Helpful or harmful? A qualitative analysis of young adults’ perceptions about the body positivity movement on social media

Helpful or harmful? 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A qualitative analysis of young adults’ perceptions about the body positivity movement on social media Kelley Borton, Samantha Hahn, Kristen Harrison, Ellen Selkie, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506629/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Body Positivity Movement on social media (BP-SM) aims for radical acceptance of one’s body and rejection of unrealistic beauty standards. Identifying young adult’s perceptions of BP-SM could provide evidence to support BP-SM as a naturalistic intervention for decreasing body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. The goal of this study is to understand young adult perceptions of BP-SM and to describe differences in views by gender and race/ethnicity. Data was collected from young adult (ages 18–24) members of the National MyVoice Text Message Cohort. Participants completed questions regarding their perceptions of BP-SM (N = 272 and N = 285 respectively) via text, which were analyzed via inductive thematic analysis. Almost three-quarters of participants reported positive perceptions of BP-SM (n = 199, 73.2%), with women and non-Hispanic white participants more likely than men and young adults of color to report positive perceptions. However, 35.2% of the sample thought BP-SM could be harmful, with 14.6% of the total sample’s responses categorized as having weight stigmatizing themes. Further research is needed to understand which aspects of BP-SM are helpful or harmful in the prevention of disordered eating and to whom, and how to address the weight stigma that persists within BP-SM. body positivity social media young adults disordered eating Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Background Social media (i.e. Instagram, and TikTok) is rife with messaging promoting the thin ideal and is implicated in the development of negative body image and disordered eating (1, 2), and can perpetuate weight stigma (3, 4). In addition to social media content promoting the thin ideal, there is also a substantial amount of media content pushing weight stigmatizing messaging. A study of publicly available posts on social media found that while blogs tend to more nuanced messages about weight, posts on social media sites such as Twitter contain more derogatory remarks high in weight stigmatizing content (5). Identifying media content that is beneficial may be useful in combating the predominating narrative that supports the thin ideal within most media modalities. Body positivity aims for radical acceptance of one’s body and rejection of unrealistic beauty standards (6). Recently, social media sites have provided a conduit for body positivity to enter the mainstream. In a simple hashtag search of #bodypositivity on Instagram in 2024, one can find over 12.3 million posts. Initial research elucidating the content of body positivity on social media sites (here out referred to as BP-SM) revealed that over 80% of the images contain themes representative of positive body image, such as promoting body acceptance, and contain a broad diversity of body sizes not traditionally represented positively in the media (7). Social media has provided similar movements, (such as fat acceptance) with an essential space for activism (8). The fat acceptance movement is relevant to BP-SM, in that BP-SM is thought to originate from fat acceptance and is similar in its promotion of diverse body types and focus on social construction of beauty. However, fat acceptance appears to have additional content in its messaging relevant to non-medicalization and acceptance of not just diverse body sizes, but of fat bodies specifically. In an analysis of online blogs relevant to fat acceptance, messages identified included those meant to normalize fat bodies, education on the social construction of beauty standards and the relationship to capitalism, and advocacy (9). While similarities between the content of these two movements exist, it is not clear to what degree messages of fat acceptance are present in BP-SM. Furthermore, content and messages may vary considerably due to heterogeneity of individual beliefs of content creators posting BP-SM content. The BP-SM, with its large-scale presence on social media and espousal of tenets related to positive body image, may be thought of as a type of naturalistic intervention in the prevention of body dissatisfaction. There is early evidence suggesting that BP-SM may be beneficial for body image related outcomes. It has been demonstrated that young women exposed to image-based body positive content have increases in body satisfaction and appreciation when compared to exposure to thin-idealized content (10). However, while BP-SM has potential to be utilized in the promotion of positive body image, particularly for young women, the movement may not be as beneficial as hoped for due to inequitable inclusion of individuals with additionally marginalized identities and bodies. A content analysis of body positive images on Instagram demonstrated that images were predominantly female, white, and with over half of images containing “normal weight” bodies (11). While the intention of BP-SM appears altruistic in its messages supporting body diversity, it may be falling short at representing those individuals with marginalized identities. It is possible that individuals with marginalized identities not adequately represented in BP-SM may have differing thoughts and feelings about BP-SM than individuals with more privileged identities related to race, gender identity, or body size. More work is needed to understand how individuals interpret and internalize BP-SM content based on the identities they hold. To consider the potential for BP-SM to promote positive body image related outcomes, it is important to understand more about how it is perceived by target audiences. Young adults, who are at elevated risk of negative mental health outcomes related to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (12 – 14), and are frequent users of social media (15), are an important population to study. However, there is a dearth of information about young adults’ perceptions of BP-SM. Therefore, the goal of this study is to understand young adults’ perceptions about BP-SM, and determine whether they find the movement helpful or harmful and if views about BP-SM differ by gender and by race/ethnicity, if BP-SM is to be considered as a possible intervention in the promotion of positive body image and prevention of disordered eating. Methods Study Design and Population Participants were part of the National MyVoice National Text Message Survey of Youth ( 16 ) a longitudinal mixed-methods study design. To develop the MyVoice cohort, youth aged 14 to 24 were recruited via Facebook advertisements, as Facebook use is high among young adult students ( 17 ). Advertisements targeted demographic characteristics such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, family income, and region. The data of enrolled youth was weighted to reflect the current demographic composition of the most recent American Community Survey ( 16 ). Participants completed at least one question regarding BP-SM in 2018; 61.7% of the cohort responded to the question about the helpfulness or harmfulness of BP-SM (n = 272) and 63.7% of the cohort responded to the question eliciting their feelings about BP-SM (n = 281). The average age for participants included in this analysis was 21.2 years (SD = 1.9 years). Participants were predominantly female, non-Hispanic white, with high parental education, and demographics were similar between the respondents for each question (Table 1 ). The MyVoice study was approved by the [Blinded Institution] Institutional Review Board. Measures To assess participant perceptions about BP-SM, two open-ended questions were asked: “How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?” and “Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us.” These two questions underwent several rounds of feedback and editing from the MyVoice research team including college students, adolescents, researchers, and clinicians to improve ecological validity. The following demographic factors were assessed during enrollment in the MyVoice cohort: age, gender, race/ethnicity, and parental education. Gender was assessed via the question “What is your gender?” Responses were “female,” “male,” “transgender female,” “transgender male,” “nonbinary,” and “other,” followed by a space to fill in one’s gender. To align with previous analyses of MyVoice data, gender was collapsed for this study into three categories: those identifying as cisgender male, those identifying as cisgender female, and those identifying as a gender other than cisgender male or female (i.e., nonbinary, transgender male, transgender female, etc.). Non-cisgender individuals were categorized separately from their cisgender counterparts to avoid small cell sizes in analyses as well as due to unique considerations of their gender identity on issues related to body image ( 18 ). Race/ethnicity was assessed by “What is your race/ethnicity? Check all that apply” and “Are you Hispanic or Latino?” Response options were “White/Caucasian,” “Black/African,” “Asian,” Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander,” “American Indian or Indigenous,” or “Other: please describe,” and “yes/no” respectively. Race/ethnicity was collapsed into non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian, and race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic Asian (non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic white, multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds, and other racial/ethnic backgrounds) to avoid small cell sizes in the analyses. Parental education was assessed by “What is the highest education any parent/guardian has achieved?” Response options were “Some high school,” “High school graduate,” “Some college,” “Completed associate’s degree,” “Completed a bachelor’s degree,” “Completed a master’s degree,” “Some training beyond a master’s degree,” “Completed a doctoral degree,” and “Completed vocational/technical training.” Coding Scheme Qualitative data analysis of the open-ended responses was conducted using inductive thematic analysis ( 19 , 20 ). Four authors independently reviewed all responses and generated possible themes based on patterns in responses. The authors met to discuss the themes until agreement on a final list of themes was achieved. Themes identified by the research team were nonexclusive. A codebook that included definitions of themes as well as example responses was created to facilitate coding and two research assistants independently coded subsets of 50 responses to identify discrepancies in coding and refine the codebook as necessary. This process was repeated by the two research assistants until reaching at least 90% agreement on the application of all codes for each question. All responses were then independently coded by the two research assistants and discrepancies between coders were resolved by the lead author. Responses that had content representative of more than one theme could be coded for all themes deemed appropriate. Data Analysis Differences in the