{"511071":{"#nid":"511071","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Banning Words on Instagram Doesn\u2019t Help \u2013 It Makes It Worse","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new Georgia Tech study finds that Instagram\u2019s decision to ban certain words commonly used by pro-eating disorder (pro-ED) communities has produced an unintended effect. The use of those terms decreased when they were censored in 2012. But users adapted by simply making up new, almost identical words, driving up participation and support within pro-ED groups by as much as 30 percent. The Georgia Tech researchers found that these communities are still very active and thriving despite Instagram\u2019s efforts to moderate discussion of the dangerous lifestyle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPeople in pro-ED communities share content, and provide advice and support for those who choose eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, as acceptable and reasonable ways of living. They use specific hashtags to form very connected groups, often using anonymous names to keep their lifestyle choice a secret from the families and friends.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstagram banned some of the most common pro-ED tags four years ago. People can still post these censored terms, but the words no longer show up in search results. Banned examples include \u201cthighgap,\u201d \u201cthinspiration\u201d and \u201csecretsociety.\u201d Other pro-ED words received advisories. They can be searched, but notifications about graphic content were added, along with public service links for people looking for help.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech researchers looked at 2.5 million pro-ED posts from 2011 to 2014 to study how the community reacted to Instagram\u2019s content moderation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPeople pretty much stopped using the banned terms, but they gamed the system to stay in touch,\u201d said Stevie Chancellor, a doctoral student who led the study. \u201c\u2019Thinspiration\u2019 was replaced by \u2018thynspiration\u2019 and \u2018thynspo.\u2019 \u2018Thighgap\u2019 became \u2018thightgap\u2019 and \u2018thygap.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 17 moderated terms morphed into hundreds of similar, new words. Each had an average of 40 variables. Some had more: the researchers found 107 variables of \u201cthighgap.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstagram\u2019s censorship polarized the pro-ED community.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLikes and comments on these new tags were 15 to 30 percent higher compared to the originals,\u201d said Munmun De Choudhury, assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing. \u201cBefore the ban, a person searching for hashtags would only find their intended word. Now a search produces dozens of similar, non-censored pro-ED terms. That means more content to view and engage with.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team also found that the content on these so-called lexical variants discussed self-harm, isolation and thoughts of suicide more often than the larger community of sufferers of eating disorders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstagram has also blacklisted words related to sex, racism and self-harm. What is more effective than banning tags? The Georgia Tech team suggests a few alternatives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAllow them to be searchable. But once they\u2019re selected, the landing page could include links for help organizations,\u201d said Chancellor. \u201cMaybe the search algorithms could be tweaked. Instead of similar terms being displayed, Instagram could introduce recovery-related terms in the search box.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.munmund.net\/pubs\/cscw16_thyghgapp.pdf\u0022\u003E\u201c#thyghgapp: Instagram Content Moderation and Lexical Variation in Pro-Eating Disorder Communities\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d was presented at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gvu.gatech.edu\/cscw-2016\u0022\u003EACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing\u003C\/a\u003E on March 1 in San Francisco.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study finds that communities rally around censored terms and engage more"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study finds that Instagram\u2019s decision to ban certain words commonly used by pro-eating disorder (pro-ED) communities has produced an unintended effect. The use of those terms decreased when they were censored in 2012. But users adapted by simply making up new, almost identical words, driving up participation and support within pro-ED groups by as much as 30 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The pro-eating disorder community outsmarted Instagram censors in order to continue sharing content."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2016-03-09 11:41:34","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:01","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"485901":{"id":"485901","type":"image","title":"Munmun De Choudhury 2015","body":null,"created":"1452902401","gmt_created":"2016-01-16 00:00:01","changed":"1475895239","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:59","alt":"Munmun De Choudhury 2015","file":{"fid":"204318","name":"munmun_dechoudhury.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/munmun_dechoudhury_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/munmun_dechoudhury_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":567566,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/munmun_dechoudhury_0.jpg?itok=F2AT3xFZ"}},"511051":{"id":"511051","type":"image","title":"Stevie Chancellor","body":null,"created":"1458923712","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:35:12","changed":"1475895273","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:33","alt":"Stevie Chancellor","file":{"fid":"204971","name":"stevie_chancellor.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stevie_chancellor_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stevie_chancellor_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":109003,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/stevie_chancellor_0.jpg?itok=2I3TaNNj"}}},"media_ids":["485901","511051"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.munmund.net\/pubs\/cscw16_thyghgapp.pdf","title":"Read the study"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"171810","name":"Banned words"},{"id":"142561","name":"censorship"},{"id":"37031","name":"Instagram"},{"id":"89321","name":"Munmun De Choudhury"},{"id":"169146","name":"Pro-eating disorder community"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003ENational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}