Thinspiration (shortened to thinspo) refers to content that specifically promotes the thin body ideal. Thinspiration is related to pro-ana and pro-mia as it may include photos of people who are extremely thin, accompanied by captions and comments that praise unhealthy eating and goals to reach a certain body type.

University of California, Berkeley

Pro-anorexia (shortened to pro-ana) and pro-bulimia (shortened to pro-mia) are terms that refer to content, typically online, that promote anorexia and bulimia. These types of content encourage harmful behaviors such as restricting and purging, and also deny the diagnosis of eating disorders. 

Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia

Ging, D., & Garvey, S. (2018). ‘Written in these scars are the stories I can’t explain’: A content analysis of pro-ana and thinspiration image sharing on Instagram. New Media & Society, 20(3), 1181–1200. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816687288 

A content analysis of pro-ana and thinspiration image sharing on Instagram

Thinspiration

The pro-ana and pro-mia communities use numerous hashtags to promote their content. In addition to #proana and #promia, there is also #thinspiration, #thinspo, #bonespo, #collarbones #thighgap, and so on.

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