prevalence of themes for the chosen demographic variables (gender and race/ethnicity), were analyzed via chi-square tests, fisher’s exact tests, and t-tests. Results Thematic Maps Thematic maps for Question 1: “How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?” and Question 2: “Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us!” can be found in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 , respectively. Body Positivity on Social Media: Perceived Impacts on Young Adults As shown in Table 2 , the majority of all participants reported BP-SM made them feel positive (n = 199, 73.2%). Of the total respondents, 22.1% (n = 60) felt that BP-SM made them feel happy. For example, one participant stated that BP-SM “…makes me feel happy for the person because I am glad to see people over come [sic] their struggles.” Of the total participant responses, 14.3% (n = 39) indicated that BP-SM helped them feel positively or accept their own bodies. One participant stated that BP-SM felt “Very good because seeing other people feel confident about their bodies helps me to feel the same.” Of the total participant responses, 14.3% (n = 39) of participants discussed how BP-SM “shows diversity of bodies,” with one participant that stated, “it means respecting and loving all body types and trying to unlearn the societal standards that have been shoved down our throats.” Over a quarter (27.6%) of participants had responses coded under the “other” subtheme; one participant reported “it’s nice to see.” Conversely, approximately one quarter of participants (n = 77, 28.3%) reported negative feelings about BP-SM, including self-consciousness regarding their own body, perceptions about the inauthenticity and/or exhibitionist qualities of BP-SM, and negative/weight stigmatizing perceptions about the types of bodies portrayed in BP-SM. Of the total respondents, 13.2% (n = 36) had negative/weight stigmatizing perceptions about the types of bodies portrayed in BP-SM. For example, one participant who endorsed both positive and negative perceptions of BP-SM responded, “Good because I'm happy people are happy with themselves unless they're obese then it's just unhealthy.” A smaller part of respondents (3.3%) reported that BP-SM made them feel “self-conscious about self or body.” For example, one participant stated, “Sometimes I feel sad because I'm not as confident or I don't look like that person.” A small percentage (2.2%) of participants responded with thoughts that represented “showing off bodies.” One participant stated “I've found that the movement on social media shows a lot of fit models posing or trying to garner attention and a following and feel its tacky. No one is gonna shame someone that's toned.” In addition to positive and negative perceptions of BP-SM, respondents reported that they felt neutrally (n = 39, 14.3%) about BP-SM posts on social media. One participant stated that they felt “Indifferent. I am fine with my body.” Themes identified in participants’ feelings about BP-SM varied by gender. Participants identifying as cisgender female and those who identified as a gender other than cisgender male or cisgender female were more likely to report positive perceptions about BP-SM (79.1% and 78.6%, respectively) compared to those identifying as cisgender male (55.2%, p < 0.001). Participants identifying as a gender other than cisgender male or female were also more likely to report that BP-SM helped in feeling positive about accepting one’s body (42.9%), compared to cisgender females (15.2%), and cisgender males (5.97%, p = 0.001). Specific to negative perceptions, cisgender females were more likely to report general negative perceptions of BP-SM (47.8%) compared to cisgender males (22.5%), followed by those of a gender other than cisgender male or female (14.3%, p < 0.0001). Cisgender males were also more likely to perceive that BP-SM promotes “unhealthy bodies” (31.3%), compared to cisgender females (7.9%), or those of a gender other than cisgender male or female (0.0%, p < 0.0001). Differences in perceptions of BP-SM were also observed across racial/ethnic groups. Participants of a race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white and other than non-Hispanic Asian were more likely to make neutral statements (13.6%), than those who identified as non-Hispanic Asian (2.3%) and those who identified as non-Hispanic White (2.4%, p = 0.004). Although not statistically significant at the p < 0.05 cut-off, positive perceptions of BP-SM appear to vary by race, with those who identified as non-Hispanic white most likely to endorse general positive perceptions (25.3%), compared to those of a race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic Asian (20.3%) and those who identified as non-Hispanic Asian (11.6%, p = .05). No other differences in frequency of themes were seen according to sociodemographic characteristics. Body Positivity Movement on Social Media: Helpful or harmful? As shown in Table 3 , the majority of all participants (n = 232, 82.6%) believe BP-SM is helpful, including beliefs that it encouraged self-love and helped in fighting back against societal beauty standards (Table 3 ). Additionally, 22.8% of the total participants responded that BP-SM “encourages self-love.” For example, one participant responded, “I think we should fundamentally question why we think someone…shouldn't feel confident or be able to love themselves no matter their body type of size.” Another 19.9% of participants responded that BP-SM was helpful in that it reinforced “opposing societal norms.” For example, one participant stated, “It helps us deny beauty standards.” However, approximately one third of total participants (n = 99, 35.2%) reported they believed BP-SM could be harmful in some way including beliefs that the movement could do harm by not being inclusive enough of different body types or by promoting “unhealthy” bodies or behaviors. One participant stated they found BP-SM, “Harmful, because it makes people support you out of guilt and encourage fat behavior. It tries to make obesity acceptable.” Perceptions of the helpfulness of BP-SM varied by participants’ gender. Cisgender females (88.6%) and those with a gender identity other than cisgender female or male (86.7%) were more likely to report finding BP-SM helpful compared to cisgender males (26.8%, p < .0001). Cisgender males were also more likely to find BP-SM to be neutral (16.4%) than cisgender females (4.7%) and those of a gender identity other than cisgender male or female (13.3%, p = .006). There we no significant difference by gender on perceived harmfulness of BP-SM. Discussion Young adult participants in the MyVoice cohort experience a range of perceptions about BP-SM and its potential impacts. While the majority expressed positive perceptions of BP-SM, about one-quarter expressed negative perceptions with the most prevalent negative and weight biased perception being that body positivity encourages “unhealthy” bodies or behaviors. Similarly, while the majority of participants felt that BP-SM was helpful, over one-third thought that BP-SM could be harmful. Pathologizing and medicalizing language when describing large bodies (i.e., “obese”)( 21 ) and weight stigmatizing beliefs were common among negative perceptions of BP-SM and concerns about its potential for harm. Cisgender females reported both more overall positive and negative perceptions of BP-SM, including the perception that BP-SM was helpful to individual and societal body image outcomes. It may be that as the target audience of body positive content, cisgender females are more primed to have formed an opinion on BP-SM. In a recent content analysis of online body positive content, 95% of the video content included the presence of at least one cisgender female ( 22 ). There is evidence supporting that BP-SM may be beneficial for young women. Young women exposed to body positive content experience increases in positive mood as well as in body satisfaction in experimental studies ( 10 ). Furthermore, women who view body positive content hold more favorable views about the women in the posts than women who viewed posts of thin ideal content ( 10 ). The current study contributes to this research in that it builds on the idea that body positive content has the potential to benefit women by increasing positive feelings about oneself and one’s body as well as on societal body image outcomes. However, individuals who identified as a gender other than cisgender female or male were most likely to report that BP-SM made them feel positive or more accepting towards their bodies. While cisgender women may be primed to have positive perceptions of BP-SM content based on the percentage of body positive content aimed at ciswomen, this finding contradicts that hypothesis in that the existing literature notes that body positive content is typically lacking in representation when considering queer identities ( 23 ), and individuals in this study who identified as a gender other than cisgender female or male reported perceptions of feeling positive about their bodies. However, those who identified as cisgender male were more likely to report that BP-SM promoted “unhealthy” body types while they were most likely to report neutral perceptions when asked if they thought the movement was helpful or harmful. As previous content analyses demonstrate that body positive content includes more representation of women ( 22 ), it is not surprising that cisgender males in the study at hand reported more neutral perceptions. Furthermore, anti-fat attitudes have also been linked to gender, with cisgender males reporting higher levels of fatphobia ( 24 ), which may account for some of the variance of weight stigma present in the responses. Images of women of a higher body weight are also more likely to be assigned negative perceptions than images of men ( 25 ). This finding also is supported when considering the predominance of cisgender females represented in BP-SM. Individuals who identified as non-Hispanic white had the highest endorsement of positive perceptions of BP-SM, and those who identified as a race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian had the highest prevalence of neutral perceptions about BP-SM. This finding may support the hypothesis that individuals who are represented more commonly in BP-SM content may be most likely to have positive perceptions of the movement regarding positive body image related outcomes. A content analysis of BP-SM content revealed that image-based content was of primarily of individuals identified as white ( 11 ). This study provides more nuance into the hypothesized benefits of BP-SM by providing qualitative detail showing the complex and ambivalent perceptions that young people have with BP-SM, specifically, that variance within perceptions when considering applying the messages of BP-SM to individuals of higher weight statuses. While there is no published research that examines the relationship between BP-SM and the relationship to weight stigma to our knowledge, it has been well established that messages of weight stigma are prevalent on social media ( 5 , 26 ). While the foundation of BP-SM appears to promote themes indicating the rejection of body ideals and the promotion of body acceptance and self-love, it does not operate in a silo, and therefore may not be immune to the large scale stigmatization that exists for individuals of higher body weights in nearly every context in our society, including social media, ( 5 , 26 ). Weight stigma is associated with a host of negative outcomes, including mental health symptoms such as depression ( 27 ), body dissatisfaction ( 28 ), weight bias internalization ( 29 ), loss of educational attainment ( 30 ), metabolic consequences ( 31 ) and disordered eating behaviors ( 32 ). Furthermore, it was also identified in a small, but substantial percentage of participants, that there are concerns about the lack of diversity of bodies portrayed in images, which is consistent with existing research examining BP-SM image-based content ( 11 ). Participants also echoed concerns in line with previous concerns about the economic commodification of the movement by businesses hoping to financially capitalize on the messages ( 33 ). