Introduction
Social media platforms give individuals a platform that allows users to show themselves, therefore they enable to inspire others to adopt healthy habits. However, in recent years social media brings the experiences of users in an opposite way of what they originally intended. An increasing number of searches have found that social media negatively influences body image and one’s physical satisfaction. online sharing, according to some users does not impact real-life fitness levels (Sokolova & Perez, 2021). social application brings big changes to the fitness industry, it shape the success of the fitness industry. Fitness explorers, instructors, and bodybuilders can share their knowledge and views to creat a community of fitness professionals (Dangl, 2017). Pinto & Yagnik (2016) added that the purpose of social platforms is changing, according to the investigation the marketing index of social media is constantly increasing. In 2015, the income of Facebook accounts for 25%of total digital advertising. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are more popular in marketers, because of social platforms are high interactive and has high influence, it is also more suitable for the sales model of integrated marketing. These marketing strategies can have a good communication impact on the brand and are an important tool for competition between brands.
Follow the influencers on the social platform
Research shows social media can influence users’ point and their behavior and attitude. This kind of influence may come from the information users are exposed to. At the same time, it can also be influenced be indirectly influenced by opinion leaders and interactions with society. YouTube will be divided into different channels. Fitness YouTubers show their bodies, showcasing their workout experience and techniques, online coaching, and more. When people watch fitness videos on YouTube, the social support required for exercise is provided according to the algorithm of the social platform. Youtuber in the audience’s view are the media creators. They are media figures who are recognized and regarded as role models to follow. They attract a large number of viewers and are called opinion leaders and influencers (Aguilar & Arbaiza, 2021). Research shows that audiences are more influenced by opinion leaders than directly by the media because audiences view influencers as more trustworthy and influential. However, some influencers and brands capitalize on that trust and influence. In order to better help products influence some brands have come up with influence marketing methods, which are an influential group of potential consumers. Youtubers have become brands opening up a more direct and natural way to connect with consumers a new channel. Opinion leaders share information of brand with the audience to expand the scope of brand communication activities. Take instagram’sfitness community as an example which is mainly composed of young people (Aguilar & Arbaiza, 2021). Instagram has become the most focused social platform for influence as it allows for the most effective interaction among influencers on the web and is the best channel for paid writing. 850 million Instagram users age group between 13-24 years Influencers pursue driven health communication without experience, by controlled food intake and strict exercise routines understood as means of maintaining a perfect body image. The image to the title suggests a fiction of external perfectionism.88% of the brands displayed are related to diet and exercise and 90% will be mentioned by influencers and directly publish purchase links. The nutritional sector can be divided into several segments, with food supplements receiving the most advertising at 75% sportswear accounts for 80% of sportswear. Influencers consciously influence their audiences and create similarities among their followers (Pilgrim & Bohnet-Joschko, 2019). Take Pamela Reif as an example, she has 2.8 million fans on instragram she appears in her videos to promote slimming tea, protein powder, sportswear and other products. According to the survey results, she can get tens of thousands of dollars in compensation for each post (Dangl,2017). There are more than 100 influencers with misleading ratings and endorsements. Influencers gain financially from promoting products and services, influencers,brands try to hide this fact from consumers. These offending influencers increase the legitimacy of their hidden advertising posts by building and maintaining seemingly genuine relationships with their followers (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 2023).
