Social Media's Influence of Eating Disorders

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A major problem that has caused eating disorders in young women in the present day is the emergence of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As these sites continue to grow in popularity, the hashtags and picture updates of some people can cause negativity to another’s perception of their own image. While seeing how other women choose to live their life, it can have an effect on others viewing and using social media. Negative implications from young women that are prone to using social media; have become more apparent in a technologically diverse age. A recent study at Florida State University explored whether there was a direct link between eating disorders and use of social media. The answer they found was that “it’s complicated” (Mysko). The study composed of 960 students was broken into two portions, first was an eating disorder screening assessment with a series of Facebook related questions. Secondly, a smaller portion of women from the first part were either asked to use Facebook for 20 minutes, or research the Ocelot, which is a rainforest cat. The women a...

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