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine young adult perceptions of BP-SM. It is unique in providing insight about BP-SM that is difficult to assess quantitatively. This study adds to the literature by extending the body positive research base to include both cisgender males and those identifying as a gender other than cisgender female or cisgender female. The data is sourced from the MyVoice National Text Message Survey of Youth, the recruitment of which utilized American Community Survey benchmarks to ensure a diverse sample. The sample size allowed examination of differences by gender and race/ethnicity, which provides important insight into how various populations may be impacted differently by BP-SM. However, this study is not without limitations. Firstly, there is no one-size-fits-all user-generated definition of BP-SM, and participants in this study were free to define what BP-SM is for themselves. Furthermore, no information was collected on participant body size, weight, or weight perception; therefore, we were not able to examine whether the weight stigmatizing responses were originating from people of smaller weight statuses, or if individuals of larger bodies were internalizing these weight stigmatizing views. Finally, the sample was not adequately powered to examine differences according to a more expansive list of racial/ethnic identities, such as those who identify as Black, or those who identify as Hispanic. For statistical power, these groups were collapsed into one group. It may be that the heterogeneity of this collapsed racial category led to the inability to detect differences when in fact differences were present. Limitations also exist when applying quantitative methods to qualitative data. Quantitative comparisons must be treated as exploratory or hypothesis-generating, as assumptions cannot be made on how participants would have answered if asked about each specific theme via a quantitative survey. This study provides a nuanced perspective of young adult perceptions of BP-SM. While early data suggest that BP-SM may be a promising naturalistic intervention for the prevention of disordered eating and related outcomes, this study suggests that there may be important differences regarding the demographics of who can most benefit from BP-SM, particularly, differences regarding gender and race/ethnicity. Furthermore, while a significant proportion of young adults view BP-SM as positive and helpful, the presence of weight stigmatizing themes suggests the potential for unintentional negative impacts of BP-SM, particularly when considering the absence of fat liberation informed messaging. To study BP-SM as a potential intervention, quantitative data is needed to support how young adults define BP-SM, and which aspects of it are helpful versus harmful. More data is needed to also help elucidate which populations can benefit from the movement, and how to best utilize the movement to ensure that those populations that are historically excluded (i.e., individuals in larger bodies, individuals of minoritized racial or ethnic status or diverse gender and sexual identities) are included and centered in this process. Finally, experimental data is also needed to determine if BP-SM is helpful in reducing weight stigma while also promoting positive body image. Table 1 Sample Demographics by Question including Age, Gender Identity, Race/ethnicity, and Parental Education of Young Adults in the MyVoice Cohort Question 1 “How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?” (n = 272) Question 2 “Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us.” (n = 281) Age, M (SD) 21.2 (1.9) 21.2 (1.9) Gender Identity, n (%) Female 191 (70.2) 193 (68.7) Male 67 (24.6) 73 (26.0) Other 14 (5.1) 15 (5.3) Race/ethnicity, n (%) White 170 (62.5) 174 (61.9) Asian 43 (15.8) 48 (17.1) Other 59 (21.7) 59 (21.0) Highest Parental Education n (%) High school / vocational 32 (11.8) 36 (12.8) Bachelor’s / some college 103 (37.9) 105 (37.4) Master’s degree 81 (29.8) 82 (29.2) Beyond Master’s degree 56 (20.6) 58 (20.6) Table 2 Response Themes, Frequencies, and Example Responses for the Question, “How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?” Theme n (%) Example response General positive 199 (73.2) Happy 60 (22.1) “Makes me feel happy that people are choosing to love themselves even though they are having a hard time mentally and emotionally and physically” Feel good/acceptance 39 (14.3) “I like it- gives me permission to be more accepting of myself” Shows diversity of bodies 39 (14.3) “More aware of different body sizes and shapes presented so it makes it inclusive environment” Other 75 (27.6) “Great! Because I think it's important” General negative 77 (28.3) Self-conscious about 9 (3.31) self or body “honestly? more self conscious a lot of the time because it makes me focus more on my body.” Promotion of 36 (13.2) “unhealthy” bodies or behaviors “Annoyed. I do think people should love themselves, but being overweight shouldn't be celebrated. I don't think overweight people should hate themselves, but they shouldn't be encouraged to love their bodies in unhealthy states” Showing off bodies 6 (2.2) “It depends on the reasons behind it. Some people use it as a tool to show off their bodies which makes me uncomfortable but when it's genuine it makes me feel powered” Inauthenticity or 19 (7.0) Meaningless “On social media it could be posted as a way to advertise so its less genuine” Other 11 (4.0) “There's a lot of skinny shaming and that's not body positivity” Neutral 39 (14.3) Do not relate 13 (4.8) “Nothing really, I think it's a good thing but I'm already traditionally skinny so it's not necessarily for me” Does not change how 13 (4.8) I feel “It doesn't make me feel any time of way. I still have body image issues” Other 17 (6.3) “Honestly, I don't think much of it.” *Themes are not mutually exclusive. Responses may be coded for the presence of one or more themes; therefore, percentages will not add up to 100%. Table 3 Response Themes, Frequencies, and Example Responses for the Question, “Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us.” Theme n (%) Example response Helpful 232 (82.6) Reach 8 (2.9) “It's definitely helpful. It helps spread the word and educate others on the movement” Opposing societal norms 56 (19.9) “It's helpful. It shows people society is slowly becoming more accepting of body types.” Encourages self-love 64 (22.8) “I think it is helpful. There are so many reasons to not feeling good about yourself especially when looking at social media. Body positivity and social media helps encourage an influence us to love ourselves” Other 117 (41.6) “I think it is generally a good thing.” Harmful 99 (35.2) Promotion of “unhealthy” 41 (14.6) bodies or behaviors “obesity isn't healthy necessarily and shouldn't be celebrated” Not inclusive enough 11 (3.9) “It becomes problematic when companies co-opt the movement for marketing purposes. Or when there's a lack of diversity in size, race, gender, and other intersections in the movement.” Social media in general is bad 4 (1.4) “Helpful, brings out awareness but just as anything shared on media can be harmful with negative comments” Other 46 (16.4) “probably a little bit of both because when you're not thinking about your body and you see those things it brings attention to it. but it also raises awareness of self love which is important.” Neutral 23 (8.2) Not sure 14 (5.0) “Not sure, I'm not super tuned in to that” Ineffective 4 (1.4) “Neutral. I don't think it does anything” Other 5 (1.8) “neither” *Themes are not mutually exclusive. Responses may be coded for the presence of one or more themes; therefore, percentages will not add up to 100%. Declarations Disclosure of Interest The authors report there are no competing interests to declare. Funding Declaration The authors report that there was no funding source for this project. Human Ethics and Consent to Participate The MyVoice study was approved by the [Blinded Institution] Institutional Review Board, which included informed consent to participate. Author Contribution Kelley Borton and Samantha Hahn designed the research questions as were supervised by Kendrin Sonneville and completed the analyses. Kendrin Sonneville was the primary advisor on the project and provided extensive editing. Mikayla Barry and Kelsey Rose were involved in the coding of responses and also helped contribute to all Figures. Barry and Rose also provided multiple rounds of editing on the manuscript. Kelley Borton completed background and discussion while Samantha Hahn wrote methods. Both Borton and Hahn contributed to results section text and all tables. Kelley Borton, Samantha Hahn, Kendrin Sonneville and Ellen Selkie developed the coding scheme for all qualitative data. 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A tale of four platforms: Motivations and uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat among college students. Soc Media Soc. 2017;3(1):2056305117691544. McGuire JK, Doty JL, Catalpa JM, Ola C. Body image in transgender young people: findings from a qualitative, community-based study. Body Image. 2016;18:96–107. Braun V, Clarke V, Hayfield N, Terry G. Thematic Analysis. In: Liamputtong P, editor. Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Singapore: Springer; 2019. Nowell LS, Norris JM, White DE, Moules NJ. Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. Int J Qual Methods. 2017;16(1):1609406917733847. Meadows A, Daníelsdóttir S. What's in a word? On weight stigma and terminology. Front Psychol. 2016;7:1527. Harriger JA, Wick MR, Sherline CM, Kunz AL. The body positivity movement is not all that positive on TikTok: A content analysis of body positive TikTok videos. Body Image. 2023;46:256–64. Griffin M, Bailey KA, Lopez KJ. #BodyPositive? A critical exploration of the body positive movement within physical cultures taking an intersectionality approach. Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:908580. Perez‐Lopez MS, Lewis RJ, Cash TF. The relationship of antifat attitudes to other prejudicial and gender‐related attitudes. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2001;31(4):683–97. Greenleaf C, Starks M, Gomez L, Chambliss H, Martin S. Weight-related words associated with figure silhouettes. Body Image. 2004;1(4):373–84. Lydecker JA, Cotter EW, Palmberg AA, et al. Does this Tweet make me look fat? A content analysis of weight stigma on Twitter. Eat Weight Disord. 