Difference between revisions of "Fitness Influencers"
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Nav-Bar|Topics#A}} | {{Nav-Bar|Topics#A}} | ||
| − | Fitness influencers are social media creators whose content revolves around fitness and health-related topics, such as exercise and nutrition. Their follower counts on social media platforms range from a | + | Fitness influencers are social media creators whose content revolves around fitness and health-related topics, such as exercise and nutrition. Their follower counts on social media platforms range from a thousand to millions, allowing them to reach masses of people with fitness information, pictures, and whatever else they decide to post on their accounts. <ref name = "count">Au-Yong-Oliveira, M., Cardoso, A. S., Goncalves, M., Tavares, A., & Branco, F. (2019). Strain Effect - A Case Study About the Power of Nano-Influencers. 2019 14th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI). https://doi.org/10.23919/cisti.2019.8760911</ref> These influencers can also make money off of their social media posts. |
In terms of ethical implications, some of the fitness content posted on social media platforms has raised concerns surrounding misinformation and body image. <ref name = "nutrition">Lofft, Z. (2020). When social media met nutrition: How influencers spread misinformation, and why we believe them. Health Science Inquiry, 11(1), 56–61. https://doi.org/10.29173/hsi319</ref><ref name = "body" >Fardouly, J., & Vartanian, L. R. (2016). Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 9, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.005</ref> | In terms of ethical implications, some of the fitness content posted on social media platforms has raised concerns surrounding misinformation and body image. <ref name = "nutrition">Lofft, Z. (2020). When social media met nutrition: How influencers spread misinformation, and why we believe them. Health Science Inquiry, 11(1), 56–61. https://doi.org/10.29173/hsi319</ref><ref name = "body" >Fardouly, J., & Vartanian, L. R. (2016). Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 9, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.005</ref> | ||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
==Reach of Information== | ==Reach of Information== | ||
| − | The cost for a personal trainer is typically between $30 and $100, and nutritionists can cost up to $100. <ref>Schnirring, L. (2015). Referring Patients to Personal Trainers: Benefits and Pitfalls. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 28(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.3810/psm.2000.01.607 </ref><ref>Woodruff, M. (2012, January 2). The Cost Of Hiring A Dietitian. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/the-cost-of-hiring-a-dietician-2011-12. </ref> Social media platforms are free for users to sign up, making it free | + | The cost for a personal trainer is typically between $30 and $100, and nutritionists can cost up to $100. <ref>Schnirring, L. (2015). Referring Patients to Personal Trainers: Benefits and Pitfalls. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 28(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.3810/psm.2000.01.607 </ref><ref>Woodruff, M. (2012, January 2). The Cost Of Hiring A Dietitian. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/the-cost-of-hiring-a-dietician-2011-12. </ref> Social media platforms are free for users to sign up, making it free of charge to view content posted by fitness influencers. These platforms allow for free and easy access to health and fitness information. Social media also “provides an opportunity to reach and engage with young adults that may not otherwise seek out health professionals in more traditional settings.” <ref>Klassen, K. M., Douglass, C. H., Brennan, L., Truby, H., & Lim, M. S. C. (2018). Social media use for nutrition outcomes in young adults: a mixed-methods systematic review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-018-0696-y</ref> |
| − | Fitness influencers’ content is “designed to motivate people to exercise and pursue a healthier lifestyle” and “to inspire people to achieve their fitness and body goals.” | + | Fitness influencers’ content is “designed to motivate people to exercise and pursue a healthier lifestyle” and “to inspire people to achieve their fitness and body goals.” <ref name = "nort">Norton, M. (2017, May). Fitspiration: Social Media's Fitness Culture and its Effect on Body Image. Digital Commons @ CSUMB. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=fitness+influencers+body+image&btnG=&httpsredir=1&article=1138&context=caps_thes_all. </ref> Through follower bases and the ability to spread information on social media (ex: someone can "tag friends in the comments in order to bring them to the post"), social media allows fitness influencers to possibly inspire and motivate masses of people with their knowledge and advice. <ref>Noonan, M. (2018, June 21). Social Media Fitness Influencers: Innovators and Motivators. Iowa Research Online. https://ir.uiowa.edu/honors_theses/192. </ref> |
==Occupational Opportunities== | ==Occupational Opportunities== | ||
