These are the most damaging hashtags on Instagram
Research reveals that 78% of women have been left feeling negative about their body after seeing social media posts
Body confidence experts at MyJuniper.co.uk undertook research to reveal exactly what hashtags used on social media highlight damaging key trends which, in turn, have a negative impact on body positivity.
Research revealed that the most commonly used hashtags, with any connotation regarding negative body image on social media, they were as follows:
10 worst hashtags on Instagram:
#Shredded - 25,023,555 (amount of posts with this hashtag on Instagram)
#BodyGoals - 11,597,859
#CheatDay - 4,438,941
#CheatMeal - 4,243,847
#BikiniBody - 2,103,184
#Peachy - 1,273,196
#DreamBody - 760,064
#SizeZero - 319,217
#ThighGap - 102,432
#NothingTastesAsGoodAsSkinnyFeels - 21,604
Although the data shows that there are a number of hashtags promoting weight loss and smaller bodies, Instagram has put a block on a number of potentially damaging hashtags, such as ‘#Skinny’, so that any harmful images or posts can’t reach possibly vulnerable users of social media.
The body confidence experts also conducted a snap poll to find out the effects of social media posts targeting body image. They found that, out of the females surveyed, over three quarters have encountered social media posts that have led to them feeling negatively about their own body (78%), while over a third of males surveyed said that they too have come across social media posts that have led them to feeling negative about their own body (38%).
When asked whether they compare themselves to images that they see on social media, over four fifths of women admit to doing so at some point in their lives (85%), with half of these women stating that they wanted to change parts of their body after doing so (52%).
Following on from this, over a fifth of respondents admitted to having gone as far as blocking certain words, phrases and even people from showing up on their social media feeds to ensure that they’re not being presented with these posts (21%).
“It’s sadly not a surprise to hear that so many people have been left with negative feelings about themselves and their own bodies after viewing posts on social media, but it’s important to remember that what you see on social media isn’t the full picture,” explained Louise Bula, Health Coach at My Juniper, “It’s sad to hear that so many women especially admit to comparing themselves with the images of others that they see online, as the women that are presented to us online are, more often than not, manipulated to look as appealing to the eye as they can be. That could be filters, extreme dieting or false advertising about a number of products they claim to have used to look the way they do… What is extremely positive to see, however, is that many are starting to block certain phrases from showing up on their social media feeds, such as Instagram and Twitter, as social media users are becoming more and more in control of what they’d like to see and what makes them happy and feel positive.”