New Study on Instagram’s Fitspo Algorithm is Terrifying for Young Women

The 5Rights Foundation found that if a young girl clicks on a dieting tip on Instagram, by the end of the week, she is “recommended bodies so unachievable that they distort any sense of what a body should look like.”

Another study this year found that if young Instagram users search for weight loss on Instagram, their feeds are inevitably filled with “fitspo” images of ultra-skinny (often Photoshopped) women.

Look, I love Instagram. But it’s a scary place to be at any age. Whether you’re comparing your long ride to what another girl posted, or actually looking more specifically at diet or exercise content, it’s easy to fall into the comparison trap, where it feels like you can never measure up.

Honestly, as I was writing the Shred Girls books, that’s something that I made sure that all three girls dealt with at some point, because it’s something that I deal with regularly and I know most of my friends and the girls I chat with do too.

So, I’ll remind you here:

Instagram IS NOT reality. You’re seeing the highlight reel from people, the best moments in their day/week/life.

It is FILTERED. Whether a regular filter in the app, or a body-editing or facetuning software outside the app, or even just the settings on the camera itself (ahem, 1.5x anyone?), many of these ‘perfect’ images have been edited to make them perfect.

(Now, if you’re clearing up a zit in FaceTune or you want to add a fun filter, no judgement here. We all do something to that effect at some point. Just don’t let other people’s content change the way you see your reality.)

You Are Awesome Just As You Are.

Period.