As a Specialist Support Officer, I work closely with individuals and groups navigating the complex realities of eating disorder recovery. One theme that comes up again and again is the harsh, corrosive influence of social media.

With the introduction of the Online Safety Act in the UK, we’re being invited to reflect more deeply on the risks that online spaces pose to vulnerable populations. From my ‘helicopter view’, supporting individuals with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and ARFID, the risks are clear.

In one of the binge eating support groups I facilitate, service users often share how social media feels like a trap they can’t quite step out of. Even if they follow body-positive accounts or try to curate a recovery-friendly feed, the algorithm has its own unpredictable agenda. Unprovoked, they are shown ads for fat-loss supplements, gym transformations, or #WhatIEatInADay videos that are clearly rooted in restriction culture that can be incredibly triggering. It doesn’t feel like a choice, but instead a system that works against them.

On the other end of the spectrum are the darker corners of the internet, spaces that don’t just perpetuate disordered eating, but actively encourage it. Several service users have shared experiences of being drawn into pro-anorexia forums or “thinspo” accounts where users are paired with “accountability buddies”, not to eat better, but to eat less. These communities mirror addiction sponsorship models, in a very toxic and self-destructive manner. To those in the early stages of recovery, it can become a hedonistic and nearly impossible to walk away from.

We often talk about creating safe spaces in therapy, clinics and groups, but rarely do we talk about the digital environments our service users live in for hours a day. Our digital footprint often acts as a second brain, and many are doing everything right offline, while being slowly eroded online.

TikTok’s randomised “For You” page, for instance, doesn’t wait for you to follow an account. Its intricate algorithm utilises randomised intermittent reward (the same addictive quality that slot machines have) to vary the feed and invasive use of cookies means a single pause on a video or google search can warp the algorithm, bringing up a stream of triggering content for days or weeks after.

This creates a duality our service users are forced to navigate:

Recovery in the real world. Relapse bait in the virtual one.

The Online Safety Act is a step in the right direction, but legislation can’t replace awareness.

As professionals, be it clinicians, educators, and support workers, we must:

• Talk openly about the digital environment as part of treatment and relapse prevention.
• Help clients build boundaries with their social media use including muting, blocking, and deleting.
• Teach media literacy as a core part of psychoeducation.
• Advocate for algorithm transparency and content flagging from platforms themselves.

As we support people through their personal recovery from an eating disorder, we must remain vigilant to the often-neglected online headspace.

The battle isn’t just in the mirror or the meal.

It’s also in the feed…