Sharing Information Promoting Unhealthy Behavior through Social Media

Social media provides a place where individuals obtain health information and share social support. Previous literature, however, has suggested that social media may promote harm when users share information advocating unhealthy behaviors. By focusing on online discourse around pro-anorexia content on Tumblr (the promotion of behaviors related to the eating disorder based on a lifestyle view that being extremely thin is beautiful), this study aims to look at how information about the pro-anorexia perspective is circulated among social media users and the way in which such users can be characterized. Specifically, we plan to analyze the content and examine the shared characteristics of the users who are exposed to similar social media content and have a desire to share it.