[[File:Orange.jpg|thumb|An example of what a fitness influencer's sponsored post might look like. <ref>IZEA. (n.d.). Sponsored Instagram Posts. IZEA. https://izea.com/managed-services/influencer-marketing/sponsored-instagram-posts-2/. </ref> Image Copyright Tags: GFDL-presumed]] | [[File:Orange.jpg|thumb|An example of what a fitness influencer's sponsored post might look like. <ref>IZEA. (n.d.). Sponsored Instagram Posts. IZEA. https://izea.com/managed-services/influencer-marketing/sponsored-instagram-posts-2/. </ref> Image Copyright Tags: GFDL-presumed]] | ||
| − | Fitness influencers use social media as a self-branding tool, a way to build their public image and expand the reach of their platform. <ref>Khamis, S., Ang, L., & Welling, R. (2016). Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers. Celebrity Studies, 8(2), 191–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2016.1218292</ref> Many fitness influencers have turned their social media commitment into a | + | Fitness influencers use social media as a self-branding tool, a way to build their public image and expand the reach of their platform. <ref>Khamis, S., Ang, L., & Welling, R. (2016). Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers. Celebrity Studies, 8(2), 191–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2016.1218292</ref> Many fitness influencers have turned their social media commitment into a job and get paid to post content. |
| − | One way that influencers make money is through affiliate marketing, | + | One way that influencers make money is through affiliate marketing, which is when influencers promote a product and then get compensated in commission that is based on how many customers the influencer brings in. <ref name = "hmi">Heck, D., & Reed, C. (2020, February 4). How Do Influencers Make Money? Hecktic Media Inc. https://hmi.marketing/how-do-influencers-make-money/. </ref> Other sources of income for influencers include display advertising, sponsored posts, and brand campaigns. <ref name="hmi"/> One social media platform in particular, TikTok, has a creator fund; this is where the company pays creators directly for individual posts. Factors such as the number of views and the level of engagement determine how much a creator gets paid for a particular post. <ref>TikTok. (2019, August 16). TikTok Creator Fund: Your questions answered. TikTok. https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/tiktok-creator-fund-your-questions-answered. </ref> Influencers typically make between $4,000 and $50,000 a month. <ref name="hmi"/> |
==Ethical Implications== | ==Ethical Implications== | ||
===Misinformation=== | ===Misinformation=== | ||
| − | Anybody with over 1,000 followers on a social media platform and fitness-related content can become a fitness influencer, even if they have no qualifications in the realm of health and fitness.<ref | + | Anybody with over 1,000 followers on a social media platform and fitness-related content can become a fitness influencer, even if they have no qualifications in the realm of health and fitness. <ref name = "count"/> This can lead to fitness influencers uploading inaccurate and inauthentic information, no verification of facts or sources are required. <ref>Sidhu, S. (2018). Social Media, Dietetic Practice and Misinformation: A triangulation research. Journal of Content, Community & Communication, 8, 29–34. https://doi.org/10.31620/JCCC.12.18/06</ref> |
| − | Last month, | + | Last month, Catherine Hiley's study of TikTok’s fitness content revealed that “27% of the videos that were analyzed demonstrated bad form or incorrect advice.” <ref>Hosie, R. (2021, February 16). 5 red flags to look for before you take fitness advice from influencers. Yahoo! News. https://news.yahoo.com/5-red-flags-look-fitness-132254666.html. </ref><ref name = "fit">Hiley, C. (2021, February 1). The FitTok Report. money.co.uk. https://www.money.co.uk/mobiles/fittok-report.</ref> The same study looked at a variety of specific exercises and calculated what percentage of influencers were teaching incorrect form in their descriptions or demonstrations of that particular exercise; this percentage ranged from 12% to 80%. <ref name="fit"/> Social media users can learn incorrect form for different exercises if they try to imitate fitness influencers who are teaching it incorrectly. <ref name="fit"/> Consequently, these people are more susceptible to getting hurt because exercising with incorrect form can put people at risk for various injuries. <ref>Gray, S. E., & Finch, C. F. (2015). The causes of injuries sustained at fitness facilities presenting to Victorian emergency departments - identifying the main culprits. Injury Epidemiology, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-015-0037-4</ref><ref name="fit"/> |
