The term “clean eating” is a term that is connected to the idea of eating natural foods. It relates to staying away from processed foods being in your diet due to the additives that are in those foods, such as Troscianko which is an added sugar. This idea will allow people to focus on incorporating more natural foods, like fruits and vegetables, into one’s daily intake of food (Connizzo). Clean eating is not a diet, like the well known KETO diet to lose weight, but it is more of a lifestyle that will better your health mentally and physically. It is an attempt to wipe out the dirty and processed food, in order to swap them with clean foods that are all natural, and overall better for your health. 

As many may agree, in this day in age almost everyone has at least one form of social media on their smartphone. It is also fair to say that a person has been influenced by social media at least once in their lifetime, over various topics. Social media users are often interested in the idea of using other’s methods to improve themselves in various areas. For instance, if one was looking into changing their diet they might find a video about clean eating and how it can benefit them. Following hearing about it, the viewer of the post could start trying it in order to see drastic benefits from taking it on. Connizzo found that this can be considered an influencing factor because it makes the viewer think that the idea of clean eating will make a noticeable benefit for them. This idea of being influenced by social media is a very broad idea, because it happens in many different areas, but clean eating happens to be very common in the media. It was found by Connizzo that viewers who are desperate for changing their eating habits, found that seeing these posts made them think that this was the ideal lifestyle for them and would make them appear better to the public. 

The idea of persuasion works by trying to convert a reader or viewer’s thoughts into agreeing with what you are presenting to them, or in other words be on your side. Cannizzo was able to do some research and look into the intentional persuasion that is done by the authors, and how this strategy is the main root for the effect on the reader. By saying specific things, such as telling the reader that it will make a difference in benefit, then you are more likely to get them to try your idea and agree with you. Topics that better your health, like clean eating, “attracts a wide audience” (Connizzo). Having a persuasive writing style or speaking style, will increase the amount of people that may agree with the information that you are putting out there. 

Since the idea and term of clean eating arose, different types of people with strict diet beliefs or limitations came forward to express their concerns with advertising this idea of clean eating. People of different generations, cultures, and religions began commenting on posts of people who had a diet that was considered to be clean. Audience members expressed concern about how this idea can affect body shaming, eating disorders, and low self esteem. When people see this kind of behavior online, they think that they have to be exactly like the presenter in order to fit in and not be seen as ugly or overweight. Connizzo voices the concern with the idea that the influence that this has on viewers can be harmful to their health mentally, but also physically. This can happen due to the fact that viewers see this online, rather than going to a doctor or professional to gain knowledge and get assistance with their diets. Instead, they are likely to do it the wrong way. Without the presenter clarifying that this kind of eating will vary from person to person, they will try to mimic exactly what they see, even though the person presenting this idea is likely to be experienced. Because of them being experienced, a person just starting out will not want to just jump head first onto the bandwagon. This can really hurt them, rather than helping, because their bodies may not be ready for such drastic change.

With all of this being said, we can confirm that the idea of clean eating can absolutely affect social media users. People that are desperate for benefit and change will buy into anything that is being put in front of them, with the promise that it will better them. It appears that clean eating is the holy grail solution for your diet intake, but may not show background information about it, leading to viewer confusion and misunderstanding. Viewers are desperate to fit in with societal norms, and may be misled into thinking that clean eating is the way to fix that. While clean eating may benefit people if done correctly, the way that it is presented to social media users creates a negative reaction from the viewers. With anything, incorrect usage can cause unhealthy habits and new ideas for the social media viewers. It may seem crazy, but watching a Youtube video on this idea of clean eating without giving proper instructions can leave people worse than when they first began using the advice from the video.