IMFD student participates in research on gender stereotypes and body image in online forums

How gender stereotypes and body image concerns manifest themselves in online diet and fitness forums: this is what the research "Feelings about Bodies: Emotions on Diet and Fitness Forums Reveal Gendered Stereotypes and Body Image Concerns", in which the PhD student of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Chile and IMFD, Cinthia Sanchez, participated. 

Between April and June 2024, the student completed a research internship at the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California (USC), United States, where she collaborated with researcher Kristina Lerman and her team, which is dedicated to studying collective online behavior and emerging structures as People organize and use information.

"During the internship, we analyzed communities on Reddit about diet and fitness, and how body image concerns and emotions differ by gender and impact mental health. Our findings can inform the development of better content moderation approaches that facilitate supportive interactions, minimizing exposure to potentially harmful content," mentions Cinthia Sanchez. 

This groundbreaking article offers new insight into gender stereotypes and body image concerns manifested in online forums, providing a valuable contribution to the understanding of mental health and social dynamics in digital communities. 

The article of this work is available at https://lnkd.in/dq6FMvai.