| − | Fitness influencers tend to promote adhering to certain diets for a healthier lifestyle, some of which include ketogenic and vegan diets.<ref name="nutrition"/> Many of these diets are one-size-fits-all plans, assuming that the same dieting techniques are effective for everyone. <ref name="nutrition"/> These diet plans fail to address the fact that diets should be more individualized, and what is a healthy diet for one person may not be for another; thus, people adhering to influencers’ dieting advice might try diets that are not effective and possibly unhealthy for them. <ref name="nutrition"/> Many of these diets are also fad diets, which "is a weight loss diet that becomes very popular quickly, and then falls out of favour just as quickly.”<ref>Crowe, T. (2014). Are fad diets worth their weight? Australasian Science. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.508889208448431.</ref> Fad diets can be accompanied by health issues, such as low energy and constipation. <ref name = "fad">Khawandanah, J., & Tewfik, I. (2016). Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges. Journal of Food Research, 5(6), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.5539/jfr.v5n6p80</ref> Oftentimes with fad diets, “weight loss occurs too fast, most of the lost weight being water and muscle, not fat tissue.” <ref name="fad"/> | + | Fitness influencers tend to promote adhering to certain diets for a healthier lifestyle, some of which include ketogenic and vegan diets. <ref name="nutrition"/> Many of these diets are one-size-fits-all plans, assuming that the same dieting techniques are effective for everyone. <ref name="nutrition"/> These diet plans fail to address the fact that diets should be more individualized, and what is a healthy diet for one person may not be for another; thus, people adhering to influencers’ dieting advice might try diets that are not effective and possibly unhealthy for them. <ref name="nutrition"/> Many of these diets are also fad diets, which "is a weight loss diet that becomes very popular quickly, and then falls out of favour just as quickly.”<ref>Crowe, T. (2014). Are fad diets worth their weight? Australasian Science. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.508889208448431.</ref> Fad diets can be accompanied by health issues, such as low energy and constipation. <ref name = "fad">Khawandanah, J., & Tewfik, I. (2016). Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges. Journal of Food Research, 5(6), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.5539/jfr.v5n6p80</ref> Oftentimes with fad diets, “weight loss occurs too fast, most of the lost weight being water and muscle, not fat tissue.” <ref name="fad"/> |
| − | Fitness influencers are usually attractive and often showcase their fit physiques to attract followers and get people to try their workouts or diets. <ref name="nutrition"/> The issue is that these creators’ envious physical appearances may be due to factors other than nutrition and exercise | + | Fitness influencers are usually attractive and often showcase their fit physiques to attract followers and get people to try their workouts or diets. <ref name="nutrition"/> The issue is that these creators’ envious physical appearances may be due to factors other than nutrition and exercise. <ref name = "hi">Schlossberg, M. (2016, July 23). The Dangers of Instagram Fitness. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-dangers-of-instagram-fitness-2016-7.</ref> Influencers could be genetically predisposed to having a certain body shape or artificially modify their body using steroids. <ref name = "hi"/> Posing, clothing choice, lighting, and editing are also contributing factors in how a person’s body appears in pictures. Many people assume that a fitness influencer’s physique can be attributed to the diets and exercise regimes that they recommend, but, if an influencer’s appearance is actually impacted by other factors, social media users might falsely believe the influencer’s fitness advice to be more impactful on one’s physique than it really is. <ref name="nutrition"/> This could cause people to spend their time adhering to diets and workout plans that fall short of expectations. <ref name="nutrition"/> |
| − | [[File:ABC.jpg|thumb|Pictures posted by popular fitness influencers showcasing their toned physiques.<ref>JW Media, LLC. (2018, December 10). The 50 Best Fitness Influencers on Instagram. Muscle & Fitness. https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/girls/30-hottest-female-trainers-instagram/.</ref> Image Copyright Tags: GFDL-presumed]] | + | [[File:ABC.jpg|thumb|Pictures posted by popular fitness influencers showcasing their toned physiques. <ref>JW Media, LLC. (2018, December 10). The 50 Best Fitness Influencers on Instagram. Muscle & Fitness. https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/girls/30-hottest-female-trainers-instagram/.</ref> Image Copyright Tags: GFDL-presumed]] |
===Body Image=== | ===Body Image=== | ||
Revision as of 15:05, 27 March 2021
Fitness influencers are social media creators whose content revolves around fitness and health-related topics, such as exercise and nutrition. Their follower counts on social media platforms range from a thousand to millions, allowing them to reach masses of people with fitness information, pictures, and whatever else they decide to post on their accounts. [1] These influencers can also make money off of their social media posts.
