Social media platforms have become critical spaces for discussing mental health concerns, including eating disorders. While these platforms can provide valuable support networks, they may also amplify harmful content that glorifies disordered cognition and self-destructive behaviors. While social media platforms have implemented various content moderation strategies, from stringent to laissez-faire approaches, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how these different moderation practices interact with user engagement in online communities around these sensitive mental health topics. This study addresses this knowledge gap through a comparative analysis of eating disorder discussions across Twitter/X, Reddit, and TikTok. Our findings reveal that while users across all platforms engage similarly in expressing concerns and seeking support, platforms with weaker moderation (like Twitter/X) enable the formation of toxic echo chambers that amplify pro-anorexia rhetoric. These results demonstrate how moderation strategies significantly influence the development and impact of online communities, particularly in contexts involving mental health and self-harm.

翻译：社交媒体平台已成为讨论心理健康问题（包括饮食失调）的关键空间。尽管这些平台能够提供宝贵的支持网络，它们也可能放大美化病态认知与自我毁灭行为的有害内容。尽管社交媒体平台已实施从严格到放任自由等多种内容审核策略，我们仍缺乏对这些不同审核实践如何与围绕此类敏感心理健康话题的在线社区用户参与度相互作用的全面理解。本研究通过对Twitter/X、Reddit和TikTok上饮食失调讨论的比较分析，填补了这一知识空白。我们的研究结果表明，尽管所有平台的用户都类似地参与表达担忧和寻求支持，但审核较弱的平台（如Twitter/X）会促成有毒回音室的形成，从而放大支持厌食症的言论。这些结果证明了审核策略如何显著影响在线社区的发展与影响，尤其是在涉及心理健康与自我伤害的语境中。