New research by an Australian university reveals watching just seven minutes of "beauty content" in one session on TikTok and Instagram is enough for young people to experience significant shame and anxiety about their appearance.
Researchers at Griffith University on the Gold Coast are studying the impacts image-centric videos have on users.
Experts and advocates fear the social media platforms' algorithms and short video focus, coupled with the pandemic, have contributed to a spike in eating disorders around the country.
Advocates stress social media is not solely to blame for the rise, but they say more needs to be done to combat problematic content.
Seven minutes of shame
Veya Seekis from Griffith University, who specialises in sociocultural influences on young people's body image, said preliminary findings of her research to be published this year showed it took just seven minutes of watching beauty content videos on TikTok or Instagram for users to be "significantly impacted".
The research focused on more than 100 women aged from 17 to 25 in three groups.
One group watched "beauty content," while the others watched "self-compassion" and travel videos.
Each respondent ranked how they felt about themselves before and after.
"After seven minutes, appearance shame and appearance anxiety significantly increased compared to the [other] groups [watching travel and self-compassion videos]," Dr Seekis said.
"So, we found really that the beauty videos were the ones that were triggering the problems."
The research also focused on the effects of self-compassion videos, including users talking positively about their bodies.
Dr Seekis said after seven minutes, the women watching those videos recorded an increase in self-compassion.
"So we could see that just by watching a few minutes of something positive, something reaffirming that, 'You're good, you should accept you as you are', I think, can really help neutralise the more toxic content."
Body shame 'symptom' of eating disorders
TikTok use has doubled since 2020, according to a new report by the University of Canberra.
Dr Seekis's research focused mainly on Instagram and TikTok.
"They're so consumable, and they've just become part of people's daily routines," she said.
"And the problem with TikTok is they're just one-minute videos, so they're really quick. You can consume quite a few in 15 minutes.
"[Young people] have got all of this content in the palm of their hand, and they can do this at any time of the day for as long as they wish."
Dr Seekis stressed while there were other environmental factors that contribute to eating disorders, "it would be insane to think that social media isn't the biggest".
"[Appearance shame and anxiety] are symptoms of eating disorders," she said.
"I fear for the future, if I'm honest."
COVID 'perfect storm'
About a million Australians live with an eating disorder, considered a complex mental illness by Australia's peak body for eating disorders support, the Butterfly Foundation.
Each year in Australia, body image is consistently ranked as a top three concern for young people in the Mission Australia survey.
Butterfly Foundation recorded a spike in young people seeking help for body image concerns and eating disorders during the pandemic, according to the foundation's Alex Cowen.
"Most of the country has kind of experienced some level of isolation due to the pandemic over the past two years," she said.
"Eating disorders really thrive in that environment."
Ms Cowen said changes to schooling, routine, lack of social connection, and time online had "placed a lot of pressure and stress, particularly on young people".
Eating disorders spike
Across the country, similar trends are emerging.
In Queensland, more than 1,200 people presented to emergency departments with eating disorders in the 2021–22 financial year, up from 744 in 2018–19.
More than 85 per cent were under the age of 30.
Western Australia health department statics show 1,399 West Australians were treated in the public health system for an eating disorder in the 2020 financial year, 300 more than 2018–19.
From 2021 to 2022, Eating Disorders Victoria experienced a 300 per cent increase in demand for its services.
Ms Cowen said a number of factors could contribute to an eating disorder, such as trauma, time online, and biological, psychological and socio-environment factors.
Advocates call for changes
TikTok has banned pro-eating disorder hashtags so users can't find them.
If they are searched for, the number for the Butterfly Foundation pops up.
The foundation has been working on policy and product development with TikTok and Instagram.
"We monitor content on social media platforms, and then we report body image and eating disorder trends to those respective social media organisations as they appear," Ms Cowen said.
"Social media isn't necessarily going anywhere in our lives.
"So it is really important that we continue to work with platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to combat these issues."
She said changes to the school curriculum and more research around eating disorders and body image were needed.
"We really believe that there needs to be systemic and societal change to address these concerns offline before we can kind of begin to truly unpack what is occurring online on these social platforms," she said.
