Social media has become a ubiquitous part of our lives and society. It provides a platform for knowledge sharing, communication, and the creation of communities. Social media has long been stigmatised as having a negative impact on people’s mental health and body image, due to its association with sedentary behaviour and social comparison. This paper analyses how fitness influencers and their “fitspiration” posts are able to utilise social media as a positive tool in fighting an increasingly sedentary society, to further motivate and inspire individuals to continue on their health journey through social connection formed in online communities.

 

Online Fitness Communities

We have seen decreases in levels of physical activity globally (Durau et al., 2022), therefore there is continued research into how to better encourage people to live more active and healthy lifestyles. Research into social media usage shows that the evolution of fitness communities may substantiate social media platforms as being a highly beneficial tool in motivating and inspiring individuals to live healthier (Clark et al., 2021; Triscás-Vidal et al., 2022).

Social media networks are often perceived to be a barrier for healthy lifestyles (Sokolova & Perez, 2021) and instead promote sedentary behaviour. However, the COVID-19 pandemic saw a surge in online information based around health and fitness, and the formation of knowledge sharing and motivated fitness communities on social media platforms (Durau et al., 2022), such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Fitness how-to videos became popular during this time as it allowed individuals to both maintain and expand on their fitness goals in the safety of their own home (Durau et al., 2022). These communities are built around fit models and influencers who share the workouts and nutrition that helped build their physique, in order to help others on their health and fitness journeys. 

“Influencers” are individuals that have amassed a large following on social media due to establishing credibility and authority within a particular niche (Abidin, 2015). Through consistently posting on a certain topic, individuals are able to present themselves as an expert within their speciality (Buchanan et al., 2023). Online social communities are collections of individuals who connect over social media platforms as they share the same values and interests. They foster a sense of belonging and allow for the exchange of information between multiple members instantaneously.

Parasocial relationships are those that develop between an individual and the media personality/influencer they follow (Sokolova & Perez, 2021). It is a relationship that is perceived as being intimate due to the personality’s tone and the type of information they share with their following (Sokolova & Perez, 2021). Parasocial relationships are easier to foster with online personalities rather than with traditional celebrities, due to the frequency and type of content shared, as well as the sense of immediacy and “reachability” of online personalities (Tolbert & Drogos, 2019). Social media platforms such as Youtube, Instagram and TikTok, allows users to comment, like and share content they find interesting, and the influencer has the ability to respond, further strengthening this relationship (Tolbert & Drogos, 2019). The level of intimacy and connection perceived by the follower directly affects the level of influence and power that the media personality holds, in terms of credibility with recommendations and advice (Sokolova & Perez, 2021).

When analysing the relationship between influencer and followers another notable aspect is “wishful identification”, a psychological attachment and desire to be like an individual that results in conscious or unconscious adoption of their characteristics, behaviours and attitudes (Tolbert & Drogos, 2019). Wishful identification has been perceived as a negative in many aspects of literature research, due to the effects of large amounts of media consumption and the resulting social comparison (Sokolova & Perez, 2021). However, when analysing online fitness communities, this social comparison has been seen to act as a motivator and further inspiration (Durau et al., 2022).

 

Tools and Resources For Motivation

When looking at online health and wellness communities and the effects of influencers, there must be an understanding of the demographics within these communities. Participation in communities that focus on the sharing of health and fitness content is motivated by a need to enhance knowledge and perceived social value (Lin & Chang, 2018). Members have an understanding that regular physical exercise is beneficial for their health and are generally seeking to expand on this knowledge (Durau et al., 2022). Individuals who are aware of these benefits seem to have positive intentions to exercise in general, this is unaffected by their own self-reported health status (either negative or positive) (Durau et al., 2022). This aim to better ones-self is the key value held by members within health and fitness communities. 

“Fitspiration” communities can provide vast amounts of support, education and social comparison to elicit healthy lifestyle changes (Triscás-Vidal et al., 2022). Influencers with a high level of status, meaning more well known in the industry and having larger followings, were found to be those who have been deemed credibly, trustworthy and perceived as attractive by their followings (Durau et al., 2022). 

The health and fitness niche offers influencers a vast amount of topics to choose from when it comes to the creation of their content. Some fitness influencers focus on a specific area of the journey, for example only sharing workout content (e.g. @Maiahenryfit on TikTok) or strictly a recipe page (e.g. @aussiefitness on TikTok and Instagram). However the majority of influencers are able to encapsulate the entire health and wellness journey that they are on, from nutrition, supplements, workout apparel, exercise equipment and accessories, instructional videos and how they are able to balance all of this with their day to day life. 

