"This is just how I cope": An inductive thematic analysis of eating disorder recovery content created and shared on TikTok using #EDrecovery.

Abstract

To explore eating disorder (ED) recovery-related content created and shared on the social media platform TikTok. A systematic review and inductive thematic analysis of 150 TikTok posts catalogued under hashtag (#) EDrecovery. Two coders independently analyzed the posts and a critical peer facilitated discussions about the resulting codes and themes. Creators on TikTok used #EDrecovery to share their personal experiences with recovery through the use and cooption of popular (or viral) video formats, succinct storytelling, and the production of educational content. Five themes were interpreted across the data: (a) ED awareness, (b) inpatient story time: "ED unit tings", (c) eating in recovery, (d) transformations: "how about a weight gain glow up?", and (e) trendy gallows humor: "let's confuse people who have a good relationship with food". TikTok as a user-friendly, creative media may provide the artistic and social tools for some creators to add their distinct voice to the ED recovery narrative and foster some semblance of community. Although all of the analyzed content was catalogued under #EDrecovery, some of the posts reified the increasingly blurred boundary that exists between ED recovery and pro-ED content on TikTok.