Users’ perceptions of how an unmoderated eating disorder community may benefit or harm their recovery

Background: While the negative and positive outcomes of pro-eating disorder groups have been well-documented, more research is needed on the effects of pro-recovery communities. In particular, a gap in knowledge remains surrounding users’ feelings about their experiences in such communities. Using open-ended questions, we interviewed those involved in the recovery community on the social media site Tumblr, to determine how the community helped/did not help with recovery, and how it made them feel about recovery. Methods: Participants ( n = 29) answered a series of Likert and open-ended questions. The open-ended questions were examined using thematic analysis to learn about users’ lived experiences. Results: When asked if/how the community helped with recovery, positive themes of “not alone,” “motivation,” and “encouragement” were identified, as were negative themes of “competition” and “triggering content.” When asked if the community made them feel better or worse about their recovery, a theme of comparison was identified, with two subthemes: positive and negative. In addition, a theme of type of content was found. Conclusions: Participants believed the community was helpful and made them feel better about recovery, with some caveats. Recovery communities on unmoderated sites or social media applications may be useful tools during the recovery process.