1a. Hashtags
A hashtag is a hash symbol (#) followed by a keyword or phrase. These hashtags are included in social media posts so the content of the post may be easily accessible to people of similar interests, regardless of whether they are a follower or friend of you online. For example, if you’re interested in videos, photos or content on goats, you could do a hashtag search on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook of #goats and you will be inundated with goat content at your fingertips. These results would be from users who have uploaded goat content and used the hashtag #goats.
1b. What is #Thinspo?
#Thinspo is the shortened word for thin inspiration (thinspiration). This hashtag is used on many social media platforms as a gateway into the dangerous and disturbing world of “pro-ana” (pro-anorexia) and “pro-mia” (pro-bulimia) movements. A quick
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Undoubtedly, they can exacerbate prior eating disorders but most people who frequent pro-ana communities would basically be doing what they’re doing anyway. Because they have a mental illness that tells them to restrict/purge.” (Thomson, 2013)
Although this may be better than the total lack of regulation, has this actually made an impact on the prevalence of these posts, and thus the prevalence of eating disorders?
3b. How Are Young People Bypassing These Bans and Regulations?
Pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia content communities are not a new concept. These sites have been around since the beginning of the internet. Social media has only made access to this content all the more readily available.
Users of this “pro-ana” and “pro-mia” content have of course found ways to bypass these regulations in order to access this by using alternative spellings and new key words to find the tagged content. New hashtags such as #th1nspo , #thh1nsp0, #proanatips, #pr0-anna, #thh1nsp0, #pr0-anna and #thin still produce horrifying results.
3c. Eating
Pro-Anorexia Websites Cyberspace, something that was once considered a fad, has developed into a tool that allows people struggling with anorexia to potentially find sanctuary from the regulatory systems in popular culture that are applied to women’s bodies. Cyberspace provides an alternative space for women with eating disorders or body issues. The space created by cyberspace is potentially safer for women to meet because it allows anonymity while simultaneously being part of a community that the built environment is unable to provide. The components that make up pro-anorexia websites are usually considered abnormal, repugnant, or deviant within popular culture, because popular culture does not accept the way anorexics interpret images of the body. This popular view of people with anorexia does not allow anorexics to function as an accepted part of public space or popular culture.
“Eating disorders are ‘about’: yes, control, and history, philosophy, society, personal strangeness, family fuck-ups, autoerotics, myth, mirrors, love and death and S&M, magazines and religion, the individual’s blindfolded stumble-walk through an ever-stranger world.” (Hornbacher, 4)
them all they want but they will not make them disappear. As long as the media portrayal of thin being beautiful is maintained, so,
Borzekowski DL, Schenk S, Wilson JL, Peebles R. “e-Ana and e-Mia: A content analysis of pro-eating disorder Web sites.” Am J Public Health. June (2006): 1526-34. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.
Eating Disorders (EDs) are a series of often life-threatening mental health disorders which are commonly used as coping mechanisms or as ways to mask one’s problems. The causes of these illnesses are still being researched, and the effects they have on a person’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing can often be as long as the sufferer’s life.
Hating your body is one of the worst things that can ever happen to a person, and thoughts, of just how to be perfect can ruin a person.There are many other eating disorders, there will only be discussion about one for now.
Eating disorders have been a part of the world’s culture ever since people began recording history. These disorders were first recorded in Egypt, where the Egyptians would partake in a monthly purge that would last anywhere from an hour to as long as two weeks. The Egyptians thought the purge showed their gods how faithful they were to them, and would often purge weekly if they had thought they had done something to displease the gods (Epstein 33). Though there are many individual specialized eating disorder conditions, three main disorders affect the majority of society today. These three disorders are anorexia n...
Researchers and doctors find eating disorders to be very complicated to figure out due to the many different factors leading to eating disorders. The majority of these issues derive from media images portraying the “perfect” bodies bringing people to believe that they need to change their eating habits to become that “perfect” image. On average, people waste around 31 hours a week on the internet and spend anywhere from two to four hours a day looking up cosmetic surgery procedures and investigating dietary and weight loss plans in an attempt to get that model worthy body (The Telegraph). Men and women should be proud of whom they are and not be envious of others so much as to want to change their entire appearance; God made us all perfect through his eyes; why would anyone want to change that uniqueness about them?
