Social media has caused a shift to the dynamic of community as we once knew it to be. New technology systems have allowed communities to extend beyond local interactions and enables constant awareness online and offline (Hampton & Wellman, 2018). Amongst the introduction of “new, digital, communication technologies” (Hampton, 2015, para. 12) social media channels in recent years have become a leading force in changing the structure of community (Hampton, 2015). Social medias components of persistent contact and pervasive awareness drives this force (Hampton, 2015). Persistent contact through its 24/7 availability, and pervasive awareness through the abundance of information available, supports this change (Hampton, 2015). To analyse the relationship between communities and social media, we can observe the fitness industry’s growth online and how this translates to a development of community. The COVID-19 pandemic, influencer culture, and the persistent and pervasive nature of social media facilitate the advancement of the fitness industry to accommodate to modern times. Platforms Instagram and Tiktok have radically changed the way the average person engages with the fitness industry.
The occurrence of the COVID-19 global pandemic introduced lockdowns globally to stop the spread of the infectious disease. This pushed individuals into a higher level of online consumption, as a source of entertainment, receiving news or to seek fitness advice as gyms were closed (Li, 2023). The rise of at home work outs became a global trend to maintain one’s activeness especially in Australia and Germany (Wenjia, 2023). A report was released from China in 2021 stating “the cumulative number of likes on TikToks sports content videos exceeded 66 billion” (Li, 2023, para. 2). Through this we can see the growth of virtual fitness content, where an online community exists. Sharma and Singh (2022) states that an individual’s commitment to workout sessions online was heavily dependent on how they identify with the group. Due to the lonely nature of the pandemic, majority of people were looking to be held accountable, become motivated, and seek a form of social connection. This reveals the shift of fitness into a collaborative event to push the motive of “belonging and individual empowerment” (Cronshaw, 2021, para. 11). Tiktok and instagram fulfilled these requirements as it introduced a new, fun, and interactive way to engage with fitness, fitness influencers fulfilled the social connection so many individuals needed through the production of their content.
During this unpredictable time each platform served as a method to “promote positive mood, alleviate stress and provide an escape from reality” (Ramsden, 2024, para. 36), as people have been quoted to feel supported by the safe space provided by these media platforms. The virtual fitness community allowed people to rely on each platform for matters beyond instant communication, and create a wide phenomenon of at home work outs. A study in Austria has revealed that people have “increasingly exercised at home independently or with online tutorials during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that private homes, were the most popular indoor category for exercising” (Jungwirth, Haluza, & Weninger, 2021, para. 23). This reveals the shift in engagement with the fitness industry, as people learned to rely on virtual content to provide them with the support they cannot find in real life, and to accommodate to the busyness of daily life. COVID-19 shed light to the benefits of online fitness content through instagram and tiktok and opened a new avenue of working out for people worldwide.
The existence of fitness influencers on instagram and tiktok has altered exercise intention (Li, 2023). Individuals can be motivated to participate in exercise by watching the content of influencers, who are also regular people, and sometimes family and friends (Li, 2023). In previous times this was not the case, as fitness content was generally presented through traditional media forms such as television programs. For example, the biggest loser, a tv program which involved obese individuals competing to reduce their weight through intense diet and exercise programs (Berry, 2013). Researchers found that this promoted “exercise as hard work, with the implication that effort and willpower are needed to overcome inherent laziness” (Berry, 2013, p.96). This unrealistic and distorted view of exercise promotes negative health related attitudes, and isolates overweight individuals from the rest of society, and encourages the view that you should only participate in exercise if you’re obese. Instagram and tiktok have challenged these notions, as they’ve provided a space for individuals of all body types, race, and experiences to produce visual and written content surrounding exercise, working to make the fitness industry a more inclusive and accessible space for individuals worldwide. Influencers through their parasocial relationships “use their professionalism, reliability and attractiveness to motivate people’s fitness behaviour” (Li, 2023, para. 3). A para social relationship can be described as a “intimate and one-way relationship between an audience and media persona” (Li, 2023, para. 4), this contributes heavily to the existence of community through the content produced on instagram and tiktok. This is possible through the elements on these platforms such as direct messages, comments, and live videos to make an individual’s fitness journey more personalised and less lonely supporting the concept of community.
