Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Brand and Media Strategy
Date of Award
5-2018
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Susan E. Waters
Committee Members
Robert Andrew Dunn, Melanie B. Richards
Abstract
#Thinspiration is an online trend that depicts thin-ideal media content specifically found on the social medium Instagram. The images found under the #thinspiration intend to inspire weight loss while encouraging and/or glorifying dangerous behaviors that are usually attributed to eating disorders including anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). This study provides a content analysis of thinspiration imagery on the popular social networking site Instagram. A set of 300 randomly selected images was coded. Images tended to objectify women and sexualize them with a focus on bony and extremely thin women. Results seemed to point to harmful effects and users is the #thinspiration community view and contribute sexually suggestive content that objectifies females. Please be cautious when reading this paper as it includes media that could possibly be a trigger to those dealing with body image or eating disorders.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Amon, Agustina, "Sharing the Pain in Social Media: A Content Analysis of #thinspiration Images on Instagram" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3421. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3421
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.