Today, America is plagued with eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Compulsive Eating Disorders. Each has its own characteristics that distinguish the illness yet there are some similarities that they also share. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, as with most mental illnesses, eating disorders are not caused by just one factor but by a combination of behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological, interpersonal and social factors. Shockingly, they also report that in the United States, there are as many as 10 million females and 1 million males that are battling with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. Additionally, another 25 million are struggling with binge eating disorders (www.NationalEatingDisorders.org). Typically, psychological factors such as depression and low self-esteem contribute to eating disorders...
Eating disorders are much more dangerous than they may appear. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness and is the third most common chronic illness among teenagers. Anorexics have a form of body dysmorphic disorder; they look at themselves and see themselves as being overweight. The affected often grossly restrict the amount of food they eat and usually over-exercise. “The warning signs of anorexia nervosa are being underweight, refusing to eat, over-exercising, unhealthy skin, hair and nails.” Also there have been studies that have shown ones with anorexia nervosa are likely to later develop bulimia nervosa. Bulimia is usually much more difficult to detect that anorexia. Bulimia nervosa is bingeing, consuming large amounts of food, and purging, vomiting back up. Bulimics often feel out of control and will use bingeing and purging to control something in their lives. “The warning signs for bulimia are weight fluctuations, over-exercising, sneaking food and unhealthy skin, hair, and nails” (“Self Image and Media Influence”).
The ways that society and social media has instilled into many teenage girls and boys that the ideal body is one that is skinny or muscular, has a flat stomach, thigh gaps, long skinny legs, big butts, and big boobs. People that are built this way are considered beautiful and are looked highly upon while those who are thick, fat, and have chunkier thighs and stomach is looked at by everyone as being a disgusting piece of trash that’s worthless and shouldn’t have a part in everyday life unless they change the way they look. Many young adolescent then proceed to take extreme precautions to try and lose all of the unwanted weight to achieve their ideal body. The steps they take to lose weight quickly leads to the development of eating disorders
Since the introduction of internet in the 1990’s, its importance worldwide has always grown tremendously. From the first email send to the domination of Facebook and other social media websites, it has changed the way people communicate. The use of social media is increasingly becoming the preferred way people share their daily activities, ideas and knowledge and that is why it’s the most talked about and used platform. Many companies are encouraging their employees to use various social media platforms and engage online for office productivity, posting opinions and presenting their thoughts. Corporations realize that Social Media tools such as blogs, forums, podcasts and social networking websites makes internal communications faster, more convenient and effective. Social media is a low-cost, high-impact tool that can also complement and reinforce your existing communications efforts. It gives a new dimension to internal communications in many ways: building relationship with employees, leads to diverse thinking and innovation, and reduce costs and Increase Productivity. Social media has impacted positively in the business world, but its downside has impacted teens in high school, with issues such as cyber bullying, and people using Facebook and twitter to get over their boredom and research proving that the more they use social networking websites the more envious they feel.
Back in the 1960s, the media’s role from an institutionalist perspective was that media created the construction of truth, where although media obscure the news, it still created a new reality and leaders. Today, that has changed due to new social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube that allows individuals to release real news such as the The Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) with the #blm hashtag. This hashtag started as a conversation between three sisters on Facebook when a guy by the name of George Zimmerman, who shot African-American teen Trayvon Martin was released. Therefore, #blm became a bigger movement and utilize whenever there were occurrences of racism. With the hashtag, it shows empowerment and creates dialogue
Not sure about the proper use and creation of hashtags, check out this post. Remember, when it comes to #hashtags the point is to get a conversation started. Through planned expectations and a catchy #hashtag have influencers ask their followers to join in the
The meaning of social media can be described as technologies that allow humans to interact using information.