Facebook Fat Pants Controversy
Most likely, you've already seen the pictures above—they've been getting a ton of buzz recently. In case you haven't, here's a recap: Marilyn McKenna, a Seattle woman who lost 120 pounds more than six years ago, found a pair of her old "fat pants," had her husband take a picture of her in them, and then posted the picture on her Facebook account, hoping it would inspire others to lose weight. She told a local Seattle TV station that Facebook then took her photo down because it promoted an idealized body image.
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Before you get too fired up one way or the other, there's more you should know: McKenna didn't post the photo on her Facebook account the way you'd post party pics in the general community. She requested to "boost" the post, or pay to make it more visible on others' feeds (essentially turning it into an advertisement). And that's where the issue comes in: "Facebook's terms require advertisers of weight loss and other adult products to limit the audience of their ads to people aged 18 and over," Facebook said in a statement sent to us yesterday.
So, according to Facebook at least, McKenna's photo was blocked because (a) it was technically an advertisement for weight loss, and (b) she hadn't opted to limit her post's visibility to people 18 and older. We can't say we disagree with the idea of preventing weight-loss ads from popping up on children's news feeds—but McKenna is still holding her ground:
Hey, Facebook! What "products" am I promoting?! You dunderheads! My website, my blogs, my videos... It's all free!! Im not selling anything!
— Marilyn McKenna (@mckennamarilyn) January 10, 2014
McKenna hasn't publicly commented on whether she did, indeed, attempt to pay to boost her post.
What do you think of the "fat pants" controversy? Sound off in the comments below!
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This article was written and provided by our partners at Prevention.
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