Implications

17

These data and trends suggest that the regular tracking and comparison in disorder-focused blogs can themselves serve as triggers of eating disorder behavior similar to triggers the bloggers encounter in real life. To maintain a blog of daily eats, bloggers must constantly think of what their meals contain, remember to photograph them, and devote more time to an aspect of their lives that is already keeping them from other pursuits, causing them to dwell more on the very subjects they are aiming to stop obsessing over. Therefore, if recovery bloggers wish to experience the obvious benefits of blogging—catharsis, accountability, and a community of support—while minimizing the risks of obsessive recording and hurting others’ recoveries, my study suggests strategies to consider.

18

First, it may be beneficial to reduce the amount of time spent blogging, or abstain from blogging altogether. Katherine noted in her blog: “I think I’m going to take after Melissa and Bailey and switch to every-other-day posting. Even if I’m not feeling triggered or depressed. I have enough of an obsession with food, I don’t need to end my nights thinking about it every day.”

19

Secondly, bloggers need to ask themselves whether their blogs are leading to the freedom they write about desiring, or if the blog inhibits them from becoming free of weight and food obsessions. If they devote significant time to maintaining the blog, which might be another mechanism of control over eating patterns, they may not be fully exploring their identities outside of this one aspect of their lives, thus reinforcing some disordered behavior. The sense of having a lack of a worthy identity is one reason a person may develop anorexia in the first place (Wilkins 2). As blogger Ginger wrote when she announced she would be taking a hiatus from her blog, “without the focus always being on food for the blog or ‘what everyone else is eating.’ I am going to be FREE.”

20

Bloggers should also reflect on the positive aspects of blogging about an eating disorder. A blog can provide an opportunity to express oneself in a nonconfrontational online environment where feedback can encourage healthy habits for recovery and offer support to a person who might otherwise feel isolated, disconnected from the world, guilty, and secretive (Dias 2). Indeed, writing may help a person to explore and face the underlying problems that might have triggered an eating disorder in the first place. As evidenced by the plethora of comments these bloggers leave each other, the discourse community of eating disorder recovery blogs generally contains positive, supportive advice or comforting words. They tell each other to “stay strong,” to not “give up,” and address each other by words like “dear” or “love.”

21

Ultimately, though, blogs serving as an aid for recovery may simply need a shift of focus. For example, posting recipes or culinary pursuits puts a positive and creative focus on food, as seen in a blog by Serena, a sixteen-year-old girl recovering from anorexia. She showcases all the new vegan recipes she tries from various cookbooks or self-creations in order to develop a more constructive relationship with food. In that way, food becomes a fun and adventurous art rather than something to be strictly measured, weighed, and limited. Accordingly, her blog features little to no negativity about her eating disorder. Another important content strategy is “befriending” other food blogs that are based on normal cooking and baking rather than anorexic eating, which should create a more encouraging environment for the anorexic person to recover and thus participate in. By reading about the healthy habits of others, anorexic people may come to better recognize and understand their own irrational impulses rather than exacerbate them by seeing how little food other people with anorexia may eat. Of course, reading about healthy habits will not automatically cure a mental illness or stop the anorexic person from thinking such negative disorder-influenced thoughts, but the discourse of the surrounding blogging community can have an effect on behavior. These recovery blogs do try to advocate healthy habits, even if the bloggers who advise each other to be healthy personally struggle with following the healthy habits themselves.

22

Blogging about an eating disorder presents a new dilemma in the realm of recovery, as this study addressing its possible negative consequences demonstrates. Through analysis of themes across selected blogs, I noted a correlation between triggering content of posts and increased obsession, which could be a detriment to recovery and seems to undermine the purpose of such blogs. Thus I suggest a shift of focus for content matter in order to maintain the benefits of social writing without compromising personal expression. This study suggests that further research on the effects of recovery blogging would be beneficial, particularly through studying the motivations of bloggers who stop blogging about their disorders, and whether the decision helps or harms their recovery. If the blog prevents one from embracing a lifestyle without an obsessive eating disorder, then a blog, no matter how supportive the discourse or how optimistic the intentions, should not replace the tragic emptiness “ED” leaves in his wake.