Pro-Anorexia Vids Draw Ire

By Heather McPherson, Newser User

Posted Aug 11, 2007 6:42 AM CDT

(Newser) – Advocates for people with eating disorders are calling on social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook to bar "thinspiration" videos—movies of anorexics showing off their alarmingly underweight bodies to encourage others to emulate them. One MySpace pro-anorexia group with over 1,000 members boasts that it wants "no people trying to recover—it ruins our motivation."

Most responsible internet providers block "pro-anorexic" sites, said an eating disorders advocate. "But on the networking sites there isn't the same control." MySpace says it won't censor the videos, but will accompany them with "messages of support" for getting help, crafted in partnership with eating-disorders experts.

[Images (5)]

[Videos (1)]

Anorexia is an increasingly popular topic in confessional MySpace and YouTube "vlog" style video diaries, many of them offering support, competition and pride in achieving anorexic weight loss, in a mentality... (YouTube.com screen capture)

The online "Ana" support community offers tips, tracks progress, and releases painfully confessional videos on social networking sites like MySpace. (Shutterstock.com)

Facebook.com founder Mark Zuckerberg smiles at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., in this Feb. 5, 2007, file photo. Facebook Inc. has avoided the acquisition frenzy that's gobbled up MySpace.com,... (Associated Press)

MySpace (Associated Press)

Facebook.com's mastermind, Mark Zuckerberg smiles at his office in Palo Alto, Calif., in this Monday, Feb. 5, 2007 file photo. The owners of a rival social networking Web site are trying to shut down... (Associated Press)

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A pro-anorexia musical slideshow entitled "Forever Ana" proclaims "Let me be Empty" and reveals the strange glamorization of anorexia prevalent online. (ModelBehavior109 (YouTube))

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