disorder belief system that one's body needs "fixing" through restriction, purging, or other harmful behaviors. Moreover, for those who already have an eating disorder, seeing these images drives a competitive aspect where sufferers feel compelled to be "the best" at their disorder. Social media can intensify this by showcasing visible metrics (likes, followers) that seem to reward the most extreme behaviors or appearances, fueling the competitive drive to restrict more, exercise more, or lose more weight.
Furthermore, eating disorders have strong neurobiological components. When someone with these vulnerabilities sees content that aligns with their disorder (like extreme thinness or rigid food rules), it can activate dopamine reward pathways in the brain, reinforcing disordered thoughts and behaviors. This creates a dangerous feedback loop where seeking out triggering content becomes compulsive. In addition, once someone engages with eating disorder-adjacent content, algorithms serve more similar content, creating an echo chamber effect. What begins as casual viewing can quickly become immersion in a digital environment that continuously reinforces disordered ideas about food and body image.
Beyond just images, social media provides specific techniques for weight loss, hiding disordered behaviors from parents or doctors, and achieving certain body features. This practical information can directly enable harmful behaviors in vulnerable individuals.
For adolescents and young adults still forming their identity, participation in online communities centered around certain eating or body ideals can become core to their sense of self. The disorder becomes not just behaviors but part of how they define and view themselves, making recovery more challenging.
The influence of social media can be particularly dangerous because the way it shapes our perceptions operate largely outside conscious awareness. Even while intellectually understanding that images are edited or represent unhealthy ideals, the emotional and neurobiological impact can drive behavior in ways that bypass rational thinking. This is why it’s important to be proactive and engage in media literacy that specifically addresses these unconscious influences.
How To De-Influence Yourself For Better Body Image
You can take control of your social media experience. Start by unfollowing accounts that make you feel bad about yourself. Research shows that changing your digital environment directly impacts your body image:
Audit your current follows: Which accounts make you feel worse after viewing? Which make you feel better?
Unfollow accounts that trigger comparison, focus on weight loss or emphasize appearance over other values
Replace them with accounts promoting body diversity, body neutrality, or content unrelated to appearance
Follow people with bodies similar to yours living full, joyful lives
Seek content creators focused on what bodies can DO rather than how they look
Look up hashtags like #BodyPositivity #BodyNeutrality and #RealBodies that promote neutral or positive content about bodies
Learning to spot fake or edited images is another helpful skill.
Train your brain to see social media content for what it really is:
Remind yourself: most images are edited, filtered, posed, and selected from dozens of attempts
Notice when you're comparing yourself and consciously interrupting the thought process
Ask: "Who profits from me feeling inadequate about my body?"
Remember that influencers are paid to create insecurity about problems their products claim to solve
Learn about common photo manipulation techniques so you can spot them
Setting time limits for social media use can also improve how you feel about yourself. I personally love the app “Freedom” for limiting time on social media since it’s easy to override limits set by my phone.
Here are some other ways to manage your exposure to protect your mental health:
Implement specific time limits for social media apps
Create "no phone zones" in your home (like the bedroom or dining area)
Try a weekend social media detox to reset your perspective
Disable notifications to reduce compulsive checking
Use apps that remove like counts and other metrics that fuel comparison
Try to think about your body for what it can do, not just how it looks. Social media doesn’t capture the nuances of a nourishing relationship with one’s body.
You can rebuild a healthier relationship with your physical self by doing the following:
Engage in movement that feels good rather than focus on calories
Practice mindfulness to notice physical sensations without judgment
Keep a gratitude journal about what your body allows you to experience
Wear clothes that feel comfortable now rather than waiting to "deserve" comfort
Focus on how you feel rather than how you look
Finally, remember that you don't have to navigate this alone. Social media influences all of us, so it’s important to have people you can connect with to dismantle its hold on your self-image.
Here are some ideas:
Talk openly with trusted friends about social media's impact on how you feel
Consider working with a therapist who specializes in body image issues
Join communities (online or in-person) focused on body acceptance
Share your struggles with social comparison—naming it reduces its power
Remember that many people feel the same way, even if they don't discuss it
We can't completely escape media influence today, but we can build healthier relationships with technology and our bodies by being more careful about what we look at, thinking critically about what we see, and remembering that there's more to life than how we look on a screen.
Start Working with An Eating Disorder Therapist in Raleigh, NC
The most important thing to remember is that social media offers a distorted, curated slice of reality—not an accurate reflection of how most people look or live. Your worth extends far beyond your appearance, and reclaiming your relationship with your body starts with recognizing the influences that shape how you see yourself. Counselor Kate can help you create a healthier relationship with social media. Start your therapy journey by following these simple steps:
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