2016;21(2):229–35. Hunger JM, Dodd DR, Smith AR. Weight-based discrimination, interpersonal needs, and suicidal ideation. Stigma Health. 2020;5(2):217–24. Romano KA, Heron KE, Henson JM. Examining associations among weight stigma, weight bias internalization, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptoms: Does weight status matter? Body Image. 2021;37:38–49. Hayward LE, Vartanian LR, Pinkus RT. Weight stigma predicts poorer psychological well-being through internalized weight bias and maladaptive coping responses. Obesity. 2018;26(5):755–61. Puhl RM, Heuer CA. The stigma of obesity: a review and update. Obesity. 2009;17(5):941–64. Tomiyama A, Carr D, Granberg E, et al. How and why weight stigma drives the obesity ‘epidemic’ and harms health. BMC Med. 2018;16:123. Piran N, Thompson S. A study of the Adverse Social Experiences model to the development of eating disorders. Int J Health Promot Educ. 2008;46(2):65–71. Cwynar-Horta J. The commodification of the body positive movement on Instagram. Stream. 2016;8(2):36–56. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6506629","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":452284768,"identity":"444fed31-68d2-4a06-863c-10a7b6012ffd","order_by":0,"name":"Kelley Borton","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCQkILcfAwMZ4gIGBGchOIEILUKkxUAsDaVoSG4jWIjm7+djnDxV30vvZjyUc+LnDmoGfPccArxZpmWPJMw6ceZY7syftwMHeM+kMkj1v8GuRk8gxZjjYdjh3w4H0hgO8bYcZDG4QsAWmJd3g/POGg3+BWuwJaZGGakkwuJF24DDYFgkCWiTnHEtmOHPmsOHMGc8SDsu2pfNInHlWgFeLxO3mwwwVFYfl+fnTDB++bbOW429P3oBXCwbgIU35KBgFo2AUjAKsAAAz800YiNnntAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Oakland University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kelley","middleName":"","lastName":"Borton","suffix":""},{"id":452284769,"identity":"17fd253f-a706-4a2d-9d39-2ae1281389cb","order_by":1,"name":"Samantha Hahn","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Central Michigan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Samantha","middleName":"","lastName":"Hahn","suffix":""},{"id":452284770,"identity":"bed4c2d6-f8e3-4ed8-8be6-6a5263a246e6","order_by":2,"name":"Kristen Harrison","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kristen","middleName":"","lastName":"Harrison","suffix":""},{"id":452284771,"identity":"f4000c9f-d156-4182-9785-5681bc192e52","order_by":3,"name":"Ellen Selkie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Wisconsin–Madison","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ellen","middleName":"","lastName":"Selkie","suffix":""},{"id":452284772,"identity":"9f5c8317-6e31-4847-8601-b56587648a20","order_by":4,"name":"Kelsey Rose","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Vermont","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kelsey","middleName":"","lastName":"Rose","suffix":""},{"id":452284773,"identity":"d2cd2bb0-c455-4142-a977-5655e5b37b37","order_by":5,"name":"Mikayla Barry","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Minnesota","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mikayla","middleName":"","lastName":"Barry","suffix":""},{"id":452284774,"identity":"15f83e69-6d4f-4c17-a4f6-73b83d5e70db","order_by":6,"name":"Katherine Bauer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Michigan–Ann Arbor","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Katherine","middleName":"","lastName":"Bauer","suffix":""},{"id":452284775,"identity":"b0662e57-889c-43ac-aa77-088bccec7afb","order_by":7,"name":"Kendrin Sonneville","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Michigan–Ann Arbor","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kendrin","middleName":"","lastName":"Sonneville","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-22 18:08:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506629/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506629/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":82277942,"identity":"5f631f79-ce3c-4d1d-9251-7a74044aa379","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-08 14:53:40","extension":"jpeg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1075940,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eCoding Scheme for Question 1:\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eHow does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?”\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6506629/v1/bd26e8e166e08b670d487a49.jpeg"},{"id":82276133,"identity":"e7d8b985-bbc5-4850-a2e3-796df092965e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-08 14:45:40","extension":"jpeg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":884139,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eCoding Scheme for Question 2\u003cstrong\u003e: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us”\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6506629/v1/4ce735e98ef98aefdfc5aa73.jpeg"},{"id":100357144,"identity":"1e87d1f4-4130-43ae-adb5-0dd1501868e4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-16 07:19:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2593090,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6506629/v1/011fb201-06ba-4936-abf5-929a7cc8b4a2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Helpful or harmful? A qualitative analysis of young adults’ perceptions about the body positivity movement on social media","fulltext":[{"header":"Background","content":"\u003cp\u003eSocial media (i.e. Instagram, and TikTok) is rife with messaging promoting the thin ideal and is implicated in the development of negative body image and disordered eating (1, 2), and can perpetuate weight stigma (3, 4). In addition to social media content promoting the thin ideal, there is also a substantial amount of media content pushing weight stigmatizing messaging. A study of publicly available posts on social media found that while blogs tend to more nuanced messages about weight, posts on social media sites such as Twitter contain more derogatory remarks high in weight stigmatizing content (5). Identifying media content that is beneficial may be useful in combating the predominating narrative that supports the thin ideal within most media modalities.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBody positivity aims for radical acceptance of one\u0026rsquo;s body and rejection of unrealistic beauty standards (6). Recently, social media sites have provided a conduit for body positivity to enter the mainstream. In a simple hashtag search of #bodypositivity on Instagram in 2024, one can find over 12.3 million posts. Initial research elucidating the content of body positivity on social media sites (here out referred to as BP-SM) revealed that over 80% of the images contain themes representative of positive body image, such as promoting body acceptance, and contain a broad diversity of body sizes not traditionally represented positively in the media (7).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSocial media has provided similar movements, (such as fat acceptance) with an essential space for activism (8). The fat acceptance movement is relevant to BP-SM, in that BP-SM is thought to originate from fat acceptance and is similar in its promotion of diverse body types and focus on social construction of beauty. However, fat acceptance appears to have additional content in its messaging relevant to non-medicalization and acceptance of not just diverse body sizes, but of fat bodies specifically. In an analysis of online blogs relevant to fat acceptance, messages identified included those meant to normalize fat bodies, education on the social construction of beauty standards and the relationship to capitalism, and advocacy (9). While similarities between the content of these two movements exist, it is not clear to what degree messages of fat acceptance are present in BP-SM. Furthermore, content and messages may vary considerably due to heterogeneity of individual beliefs of content creators posting BP-SM content. The BP-SM, with its large-scale presence on social media and espousal of tenets related to positive body image, may be thought of as a type of naturalistic intervention in the prevention of body dissatisfaction.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is early evidence suggesting that BP-SM may be beneficial for body image related outcomes. It has been demonstrated that young women exposed to image-based body positive content have increases in body satisfaction and appreciation when compared to exposure to thin-idealized content (10). However, while BP-SM has potential to be utilized in the promotion of positive body image, particularly for young women, the movement may not be as beneficial as hoped for due to inequitable inclusion of individuals with additionally marginalized identities and bodies. A content analysis of body positive images on Instagram demonstrated that images were predominantly female, white, and with over half of images containing \u0026ldquo;normal weight\u0026rdquo; bodies (11). While the intention of BP-SM appears altruistic in its messages supporting body diversity, it may be falling short at representing those individuals with marginalized identities. It is possible that individuals with marginalized identities not adequately represented in BP-SM may have differing thoughts and feelings about BP-SM than individuals with more privileged identities related to race, gender identity, or body size. More work is needed to understand how individuals interpret and internalize BP-SM content based on the identities they hold.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo consider the potential for BP-SM to promote positive body image related outcomes, it is important to understand more about how it is perceived by target audiences. Young adults, who are at elevated risk of negative mental health outcomes related to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (12 \u0026ndash; 14), and are frequent users of social media (15), are an important population to study. However, there is a dearth of information about young adults\u0026rsquo; perceptions of BP-SM. Therefore, the goal of this study is to understand young adults\u0026rsquo; perceptions about BP-SM, and determine whether they find the movement helpful or harmful and if views about BP-SM differ by gender and by race/ethnicity, if BP-SM is to be considered as a possible intervention in the promotion of positive body image and prevention of disordered eating.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStudy Design and Population\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eParticipants were part of the National MyVoice National Text Message Survey of Youth (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e) a longitudinal mixed-methods study design. To develop the MyVoice cohort, youth aged 14 to 24 were recruited via Facebook advertisements, as Facebook use is high among young adult students (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e). Advertisements targeted demographic characteristics such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, family income, and region. The data of enrolled youth was weighted to reflect the current demographic composition of the most recent American Community Survey (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e). Participants completed at least one question regarding BP-SM in 2018; 61.7% of the cohort responded to the question about the helpfulness or harmfulness of BP-SM (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;272) and 63.7% of the cohort responded to the question eliciting their feelings about BP-SM (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;281). The average age for participants included in this analysis was 21.2 years (SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.9 years). Participants were predominantly female, non-Hispanic white, with high parental education, and demographics were similar between the respondents for each question (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). The MyVoice study was approved by the [Blinded Institution] Institutional Review Board.