How Social Media Promote Eating Disorders

US adults’ social media usage has increased from 5% in 2005 to 79% in 2019. According to a survey by the National Eating Disorders Association, 95% of girls agree that they perceive a large quantity of unkind criticism on appearances on social media “posts, comments, photos and videos”; 72% of girls see them weekly; and 62% of girls wish social media were a place that supported “body positivity.” With the increased use of social media today, people’s eating habits are drastically influenced by them. Eating disorders, which can cause serious mental and physical damage, might be negatively associated with social media. This presentation will explore four different ways in which social media promote eating disorders, and what can be done to minimize the negative influence on body image that social media can bring us.

Speaker: Yao Yao, Computer Science ‘22

An international student from China, Yao is majoring in computer science at Seattle University. She hopes to obtain a PhD degree and work in cybersecurity or computer science in the medical field to protect others from being harmed online or help others fight disease. In addition, she hopes to address diversity, particularly the lack of women, in the tech industry. Yao has suffered from binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa for years and has tried different approaches to recover, including seeking help from online communities, visiting a therapist, and so on. Yao has read and experienced many eating-disorder stories from her community, so she understands many patients’ demands and has the passion to eliminate the same damage to more people.