Theres no shortage of people online looking to exploit and manipulate the vulnerable among us.
One such group is anorexia coaches, or anacoaches.
I have been researching how anacoaches operate.
My analysis showed that on Twitter alone there are about 300 unique requests for anacoaches around the world daily.
Despite this, these platforms havent addressed the problem.
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And almost two-thirds (63%) of these people are thought to be female.
Also,researchhasshownsocial media use can exacerbate the extent to which teenagers and young adults chase a thin ideal.
These networks tend to share content that endorses extreme thinness.
Anacoaches lurk in chat forums focused on thin ideals.
They market themselves with dubious claims.
Some will assign themselves labels such as strict coach or mean coach.
The screenshots below show messages posted on the app Kik.
While theres currently no way to know how long coaching lasts on average, the harms are extensive.
What is being done?
The spokesperson said accounts found to be engaging in sexual harassment may be banned.
Platforms will ban users if they violate user guidelines, but anacoaches willoften reappearunder a new account name.
According to Twitter, evading account bans is against the rules.
It remains to be seen what role this will play in curbing targeted attacks from anacoaches.
Anacoaches on social media should be considered and dealt with like criminals.
In the past, the European Unionhas finedplatforms for allowing terrorist content.
This effort should be extended to include anacoaches.
The Conversation approached Tumblr for comment but did not receive replies within the deadline allocated.
Popular messaging app Kik wasacquired byMediaLab in 2019.
The Conversation approached MediaLab for comment but did not receive a response within the allocated time frame.
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