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMeasures\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo assess participant perceptions about BP-SM, two open-ended questions were asked: \u0026ldquo;How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us.\u0026rdquo; These two questions underwent several rounds of feedback and editing from the MyVoice research team including college students, adolescents, researchers, and clinicians to improve ecological validity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe following demographic factors were assessed during enrollment in the MyVoice cohort: age, gender, race/ethnicity, and parental education. Gender was assessed via the question \u0026ldquo;What is your gender?\u0026rdquo; Responses were \u0026ldquo;female,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;male,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;transgender female,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;transgender male,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;nonbinary,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;other,\u0026rdquo; followed by a space to fill in one\u0026rsquo;s gender. To align with previous analyses of MyVoice data, gender was collapsed for this study into three categories: those identifying as cisgender male, those identifying as cisgender female, and those identifying as a gender other than cisgender male or female (i.e., nonbinary, transgender male, transgender female, etc.). Non-cisgender individuals were categorized separately from their cisgender counterparts to avoid small cell sizes in analyses as well as due to unique considerations of their gender identity on issues related to body image (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e). Race/ethnicity was assessed by \u0026ldquo;What is your race/ethnicity? Check all that apply\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;Are you Hispanic or Latino?\u0026rdquo; Response options were \u0026ldquo;White/Caucasian,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Black/African,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Asian,\u0026rdquo; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;American Indian or Indigenous,\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;Other: please describe,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;yes/no\u0026rdquo; respectively. Race/ethnicity was collapsed into non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian, and race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic Asian (non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic white, multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds, and other racial/ethnic backgrounds) to avoid small cell sizes in the analyses. Parental education was assessed by \u0026ldquo;What is the highest education any parent/guardian has achieved?\u0026rdquo; Response options were \u0026ldquo;Some high school,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;High school graduate,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Some college,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Completed associate\u0026rsquo;s degree,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Completed a bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Completed a master\u0026rsquo;s degree,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Some training beyond a master\u0026rsquo;s degree,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Completed a doctoral degree,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;Completed vocational/technical training.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCoding Scheme\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQualitative data analysis of the open-ended responses was conducted using inductive thematic analysis (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e). Four authors independently reviewed all responses and generated possible themes based on patterns in responses. The authors met to discuss the themes until agreement on a final list of themes was achieved. Themes identified by the research team were nonexclusive. A codebook that included definitions of themes as well as example responses was created to facilitate coding and two research assistants independently coded subsets of 50 responses to identify discrepancies in coding and refine the codebook as necessary. This process was repeated by the two research assistants until reaching at least 90% agreement on the application of all codes for each question. All responses were then independently coded by the two research assistants and discrepancies between coders were resolved by the lead author. Responses that had content representative of more than one theme could be coded for all themes deemed appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eData Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferences in the prevalence of themes for the chosen demographic variables (gender and race/ethnicity), were analyzed via chi-square tests, fisher\u0026rsquo;s exact tests, and t-tests.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eThematic Maps\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThematic maps for Question 1: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e and Question 2: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us!\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e can be found in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e and Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBody Positivity on Social Media: Perceived Impacts on Young Adults\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, the majority of all participants reported BP-SM made them feel positive (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;199, 73.2%). Of the total respondents, 22.1% (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;60) felt that BP-SM made them feel happy. For example, one participant stated that BP-SM \u0026ldquo;\u0026hellip;makes me feel happy for the person because I am glad to see people over come [sic] their struggles.\u0026rdquo; Of the total participant responses, 14.3% (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39) indicated that BP-SM helped them feel positively or accept their own bodies. One participant stated that BP-SM felt \u0026ldquo;Very good because seeing other people feel confident about their bodies helps me to feel the same.\u0026rdquo; Of the total participant responses, 14.3% (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39) of participants discussed how BP-SM \u0026ldquo;shows diversity of bodies,\u0026rdquo; with one participant that stated, \u0026ldquo;it means respecting and loving all body types and trying to unlearn the societal standards that have been shoved down our throats.\u0026rdquo; Over a quarter (27.6%) of participants had responses coded under the \u0026ldquo;other\u0026rdquo; subtheme; one participant reported \u0026ldquo;it\u0026rsquo;s nice to see.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConversely, approximately one quarter of participants (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;77, 28.3%) reported negative feelings about BP-SM, including self-consciousness regarding their own body, perceptions about the inauthenticity and/or exhibitionist qualities of BP-SM, and negative/weight stigmatizing perceptions about the types of bodies portrayed in BP-SM. Of the total respondents, 13.2% (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;36) had negative/weight stigmatizing perceptions about the types of bodies portrayed in BP-SM. For example, one participant who endorsed both positive and negative perceptions of BP-SM responded, \u0026ldquo;Good because I'm happy people are happy with themselves unless they're obese then it's just unhealthy.\u0026rdquo; A smaller part of respondents (3.3%) reported that BP-SM made them feel \u0026ldquo;self-conscious about self or body.\u0026rdquo; For example, one participant stated, \u0026ldquo;Sometimes I feel sad because I'm not as confident or I don't look like that person.\u0026rdquo; A small percentage (2.2%) of participants responded with thoughts that represented \u0026ldquo;showing off bodies.\u0026rdquo; One participant stated \u0026ldquo;I've found that the movement on social media shows a lot of fit models posing or trying to garner attention and a following and feel its tacky. No one is gonna shame someone that's toned.\u0026rdquo; In addition to positive and negative perceptions of BP-SM, respondents reported that they felt neutrally (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39, 14.3%) about BP-SM posts on social media. One participant stated that they felt \u0026ldquo;Indifferent. I am fine with my body.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThemes identified in participants\u0026rsquo; feelings about BP-SM varied by gender. Participants identifying as cisgender female and those who identified as a gender other than cisgender male or cisgender female were more likely to report positive perceptions about BP-SM (79.1% and 78.6%, respectively) compared to those identifying as cisgender male (55.2%, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). Participants identifying as a gender other than cisgender male or female were also more likely to report that BP-SM helped in feeling positive about accepting one\u0026rsquo;s body (42.9%), compared to cisgender females (15.2%), and cisgender males (5.97%, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.001). Specific to negative perceptions, cisgender females were more likely to report general negative perceptions of BP-SM (47.8%) compared to cisgender males (22.5%), followed by those of a gender other than cisgender male or female (14.3%, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.0001). Cisgender males were also more likely to perceive that BP-SM promotes \u0026ldquo;unhealthy bodies\u0026rdquo; (31.3%), compared to cisgender females (7.9%), or those of a gender other than cisgender male or female (0.0%, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.0001).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferences in perceptions of BP-SM were also observed across racial/ethnic groups. Participants of a race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white and other than non-Hispanic Asian were more likely to make neutral statements (13.6%), than those who identified as non-Hispanic Asian (2.3%) and those who identified as non-Hispanic White (2.4%, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.004). Although not statistically significant at the p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05 cut-off, positive perceptions of BP-SM appear to vary by race, with those who identified as non-Hispanic white most likely to endorse general positive perceptions (25.3%), compared to those of a race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic Asian (20.3%) and those who identified as non-Hispanic Asian (11.6%, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.05). No other differences in frequency of themes were seen according to sociodemographic characteristics.