Tiktok, Instagram, Pinterest add features to support those with eating disorders

As part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 22-28), social media apps are teaming up with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) to provide support and resources to people who are dealing with eating disorders. Both TikTok and Instagram are marking National Eating Disorders Awareness Week with features to encourage body inclusivity. Additionally, Instagram is adding links to local helplines in Australia, Canada and the UK.

On Instagram, if someone tries to share said content or if their friends see them post something concerning, they will see the same set of resources. The platform will enable users to contact their friends for support from the resource landing page. Further, the company will continue to blur out content it thinks may trigger someone with an eating disorder.

Moreover, Pinterest has announced that it will help raise awareness and build communities of support and recovery for those in need. Pinterest will be donating ad credits to encourage people to tune into NEDAwareness Week events and the different roundtables taking place. Furthermore, Story Pins will also be used to generate awareness on the platform, along with a feature educating Pinners about eating disorders communication and recovery on the Today Tab.

On TikTok, if someone searches for terms like “eating disorder,” “edrecovery” (eating disorder recovery), or “proana” (pro-anorexia), they will get a  link to support resources along with NEDA contact details. TikTok has developed advice alongside experts on eating disorders on “how to identify negative self-talk, think about one’s own positive attributes and strengths or support a friend who may be struggling.” and will offer them to users. Furthermore, NEDA has teamed up with TikTok to create public service announcements, which will appear on pages for hashtags such as #whatieatinaday, #emotionaleatingtips, #bingerecovery. These will also include contact details for NEDA.

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Everyone is doing stories, so Pinterest now has its own version too

It looks like everyone is after the craze of stories. Snapchat kickstarted the trend a while ago, then Instagram borrowed the idea to great success, Facebook emulated the concept too and later brought it to WhatsApp as well. Twitter launched its own version called Fleets in July, and earlier this month, YouTube also introduced its own take on stories called YouTube Shorts. Not one to be left behind, Pinterest has now launched its own version of stories and is calling it Story Pins. But unlike ephemeral stories on other platforms, Story Pins won’t disappear after 24-hours. Instead, Pinterest is looking at them as a more immersive way for creators to connect with their followers and other ‘Pinners’. 

Story Pins is currently in the beta phase and is accessible to a handful of creators. Pinterest’s version of stories can include videos, voiceover, image and your usual text overlay. You can see samples of how they look on the Best of Story Pins page here. Viewers will be able to save Story Pins to their boards and can watch them later. Additionally, Pins will be discoverable via the main Pinterest feed, search results as well as the Today tab. Pinterest says Story Pins will be presented to users depending on their interests and taste, just like regular pins.

Creators who currently have access to Story Pins can use the app’s own camera interface to record videos, click photos and add text to them with custom fonts. Additionally, users will also be able to add a detail page to a Story Pin where they offer more details such as ingredients of a recipe or a step-by-step guide. “To ensure ideas get in front of the Pinners who are looking for them, creators can tag Story Pins or videos with topics or interests fueled by the trends and insights on the platform,” Pinterest adds. Story Pins will also be categorized into classes such as food, fashion, home and more to make discovery easier.

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