Diet and exercise content is big business for creators and advertisers on social media. Interact with these posts, even without thinking, and you will always see the same thing.
Can just one girl on my Instagram explore page not have abs please
– Brooks Brennan (@Bruxy_B) April 29, 2017
If you’re tired of seeing chiseled abs on your Instagram Explore tab, toned glutes on your TikTok For You page, or weight loss shakes on YouTube, you’re not alone. Social media companies have been criticized for the way their apps prioritize images of idealized bodies — Meta has repeatedly denied claims that the use of Instagram negatively affects the body image of adolescent girls. In recent months, companies like Meta and Google have rolled out tools that purport to give users more control over which ads or algorithmic content they see.
Actively curating the content we see helps protect our well-being, because so-called fine-tuned breathing often does more harm than good, health experts say. A study related Exposure to images of extremely thin or fit creators has more severe symptoms in people with eating disorders. Several others find than Thinspo and Fitspo are associated with lower levels of body satisfaction in adults.
Asked about the proliferation and impact of body-centric content, Meta pointed the Washington Post to a business blog post as of 2021. TikTok declined to comment. Google spokesman Farrell Sklerov said the company’s ad center allows users to control the ads they see.
“For people who want us to limit ads on sensitive topics, like weight loss, or see fewer ads on topics they’re simply less interested in, like food or fitness, all they need to do is to choose the options that suit them,” Sklerov said.
Here’s how to reduce body-focused content on Instagram, TikTok, Google, and Facebook:
Access your profile. Tap the menu icon with three lines in the upper right corner. Select Settings -> Announcements -> Announcement Topics. Search for “Body Weight Control,” then choose “Show fewer ads on this topic.” Keep typing terms into the search bar, such as “diet” and “fitness” – until you’ve covered your bases.
For recommended content, tap the three dots in the upper right corner of a recommended post. Select “not interested”. Next, choose “Don’t suggest posts containing certain words.” This allows you to filter posts with particular terms or hashtags in the caption. Start with “fitness”, “weight”, “workout” and “gym”.
Keep in mind that these keyword filters will not capture all content you try to avoid. Some creators deliberately avoid content filters by replacing “WL” with “weight loss,” for example. After blocking the term “fitness,” I still saw content with hashtags like #LegDay, #TonedBody, and #AbsAreMadeInTheKitchen. Continue to grow your list of blocked words based on the content that comes through.
To control the types of ads you see, go to your profile and tap the menu button with three lines in the upper right corner. Select “Settings & Privacy,” then scroll down to “Ads.” Tap “how your ads are personalized” and see if any of your inferred interests are food or exercise related. If so, tap on that interest and select “Turn Off”.
To adjust your feeds, go back to “Settings & Privacy” and scroll down to “Content Preferences.” Choose “Filter video keywords,” then add the words you want to filter. TikTok says this will remove videos from your feed if they contain the keywords in their hashtags or descriptions. Start with “fitness”, “weight”, “workout” and “gym”. » For individual videos, you can hold your thumb and select “not interested.”
Go to MyAdCenter.google.com. Here you can see the information about you that Google uses to target ads, as well as the types of ads you see. First, go to “Personalize Ads” in the left menu. Click on the “sensitive” tab, go to “weight loss” and turn off the slider.
Then, go to the “subjects” tab. Select the minus icon on topics you want to see less of, perhaps fitness or food.
If a particular ad or brand is harassing you, go back to the left menu and choose “my ads”. Here you can see ads and brands that have been served to you recently and request to see fewer of them. You can also provide real-time feedback by clicking the three dots next to an ad and selecting the minus sign next to the ad subject.
Before you leave, go to “Manage Privacy” in the left menu and check what types of data Google can use to target you. For example, I didn’t want ads based on my marital status, income, or home ownership status. Remember: This ad hub only controls what you see, not what information Google may collect and store about you.
On a mobile device, tap the menu button with three lines in the lower right corner. Go to the gear icon in the upper right corner to access your settings. Scroll down to the “permissions” section and tap “ad preferences.” Select “Ad Topics” at the top, use the search bar to search for “Weight Control” and tap “Show fewer ads on this topic.” Also search for “fitness,” “weight,” and “diet” and turn off as many categories as possible.
You can tap the “Ad Settings” button at the top to adjust the information Meta uses to show you ads. Under “Information about advertising partner activity,” I asked Meta to stop using my activity on other sites and apps to target ads. Under “categories used to reach you,” I removed some of Meta’s scary assumptions about my life, like my household income. And under “Audience-Based Advertising,” I blocked ads from a few women’s magazines focused on weight loss by tapping on the brand name, on “You may have interacted with their website, their app or their store,” then “hide all ads on this site.” advertiser.”
For recommended content, tap the three dots in the top or bottom corner of a recommended post. Select “Show Less”.