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBody Positivity Movement on Social Media: Helpful or harmful?\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, the majority of all participants (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;232, 82.6%) believe BP-SM is helpful, including beliefs that it encouraged self-love and helped in fighting back against societal beauty standards (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e). Additionally, 22.8% of the total participants responded that BP-SM \u0026ldquo;encourages self-love.\u0026rdquo; For example, one participant responded, \u0026ldquo;I think we should fundamentally question why we think someone\u0026hellip;shouldn't feel confident or be able to love themselves no matter their body type of size.\u0026rdquo; Another 19.9% of participants responded that BP-SM was helpful in that it reinforced \u0026ldquo;opposing societal norms.\u0026rdquo; For example, one participant stated, \u0026ldquo;It helps us deny beauty standards.\u0026rdquo; However, approximately one third of total participants (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;99, 35.2%) reported they believed BP-SM could be harmful in some way including beliefs that the movement could do harm by not being inclusive enough of different body types or by promoting \u0026ldquo;unhealthy\u0026rdquo; bodies or behaviors. One participant stated they found BP-SM, \u0026ldquo;Harmful, because it makes people support you out of guilt and encourage fat behavior. It tries to make obesity acceptable.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePerceptions of the helpfulness of BP-SM varied by participants\u0026rsquo; gender. Cisgender females (88.6%) and those with a gender identity other than cisgender female or male (86.7%) were more likely to report finding BP-SM helpful compared to cisgender males (26.8%, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.0001). Cisgender males were also more likely to find BP-SM to be neutral (16.4%) than cisgender females (4.7%) and those of a gender identity other than cisgender male or female (13.3%, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.006). There we no significant difference by gender on perceived harmfulness of BP-SM.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eYoung adult participants in the MyVoice cohort experience a range of perceptions about BP-SM and its potential impacts. While the majority expressed positive perceptions of BP-SM, about one-quarter expressed negative perceptions with the most prevalent negative and weight biased perception being that body positivity encourages \u0026ldquo;unhealthy\u0026rdquo; bodies or behaviors. Similarly, while the majority of participants felt that BP-SM was helpful, over one-third thought that BP-SM could be harmful. Pathologizing and medicalizing language when describing large bodies (i.e., \u0026ldquo;obese\u0026rdquo;)(\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e) and weight stigmatizing beliefs were common among negative perceptions of BP-SM and concerns about its potential for harm.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCisgender females reported both more overall positive and negative perceptions of BP-SM, including the perception that BP-SM was helpful to individual and societal body image outcomes. It may be that as the target audience of body positive content, cisgender females are more primed to have formed an opinion on BP-SM. In a recent content analysis of online body positive content, 95% of the video content included the presence of at least one cisgender female (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e). There is evidence supporting that BP-SM may be beneficial for young women. Young women exposed to body positive content experience increases in positive mood as well as in body satisfaction in experimental studies (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e). Furthermore, women who view body positive content hold more favorable views about the women in the posts than women who viewed posts of thin ideal content (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e). The current study contributes to this research in that it builds on the idea that body positive content has the potential to benefit women by increasing positive feelings about oneself and one\u0026rsquo;s body as well as on societal body image outcomes. However, individuals who identified as a gender other than cisgender female or male were most likely to report that BP-SM made them feel positive or more accepting towards their bodies. While cisgender women may be primed to have positive perceptions of BP-SM content based on the percentage of body positive content aimed at ciswomen, this finding contradicts that hypothesis in that the existing literature notes that body positive content is typically lacking in representation when considering queer identities (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e), and individuals in this study who identified as a gender other than cisgender female or male reported perceptions of feeling positive about their bodies. However, those who identified as cisgender male were more likely to report that BP-SM promoted \u0026ldquo;unhealthy\u0026rdquo; body types while they were most likely to report neutral perceptions when asked if they thought the movement was helpful or harmful. As previous content analyses demonstrate that body positive content includes more representation of women (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e), it is not surprising that cisgender males in the study at hand reported more neutral perceptions. Furthermore, anti-fat attitudes have also been linked to gender, with cisgender males reporting higher levels of fatphobia (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e), which may account for some of the variance of weight stigma present in the responses. Images of women of a higher body weight are also more likely to be assigned negative perceptions than images of men (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e). This finding also is supported when considering the predominance of cisgender females represented in BP-SM.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndividuals who identified as non-Hispanic white had the highest endorsement of positive perceptions of BP-SM, and those who identified as a race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian had the highest prevalence of neutral perceptions about BP-SM. This finding may support the hypothesis that individuals who are represented more commonly in BP-SM content may be most likely to have positive perceptions of the movement regarding positive body image related outcomes. A content analysis of BP-SM content revealed that image-based content was of primarily of individuals identified as white (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study provides more nuance into the hypothesized benefits of BP-SM by providing qualitative detail showing the complex and ambivalent perceptions that young people have with BP-SM, specifically, that variance within perceptions when considering applying the messages of BP-SM to individuals of higher weight statuses. While there is no published research that examines the relationship between BP-SM and the relationship to weight stigma to our knowledge, it has been well established that messages of weight stigma are prevalent on social media (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e). While the foundation of BP-SM appears to promote themes indicating the rejection of body ideals and the promotion of body acceptance and self-love, it does not operate in a silo, and therefore may not be immune to the large scale stigmatization that exists for individuals of higher body weights in nearly every context in our society, including social media, (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e). Weight stigma is associated with a host of negative outcomes, including mental health symptoms such as depression (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e), body dissatisfaction (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e), weight bias internalization (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e), loss of educational attainment (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e), metabolic consequences (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e) and disordered eating behaviors (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e). Furthermore, it was also identified in a small, but substantial percentage of participants, that there are concerns about the lack of diversity of bodies portrayed in images, which is consistent with existing research examining BP-SM image-based content (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e). Participants also echoed concerns in line with previous concerns about the economic commodification of the movement by businesses hoping to financially capitalize on the messages (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo the best of the authors\u0026rsquo; knowledge, this is the first study to examine young adult perceptions of BP-SM. It is unique in providing insight about BP-SM that is difficult to assess quantitatively. This study adds to the literature by extending the body positive research base to include both cisgender males and those identifying as a gender other than cisgender female or cisgender female. The data is sourced from the MyVoice National Text Message Survey of Youth, the recruitment of which utilized American Community Survey benchmarks to ensure a diverse sample. The sample size allowed examination of differences by gender and race/ethnicity, which provides important insight into how various populations may be impacted differently by BP-SM. However, this study is not without limitations. Firstly, there is no one-size-fits-all user-generated definition of BP-SM, and participants in this study were free to define what BP-SM is for themselves. Furthermore, no information was collected on participant body size, weight, or weight perception; therefore, we were not able to examine whether the weight stigmatizing responses were originating from people of smaller weight statuses, or if individuals of larger bodies were internalizing these weight stigmatizing views. Finally, the sample was not adequately powered to examine differences according to a more expansive list of racial/ethnic identities, such as those who identify as Black, or those who identify as Hispanic. For statistical power, these groups were collapsed into one group. It may be that the heterogeneity of this collapsed racial category led to the inability to detect differences when in fact differences were present. Limitations also exist when applying quantitative methods to qualitative data. Quantitative comparisons must be treated as exploratory or hypothesis-generating, as assumptions cannot be made on how participants would have answered if asked about each specific theme via a quantitative survey.