ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how body image trends evolve in the social media marketplace and to examine the power of social media in shaping body image ideals. Specifically, it examines the emergence, propagation, and reappropriation of the #bikinibridge phenomenon, which began as an Internet hoax and quickly developed into an online body image trend. The chapter outlines theoretical foundation at the intersection of body image and social media. Next, it also outlines methodology, employing a netnographic approach to understanding the evolution of one body image trend online: the bikini bridge. Findings suggest body image trends, even those that are unsubstantiated, can go viral quickly through social media. Anti-bikini bridgers criticized the bikini bridge trend by promoting body positivity and satirizing the body image ideal. In the midst of Operation Bikini Bridge, Twitter users reacted to the bikini bridge as if it was a real goal – in large part because it seemed like something that could be real.