On instagram the rise of the body positive movement has flourished, as the hashtag #bodypositive contains 7,069,114 posts on the platform (Cohen, 2019). In contrast to traditional media forms, instagram and tiktok allow for users to act as both producers and consumers (Cohen, 2019). This aspect allows for the platforms to “cultivate awareness, foster online communities and advocate for social change at a global level” (Cohen, 2019, para. 6). The fitness industry has had issues in the past in appropriately presenting positive body images, social media has rejected this idea, and encouraged a diverse and inclusive network. The existence of a movement dedicated to loving the way your body looks, connects individuals with the similar issues and experiences to share their thoughts and feelings, provide advice, and relate to each other. This fosters an online community that doesn’t necessarily have to exist in real life to produce social change.
Research states that “positive body image is related to greater emotional, psychological and social well-being, as well as physical outcomes” (Cohen, 2019, p. 48). Social media has given permission for regular people to provide their input of what body image should look like, taking their power as consumers to control the narrative that was once in the hands of major commercial industries. This change, however, isn’t possible through the account of one individual, but a combination of people who have developed a community, large enough to produce more than 7 million posts, and create a hashtag known worldwide. This virtual community encouraged the production of activewear that accommodates to all size and shapes, forcing existing activewear brands to review the needs of the consumer. The force of this community sheds light to the power behind consumer behaviour reshaping the market for fitness brands (O’Sullivan, 2017). These media platforms have forced big brands to put themselves in the shoes of their target audience, and review their target market research (O’Sullivan, 2017).
In the past the existence of communication platforms to connect with people long term did not exist (Hampton, 2015). Interactions were limited to real life scenarios, with no method of continuing communication across a long period of time (Hampton, 2015). This supported the idea of “networked individualism” (Hampton, 2015, 647) allowing people the freedom to be intentional with decisions made online. Instagram and Tiktok reject this idea through the presence of persistent contact which enables them to sustain long-term communication with people (Hampton, 2015). This feature has contributed heavily to the change in the way people interact with the fitness industry, as they’re not waiting for a certain time, place, or day to access information and connect with people, but instead have 24/7 availability to access what they desire. Persistent contact allows users to build an online community, tiktok and instagram uses this feature make the fitness atmosphere more diverse, interacting and motivating.
The ability to constantly connect online with individuals worldwide by sharing advice, asking questions, and making relatable content about your struggles, connects a large demographic of people to engage with fitness content. For example, tiktok’s ‘for you’ page, which generates a row of popular and random videos for each user, the existence of exercise and diet content is highly popular on this page, and more if you’re following pages related to these topics. The lack of persistent contact in the fitness industry previously, caused it to be less accessible, secluded, and less informative, supporting a “nostalgia epidemic” (Hampton, 2015, p.647) where relationships are replaceable and lack substance. This has stopped it in the past from connecting a wide range of people behind the TV to exist in real life, social media however has allowed for the existence of running clubs, walking clubs, training programs and many extensions of health and fitness programs to exist online and offline due to its large community, supported by persistent contact.
Pervasive awareness reflects the wide range of information and constant connection available on tiktok and instagram (Hampton, 2015). This offers users ability to engage with health and fitness content like never before, as the information they desire is available at the tips of their fingers. This aspect rejects previous media forms like magazines, tv programs, or newspapers to receive news about fitness. These media forms also support the idea of the network individualism which doesn’t support the creation of community, as generally people are alone when engaging with it, reflecting its lack of interaction. Tiktok and instagram have a “unique potential for collaborative knowledge mobilization with undeserved communities who experience barriers to health care and health inequities” (Kukafka, 2021). These platforms through pervasive awareness eliminated this gap due to its ability to provide collaborative knowledge, as the apps do not discriminate. This attracts individuals to engage with health-related content as its being delivered in a way that it hasn’t existed before, supporting the growth of a community.
Communities have been formed, enhanced, and adapted through the introduction of instagram and tiktok. The interactive elements of these platforms have changed the way individuals engage with fitness. The communities built online during the COVID-19 pandemic, the presence of influencers, and the persistent and pervasive nature of each platform have created a safe, friendly, inclusive, and informing relationship between the public and fitness culture. The accessibility of each platform assists in its development of community and have allowed the people to take their power back. The virtual communities on each platform are challenging stigma surrounding fitness and empowering people worldwide. The new way individuals interact with fitness due to instagram and tiktok reveals the relationship between communities and social media.
References:
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