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study provides a nuanced perspective of young adult perceptions of BP-SM. While early data suggest that BP-SM may be a promising naturalistic intervention for the prevention of disordered eating and related outcomes, this study suggests that there may be important differences regarding the demographics of who can most benefit from BP-SM, particularly, differences regarding gender and race/ethnicity. Furthermore, while a significant proportion of young adults view BP-SM as positive and helpful, the presence of weight stigmatizing themes suggests the potential for unintentional negative impacts of BP-SM, particularly when considering the absence of fat liberation informed messaging. To study BP-SM as a potential intervention, quantitative data is needed to support how young adults define BP-SM, and which aspects of it are helpful versus harmful. More data is needed to also help elucidate which populations can benefit from the movement, and how to best utilize the movement to ensure that those populations that are historically excluded (i.e., individuals in larger bodies, individuals of minoritized racial or ethnic status or diverse gender and sexual identities) are included and centered in this process. Finally, experimental data is also needed to determine if BP-SM is helpful in reducing weight stigma while also promoting positive body image.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSample Demographics by Question including Age, Gender Identity, Race/ethnicity, and Parental Education of Young Adults in the MyVoice Cohort\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion 1 \u0026ldquo;How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?\u0026rdquo; (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;272)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion 2 \u0026ldquo;Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us.\u0026rdquo; (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;281)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge, M (SD)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.2 (1.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.2 (1.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender Identity, n (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e191 (70.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e193 (68.7)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e67 (24.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e73 (26.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 (5.1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 (5.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRace/ethnicity, n (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhite\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e170 (62.5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e174 (61.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAsian\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43 (15.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e48 (17.1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e59 (21.7)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e59 (21.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHighest Parental Education n (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHigh school / vocational\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32 (11.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36 (12.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBachelor\u0026rsquo;s / some college\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e103 (37.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e105 (37.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaster\u0026rsquo;s degree\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81 (29.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e82 (29.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBeyond Master\u0026rsquo;s degree\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e56 (20.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58 (20.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eResponse Themes, Frequencies, and Example Responses for the Question, \u0026ldquo;How does seeing a body positive post on social media make you feel? Why?\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTheme n (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExample response\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGeneral positive 199 (73.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHappy 60 (22.1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Makes me feel happy that people are choosing to love themselves even though they are having a hard time mentally and emotionally and physically\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFeel good/acceptance 39 (14.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;I like it- gives me permission to be more accepting of myself\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShows diversity of bodies 39 (14.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;More aware of different body sizes and shapes presented so it makes it inclusive environment\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther 75 (27.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Great! Because I think it's important\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGeneral negative 77 (28.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelf-conscious about 9 (3.31)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eself or body\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;honestly? more self conscious a lot of the time because it makes me focus more on my body.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePromotion of 36 (13.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;unhealthy\u0026rdquo; bodies\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eor behaviors\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Annoyed. I do think people should love themselves, but being overweight shouldn't be celebrated. I don't think overweight people should hate themselves, but they shouldn't be encouraged to love their bodies in unhealthy states\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShowing off bodies 6 (2.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;It depends on the reasons behind it. Some people use it as a tool to show off their bodies which makes me uncomfortable but when it's genuine it makes me feel powered\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInauthenticity or 19 (7.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeaningless\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;On social media it could be posted as a way to advertise so its less genuine\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther 11 (4.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;There's a lot of skinny shaming and that's not body positivity\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNeutral 39 (14.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDo not relate 13 (4.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Nothing really, I think it's a good thing but I'm already traditionally skinny so it's not necessarily for me\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDoes not change how 13 (4.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eI feel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;It doesn't make me feel any time of way. I still have body image issues\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther 17 (6.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Honestly, I don't think much of it.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e*Themes are not mutually exclusive. Responses may be coded for the presence of one or more themes; therefore, percentages will not add up to 100%.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eResponse Themes, Frequencies, and Example Responses for the Question, \u0026ldquo;Do you think that body positivity on social media is helpful or harmful? Tell us.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTheme n (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExample response\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHelpful 232 (82.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eReach 8 (2.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;It's definitely helpful. It helps spread the word and educate others on the movement\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOpposing societal norms 56 (19.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;It's helpful. It shows people society is slowly becoming more accepting of body types.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEncourages self-love 64 (22.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;I think it is helpful. There are so many reasons to not feeling good about yourself especially when looking at social media. Body positivity and social media helps encourage an influence us to love ourselves\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther 117 (41.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;I think it is generally a good thing.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHarmful 99 (35.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePromotion of \u0026ldquo;unhealthy\u0026rdquo; 41 (14.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ebodies or behaviors\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;obesity isn't healthy necessarily and shouldn't be celebrated\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot inclusive enough 11 (3.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;It becomes problematic when companies co-opt the movement for marketing purposes. Or when there's a lack of diversity in size, race, gender, and other intersections in the movement.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSocial media in general is bad 4 (1.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Helpful, brings out awareness but just as anything shared on media can be harmful with negative comments\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther 46 (16.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;probably a little bit of both because when you're not thinking about your body and you see those things it brings attention to it. but it also raises awareness of self love which is important.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNeutral 23 (8.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot sure 14 (5.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Not sure, I'm not super tuned in to that\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIneffective 4 (1.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Neutral. I don't think it does anything\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOther 5 (1.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;neither\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e*Themes are not mutually exclusive. Responses may be coded for the presence of one or more themes; therefore, percentages will not add up to 100%.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDisclosure of Interest\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors report there are no competing interests to declare.