Like-minded, like-bodied: How users (18-26) trust online eating and health information

This paper investigates the relationship between social media and eating practices amongst 42 internet users aged 18-26. We conducted in-person ethnographic research in the US and India to observe how young people navigated eating and health information online. Participants portrayed themselves online using a vocabulary we have labeled "the good life": performing holistic health through diet, exercise, and idealized lifestyles. We observed participants engaging in behaviors of disordered eating while actively eschewing them. When online, participants valued personal testimonies, and readily tested tips from content creators who they believed shared similar beliefs and bodies to them. In doing so, they did not engage in probabilistic thinking and opened themselves to potential harm. We found that social media feeds did not unidirectionally influence participants—they often reflected participants' internalized views of health, in an intertwined, non-linear journey. Reducing the online spread of disordered eating practices requires addressing it within young people's social context.