Instagram tries to fight bulimia and anorexia

Facebook group social will provide qualified information about eating disorders and focus on "body positivity."

Instagram is introducing new measures to combat bulimia and anorexia on its platform. Through the introduction of dedicated resources and the promotion of targeted content created by key community leaders, the social network has decided to contribute to the creation of an atmosphere that points straight to body positivity.

The platform, part of Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook family, has always been active in repressing content that promotes or encourages self-harming or image-damaging behavior. On the contrary, already in the past Instagram had promoted images and stories dedicated to the telling of positive experiences, based on the acceptance of one's own image. Currently, the platform also uses a system of blurring images that could make people uncomfortable or contribute to dangerous behaviors in sensitive people. With the new system, however, the social takes a step forward completely dedicated to the problems of body image.

Instagram, resources against bulimia and anorexia

With the line dedicated to body positivity, Instagram has chosen to include in the results of searches made with terms related to eating disorders resources and references of associations dedicated to the topic. The same happens when uploading content deemed related to the topic, or if among their contacts should be present users who have previously uploaded images or used captions related to these issues.

Among the many associations involved, there are Beat in the UK, National Eating Disorder Information Centre in Canada and Butterfly Foundation in Australia. To these names, particularly well known in the sector, we can add the content created for the occasion, created by the partnership between Instagram and the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), present and active in the United States.

Instagram, associations and community leaders for body positivity

The focus of the operation carried out by Instagram is the desire to make all its members feel included and part of the social network family, without any kind of discrimination due to eating disorders or disorders related to body image. By forging a collaboration with the platform's community leaders, coordinated by associations and experts in the field, Instagram is studying further approaches to provide active support to users who show signs of difficulty.

A fixed point, returning also for 2021, is the promotion of Reels dedicated to body positivity created for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week by some of the most famous Instagrammers. At the center of the short videos, the fight against negative stereotypes and the disorders of anorexia and bulimia, as well as the stigma attached to weight. All, as usual, will take place under the watchful eye of NEDA.