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding Declaration\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors report that there was no funding source for this project.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHuman Ethics and Consent to Participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe MyVoice study was approved by the [Blinded Institution] Institutional Review Board, which included informed consent to participate.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eKelley Borton and Samantha Hahn designed the research questions as were supervised by Kendrin Sonneville and completed the analyses. Kendrin Sonneville was the primary advisor on the project and provided extensive editing. Mikayla Barry and Kelsey Rose were involved in the coding of responses and also helped contribute to all Figures. Barry and Rose also provided multiple rounds of editing on the manuscript. Kelley Borton completed background and discussion while Samantha Hahn wrote methods. Both Borton and Hahn contributed to results section text and all tables. Kelley Borton, Samantha Hahn, Kendrin Sonneville and Ellen Selkie developed the coding scheme for all qualitative data. Sonneville, Kate Bauer, Ellen Selkie, and Kristen Harrison all provided extensive feedback on manuscript and were involved in the drafting of the research questions, study design, and data analysis. Kelley Borton wrote abstract, cover letter, main editing, references, etc.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarrison K, Cantor J. The relationship between media consumption and eating disorders. J Commun. 1997;47(1):40\u0026ndash;67.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThompson JK, Heinberg LJ. The media\u0026apos;s influence on body image disturbance and eating disorders: We\u0026apos;ve reviled them, now can we rehabilitate them? J Soc Issues. 1999;55(2):339\u0026ndash;53.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEisenberg ME, Carlson-McGuire A, Gollust SE, Neumark-Sztainer D. A content analysis of weight stigmatization in popular television programming for adolescents. Int J Eat Disord. 2015;48(6):759\u0026ndash;66.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMingoia J, Hutchinson AD, Wilson C, Gleaves DH. The relationship between social networking site use and the internalization of a thin ideal in females: A meta-analytic review. Front Psychol. 2017;8:239871.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChou WY, Prestin A, Kunath S. Obesity in social media: a mixed methods analysis. Transl Behav Med. 2014;4(3):314\u0026ndash;23.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMyers A, Rosen JC. Obesity stigmatization and coping: relation to mental health symptoms, body image, and self-esteem. Int J Obes. 1999;23:221.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCohen R, Irwin L, Newton-John T, Slater A. #bodypositivity: A content analysis of body positive accounts on Instagram. Body Image. 2019;29:47\u0026ndash;57.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMeleo-Erwin ZC. \u0026lsquo;A beautiful show of strength\u0026rsquo;: Weight loss and the fat activist self. Health. 2010;15(2):188\u0026ndash;205.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAfful AA, Ricciardelli R. Shaping the online fat acceptance movement: talking about body image and beauty standards. J Gend Stud. 2015;24(4):453\u0026ndash;72.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCohen R, Fardouly J, Newton-John T, Slater A. #BoPo on Instagram: An experimental investigation of the effects of viewing body positive content on young women\u0026rsquo;s mood and body image. New Media Soc. 2019;21(7):1546\u0026ndash;64.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLazuka RF, Wick MR, Keel PK, Harriger JA. Are we there yet? Progress in depicting diverse images of beauty in Instagram\u0026rsquo;s body positivity movement. Body Image. 2020;34:85\u0026ndash;93.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNeumark-Sztainer D, Wall M, Larson NI, Eisenberg ME, Loth K. Dieting and disordered eating behaviors from adolescence to young adulthood: findings from a 10-year longitudinal study. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111(7):1004\u0026ndash;11.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBucchianeri MM, Arikian AJ, Hannan PJ, Eisenberg ME, Neumark-Sztainer D. Body dissatisfaction from adolescence to young adulthood: findings from a 10-year longitudinal study. Body Image. 2013;10(1):1\u0026ndash;7.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePuhl RM, Lessard LM. Weight stigma in youth: prevalence, consequences, and considerations for clinical practice. Curr Obes Rep. 2020;9:402\u0026ndash;11.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePerrin A. Social media usage. Pew Res Cent. 2015;125:52\u0026ndash;68.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDeJonckheere M, Nichols LP, Moniz MH, et al. MyVoice national text message survey of youth aged 14 to 24 years: study protocol. JMIR Res Protoc. 2017;6(12):e8502.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlhabash S, Ma M. A tale of four platforms: Motivations and uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat among college students. Soc Media Soc. 2017;3(1):2056305117691544.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcGuire JK, Doty JL, Catalpa JM, Ola C. Body image in transgender young people: findings from a qualitative, community-based study. Body Image. 2016;18:96\u0026ndash;107.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBraun V, Clarke V, Hayfield N, Terry G. Thematic Analysis. In: Liamputtong P, editor. Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Singapore: Springer; 2019.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNowell LS, Norris JM, White DE, Moules NJ. Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. Int J Qual Methods. 2017;16(1):1609406917733847.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMeadows A, Dan\u0026iacute;elsd\u0026oacute;ttir S. What\u0026apos;s in a word? On weight stigma and terminology. Front Psychol. 2016;7:1527.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarriger JA, Wick MR, Sherline CM, Kunz AL. The body positivity movement is not all that positive on TikTok: A content analysis of body positive TikTok videos. Body Image. 2023;46:256\u0026ndash;64.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGriffin M, Bailey KA, Lopez KJ. #BodyPositive? A critical exploration of the body positive movement within physical cultures taking an intersectionality approach. Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:908580.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePerez‐Lopez MS, Lewis RJ, Cash TF. The relationship of antifat attitudes to other prejudicial and gender‐related attitudes. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2001;31(4):683\u0026ndash;97.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGreenleaf C, Starks M, Gomez L, Chambliss H, Martin S. Weight-related words associated with figure silhouettes. Body Image. 2004;1(4):373\u0026ndash;84.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLydecker JA, Cotter EW, Palmberg AA, et al. Does this Tweet make me look fat? A content analysis of weight stigma on Twitter. Eat Weight Disord. 2016;21(2):229\u0026ndash;35.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHunger JM, Dodd DR, Smith AR. Weight-based discrimination, interpersonal needs, and suicidal ideation. Stigma Health. 2020;5(2):217\u0026ndash;24.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRomano KA, Heron KE, Henson JM. Examining associations among weight stigma, weight bias internalization, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptoms: Does weight status matter? Body Image. 2021;37:38\u0026ndash;49.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHayward LE, Vartanian LR, Pinkus RT. Weight stigma predicts poorer psychological well-being through internalized weight bias and maladaptive coping responses. Obesity. 2018;26(5):755\u0026ndash;61.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePuhl RM, Heuer CA. The stigma of obesity: a review and update. Obesity. 2009;17(5):941\u0026ndash;64.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTomiyama A, Carr D, Granberg E, et al. How and why weight stigma drives the obesity \u0026lsquo;epidemic\u0026rsquo; and harms health. BMC Med. 2018;16:123.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePiran N, Thompson S. A study of the Adverse Social Experiences model to the development of eating disorders. Int J Health Promot Educ. 2008;46(2):65\u0026ndash;71.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCwynar-Horta J. The commodification of the body positive movement on Instagram. Stream. 2016;8(2):36\u0026ndash;56.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"body positivity, social media, young adults, disordered eating","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506629/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506629/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe Body Positivity Movement on social media (BP-SM) aims for radical acceptance of one\u0026rsquo;s body and rejection of unrealistic beauty standards. Identifying young adult\u0026rsquo;s perceptions of BP-SM could provide evidence to support BP-SM as a naturalistic intervention for decreasing body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. The goal of this study is to understand young adult perceptions of BP-SM and to describe differences in views by gender and race/ethnicity. Data was collected from young adult (ages 18\u0026ndash;24) members of the National MyVoice Text Message Cohort. Participants completed questions regarding their perceptions of BP-SM (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;272 and N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;285 respectively) via text, which were analyzed via inductive thematic analysis. Almost three-quarters of participants reported positive perceptions of BP-SM (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;199, 73.2%), with women and non-Hispanic white participants more likely than men and young adults of color to report positive perceptions. However, 35.2% of the sample thought BP-SM could be harmful, with 14.6% of the total sample\u0026rsquo;s responses categorized as having weight stigmatizing themes. Further research is needed to understand which aspects of BP-SM are helpful or harmful in the prevention of disordered eating and to whom, and how to address the weight stigma that persists within BP-SM.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Helpful or harmful? A qualitative analysis of young adults’ perceptions about the body positivity movement on social media","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-08 14:45:36","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506629/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"0142815c-9c53-4b53-a3d4-74db0a5d42b0","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-09T06:24:10+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-08 14:45:36","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6506629","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6506629","identity":"rs-6506629","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}