Eating Disorders in Women from Lima Participating in the Social Network X

This article aims to analyze the elements that are identified in the process of creating a digital community of young women with eating disorders in Lima in the Social Network X. Based on qualitative methodology, and using the techniques of interview and content analysis, this research was developed. The interview was applied to young women from Lima of active participants in the Social Network X community and to specialists in Eating Behavior Disorders with knowledge in social networks. As for the content analysis, they selected ten informative threads and individual X publications linked to eating disorder. The instrument used was the semi-structured interview guide and the observation sheet and as a qualitative data analysis technique, the information processing matrix was used in the interviews and content analysis. The results obtained show that the participation of young women from Lima in this social network has an unfavorable impact on their interpersonal relationships outside the virtual world due to the validation they receive through their interactions with other users in the community and the motivation they find to maintain disordered behaviors. We conclude that the participation of young women from Lima in Social Network X is linked to the characteristics of this platform, such as the permission it gives users to create communities that address issues related to self-injury, which gives them access to the discussion of audiovisual content related to extremely thin bodies and personal experiences of living with an eating disorder.