Comparison on social platforms
Social software meets user’s basic social needs. Users gradually use other people’s information to compare their own abilities and conditions. It is also a way to explore the social world and cope with the online world, which is related to people’s sense of belonging. It’s about respect. people are prone to self deprecation, jealousy, and emotional deterioration when comparing themselves to others (Verduyn et al., 2020). Fitness users tend to compare themselves with others consciously or unconsciously when they saw other’s fitness videos on social platforms. however, fitness information on social platforms often shows a perfect side. When users put themselves in this upward comparison state for a long time, it will seriously affect their judgment of themselves and hurt their fitness results (Kim, 2022). There is pressure on younger adult women to pursuer a perfect body image. This stress is closely related to health, which include eaying habits and physical activity. The report shows that adult young women will make comparisons on social media. Watching other fitness vedios will reduce young women’s satisfaction with their bodies and increase their negative emotions. The pressure, information, and images on social platforms indirectly affect women’s self-perception and health behaviors. Previous research has found that people’s self-esteem is related to conversations with friends on social platforms and they desire to gain satisfaction in the group. Being frequently active on social media requires young people to spend a lot of time running their own social accounts, such as posting photos and updating updates. This state is also detrimental to people’s physical and mental well being, and they focus most time on social. In terms of media feedback, excessive pursuit of social status. This method of seeking obtaining from external recognition will lead to greater stress and anxiety among users when this achievements can not be satisfy. (Sabik et al., 2019).Lee et al. (2014) external approval can affect a person’s body image. Stereotypes such as constant emphasis on the importance of thinness by family and peers, as well as pressure to be thin, play an important role in maintain body shape. Some standards of beauty are conveyed to women through mass media. Social media provides a platform for the public to make social comparisons. Social media presents body types that meet the standard of a perfect body. This kind of standard is formulated as the ideal body after exercise, leading female usrs to pursue unnatural beauty standards that are harmful to their health, and psychologically shame users for not meeting the standards. These negative comparisons have a negative impact on user’s body image and self esteem (Mills et al., 2018).
Fear of missing out
mobile phones and other smart electronic devices with permanent access to the internet have revolutionized the way of online social interaction. The opportunities for surfing the internet have become unlimited. These advanced technologies allow users to access internet applications to communicate with others anytime and anywhere. For adolescent girls, feeling stressed or anxious may trigger more participation in social networks. However, the intensity of social networks does not alleviate this group of users but may make the situation worse. Mobile phones become the catalyst for FOMO, forming a vicious cycle (Oberst et al., 2017). being rejected and ignored by others is a phenomenon that people fear most and is most likely to occur. This way occurs in different places in people’s lives, such as companies, schools, and social platforms. Rejection is also a phenomenon that is more harmful to people. it may cause physical attacks to people and lead to depression. People always are eager to find people who have the same qualities as themselves and maintain long-term and continuous contact with them and are worried about missing out and losing the ability to be popular. Worry about the loss that ability that can keep followers (Williams & Zadro , 2001). Same with Alutaybi et al. (2019) survey found that users are afraid of missing out on participating in popular interactions. The main manifestation is that important things happen on social platforms. People are unable to participate for some reasons. They will feel worried about discussions among friends or the event. But the aspect that users fear more is losing the sense of connection individuals feel by joining a group, and groups prompting people to constantly check in on group activities. Goldman et al. (2023) also keep the same point that this is a common worry that one may miss out on some kind of beneficial experience. At the same time, research shows that this kind of panic is more likely to appear in people who are less satisfied with their autonomy and self-ability. People with sensitive hearts will be more susceptible to the influence of social media. As a way to escape reality, online socializing means that they do not need to show all their bodies and facial expressions,and they can also access it in a relatively virtual environment. The same social experiences as offline. This group of people may gain social experience in a short period of time but as time goes by, they will gradually become dependent on social applications, ultimately affecting their physical and social lives (Ali et al.,2021). Recent surveys show that people currently spend more time on social platforms every day than during the pandemic. There may be a strong connection between the aggravation of FOMO and the abuse of social media. (Fioravanti et al., 2021).
Conclusion
This article traces the reasons behind user’s enthusiasm for following the fitness craze. Social platforms strive to make beauty culture prevalent. Society itself is a network of relationships. Perfect body shape can become a tool of classification. (Dangl, 2017). Nowadays the fitness industry relies on influencers on social networks to promote products, leveraging the trust of many users and the authority given to influencers on social platforms. Distort the real healthy lifestyle and mislead social platform users that low weight and obvious body muscles are a symbol of a healthy life. fitness brands are at risk of losing public trust as the industry becomes increasingly transparent. This is an issue that fitness platforms and offending social platform influencers need to address (Aguilar & Arbaiza, 2021). Meanwhile, attention should also be paid to upward comparisons on social platforms. Although the content displayed on social networks is positive, it will cause users to make destructive social comparisons and focus on self-improvement. This is a response to self-deprecation ways to feel jealousy. Develop interventions to break the negative effects of social comparison and protect users (Verduyn et al., 2020).
Reference List
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