Complexity Science Hub

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆? For scientists venturing into social media, it's the question that should always come first. It sounds simple. But it really isn't.

Writing for academic journals and writing for social media are two very different skills. The gap between them can feel vast. But there are compelling reasons to bridge it – from discussing with researchers across disciplines and getting inspired to making science accessible and exciting to younger audiences.

Yesterday, the fabulous Elise Cutts – currently FRONTIERS Journalist in Residence at the Complexity Science Hub – ran a lunchtime workshop on exactly this. She guided our researchers through the practicalities: how to be intentional about social media rather than just present on it, which platform serves which purpose – and coming back to the one big question that should always come first, she said: who do you actually want to reach, and why?

🌟 It was fantastic – huge thanks to Elise! Needless to say, the time flew (and this lunchtime might have ended with a few new social media accounts).

And a big thank you to all the researchers who took the time to dip a toe (or more) into the world of social media – Amélie Desvars-Larrive, Leonardo Niccolò Ialongo, Katharina Ledebur, Elma Hot Dervic, Vito D. P. Servedio, Miruna Cotet, Philipp Hilmbauer-Hofmarcher, Daniele Barolo, Guillermo Prieto Viertel, Léo Delalandre, Lasmi Marboun, Jakob Zsambok, Zakh Roth

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆: faces and bodies on covers are more diverse, campaigns are more inclusive, and the language is increasingly body-positive. But has the body ideal at the very heart of the industry really changed?

In a new study, published in , a team of researchers analyzed nearly 800,000 fashion images from 2000 to 2024 – spanning fashion shows, advertisements, magazine covers, and editorials.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱
The team tracked how model body sizes have evolved over time, across different regions, and within various segments of the fashion industry. To do this, they combined computer vision, network analysis, and clinical population health data.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁

👗 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲: While calls for diversity have grown louder and many brands have responded by casting more diverse models, the data shows that the average body size hasn't changed. "This means that the increase in more diverse body types is only driven by outliers and the industry, the standard, actually didn’t change,” says co-author Katharina Ledebur from the Complexity Science Hub.

↔️ 𝗔 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽: There is almost no overlap between the models on the runway and the actual population. Even so-called plus-size models are still below the average US body size.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
Decades of research have shown that body ideals deeply shape how people feel about their own bodies, their eating behaviors, and their overall psychological well-being. When even plus-size models fall below the average American woman’s body size, the distance between the images people see and the bodies they live in is, as Ledebur puts it, very alarming.

🔗 Learn more: https://csh.ac.at/news/fashion-looks-more-diverse-today-but-the-body-ideal-hasnt-changed-in-25-years/
🔗 Read the paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2602380123

Authors of this study are: Louis Boucherie (Danmarks Tekniske Universitet - DTU ), Sagar Kumar (Northeastern University), Katharina Ledebur (Complexity Science Hub), August Lohse (Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen) and Karolina Sliwa (WU (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien))

⭐ We were delighted to welcome the delegation of the Caribbean-EU Study Visit on AI to the Complexity Science Hub!

At the heart of our exchange: how complexity science approaches together with Artificial Intelligence solve real-world problems. A conversation as timely as it gets.

CSH Secretary General Philipp Marxgut, together with researchers Bernhard Haslhofer and Rafael Prieto-Curiel, presented our institute and research on mapping illicit networks within digital currency ecosystems and modelling organised crime.

It was a true pleasure hosting this visit. 🤝