The most frequent content shared by fitness influencers are instructional workout videos. Research shows that watching an influencer exercise encourages an individual to continue to workout, as the content provides a form of social support (Sokolova & Perez, 2021). 

Durau et al. (2022) found that attitudes towards influencers were less effective at encouraging exercise intentions than the motivating power of the influencer. Influencers that had achievable results and complimented the individual’s level of fitness were considered to be trusted and favoured for increasing motivation (Durau et al., 2022).

Case Study

A fitness influencer who was able to grow a following by sharing this genre of content is the account @west.bay.wellness on TikTok. The account follows the weightloss journey of qualified PT ‘Bay’, as she shares her ‘workouts that helped her lose 60lbs’ (27kgs) after giving birth to her two children. The account has gained 499k followers through sharing this niche content and interacting with her community of followers. Through sharing tips and tricks, her exercise routines and other inspirational content she has been able to create a community who not only interact with her through likes, comments and shares, but interact with each other as well.

Bay is also a prime example of how influencers are able to monetise their skill and content online as well as she has been able to offer online coaching to her followers as well, further developing the interaction and connection to those on their own journeys. On her Instagram account @westbaywellness she also shares progress pictures, testimonials and feedback of results from members within her coaching community. This is done in a way to not only promote herself as a business but to further engage, support and include community members. 

 

Other Acknowledgements

On the contrary to what has been discussed here, being the beneficial use of health information shared across social media, there is also an issue that arises due to the proliferation of information online (Horsburgh & Barron, 2019), being the sharing of misleading information. Young people are those most susceptible to misleading health information (Chen, 2022), and with the unprecedented levels of information that is free and accessible, it can be hard to navigate through the noise. This is where an individual’s critical thinking becomes a vital tool. Chen (2022) defines a person’s critical thinking ability as “having a critical understanding of how a message is created and the intention of the message creator and critically analyzing the content of the message” (p. 18). 

There are laws in place to ensure that Influencers are not acting in misleading or deceptive conduct when it comes to the advice, recommendations, and promotion of products (Buchanan et al., 2023), however there are still influencers that do. Taking advice from individuals that are untrained and inexperienced without following up on their claims can create a risk of injury or health concerns (Buchanan et al., 2023).

Critical thinking protects individuals from misleading, low quality, incomplete, inaccurate or out of date data by “understand[ing] the production of media content as well as the potential conflicts and biases during production” (Chen, 2022, p.18). As 72% of people from the U.S claim they are exposed to conflicting and misleading information (Chen, 2022) it is important that people do their own research into topics that they see online before taking it as fact.

Influencers themselves should also be wary not only about the information that they are sharing but whether they have the right to be sharing it and how they are sharing it, as “the way messages are communicated can be harmful” (Horsburgh & Barron, 2019).

 

Negative Aspects of Social Media on Body Image

It is important to acknowledge within this paper that social media consumption and social comparison can have severely negative consequences to individuals’ mental health, resulting in devastating consequences. The natural tendency to compare oneself becomes heightened and enforced through media as there becomes multiple platforms for comparison to exist (Kagie, 2018). Images that are uploaded online can be tweaked and altered in a way that they are not representative of real life, because of this, appearance comparison with images shared online can produce a much more negative result than those made in person (Pu et al, 2022). The sheer volume of edited and misleading content published to social platforms can create illusions of false body images and unrealistic standards. Research within the area shows that the combination of unrealistic body standards and social comparison can lead to severe ramifications such as the development of eating disorders and in severe cases suicide (Sokolova & Perez, 2021). 

The aim of this paper was to rather look at the connection between motivational and inspirational fitness content as a tool for those who seek it out, to aid in their health journey, rather than further promoting unrealistic body standards to vulnerable individuals. 

 

Discussion

Through sharing engaging content across social media, fitness influencers have been able to create large online communities that share the same views and values. The development of parasocial relationships and wishful identification between the members and the influencer has been shown to stimulate a change of behaviour and need for fitness. 

Current research looks at the effectiveness of long form content shared across the social media platform YouTube, however further research should be done to compare these results with the effectiveness of short form content platforms such as TikTok, based off of the rapidly increasing amount of content and fitness communities appearing on the platform. 

 

Conclusion 

Social media can be used as a positive agent of change. It can be utilised in a healthy and effective way to promote healthier lifestyle changes using the connections between social media influencers and their communities of followers. Through social support and sharing of knowledge these platforms can provide the important motivation to encourage an individual’s health journey, whether that’s maintaining or improving their physical fitness. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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