In terms of ethical implications, some of the fitness content posted on social media platforms has raised concerns surrounding misinformation and body image. [2][3]
Contents
Content
Fitness influencers’ social media content may typically include workout ideas, training tips, motivational advice, information on nutrition, recommendations for dieting plans, and recipes for healthy eating. This content often takes the form of pictures and videos of fitness influencers demonstrating certain exercises, describing workout plans, making their favorite recipes, and showing their toned physique.
Reach of Information
The cost for a personal trainer is typically between $30 and $100, and nutritionists can cost up to $100. [5][6] Social media platforms are free for users to sign up, making it free of charge to view content posted by fitness influencers. These platforms allow for free and easy access to health and fitness information. Social media also “provides an opportunity to reach and engage with young adults that may not otherwise seek out health professionals in more traditional settings.” [7]
Fitness influencers’ content is “designed to motivate people to exercise and pursue a healthier lifestyle” and “to inspire people to achieve their fitness and body goals.” [8] Through follower bases and the ability to spread information on social media (ex: someone can "tag friends in the comments in order to bring them to the post"), social media allows fitness influencers to possibly inspire and motivate masses of people with their knowledge and advice. [9]
Occupational Opportunities
Fitness influencers use social media as a self-branding tool, a way to build their public image and expand the reach of their platform. [11] Many fitness influencers have turned their social media commitment into a job and get paid to post content.
One way that influencers make money is through affiliate marketing, which is when influencers promote a product and then get compensated in commission that is based on how many customers the influencer brings in. [12] Other sources of income for influencers include display advertising, sponsored posts, and brand campaigns. [12] One social media platform in particular, TikTok, has a creator fund; this is where the company pays creators directly for individual posts. Factors such as the number of views and the level of engagement determine how much a creator gets paid for a particular post. [13] Influencers typically make between $4,000 and $50,000 a month. [12]
Ethical Implications
Misinformation
Anybody with over 1,000 followers on a social media platform and fitness-related content can become a fitness influencer, even if they have no qualifications in the realm of health and fitness. [1] This can lead to fitness influencers uploading inaccurate and inauthentic information, no verification of facts or sources are required. [14]
Last month, Catherine Hiley's study of TikTok’s fitness content revealed that “27% of the videos that were analyzed demonstrated bad form or incorrect advice.” [15][16] The same study looked at a variety of specific exercises and calculated what percentage of influencers were teaching incorrect form in their descriptions or demonstrations of that particular exercise; this percentage ranged from 12% to 80%. [16] Social media users can learn incorrect form for different exercises if they try to imitate fitness influencers who are teaching it incorrectly. [16] Consequently, these people are more susceptible to getting hurt because exercising with incorrect form can put people at risk for various injuries. [17][16]
Fitness influencers tend to promote adhering to certain diets for a healthier lifestyle, some of which include ketogenic and vegan diets. [2] Many of these diets are one-size-fits-all plans, assuming that the same dieting techniques are effective for everyone. [2] These diet plans fail to address the fact that diets should be more individualized, and what is a healthy diet for one person may not be for another; thus, people adhering to influencers’ dieting advice might try diets that are not effective and possibly unhealthy for them. [2] Many of these diets are also fad diets, which "is a weight loss diet that becomes very popular quickly, and then falls out of favour just as quickly.”[18] Fad diets can be accompanied by health issues, such as low energy and constipation. [19] Oftentimes with fad diets, “weight loss occurs too fast, most of the lost weight being water and muscle, not fat tissue.” [19]
Fitness influencers are usually attractive and often showcase their fit physiques to attract followers and get people to try their workouts or diets. [2] The issue is that these creators’ envious physical appearances may be due to factors other than nutrition and exercise. [20] Influencers could be genetically predisposed to having a certain body shape or artificially modify their body using steroids. [20] Posing, clothing choice, lighting, and editing are also contributing factors in how a person’s body appears in pictures. Many people assume that a fitness influencer’s physique can be attributed to the diets and exercise regimes that they recommend, but, if an influencer’s appearance is actually impacted by other factors, social media users might falsely believe the influencer’s fitness advice to be more impactful on one’s physique than it really is. [2] This could cause people to spend their time adhering to diets and workout plans that fall short of expectations. [2]
Body Image
Fitness influencers promote healthy lifestyles, but most of the time, they fit into one ideal prototype of what a healthy person should look like. [8] This “model spokesperson does not account for the vast and diverse general public the message is reaching.” [8] Because these influencers are typically fit and attractive (the "ideal prototype"), people who feel like they aren’t as attractive might start to compare their bodies to those of the creators they see on their feeds. [8][3] This can prove detrimental to one’s body image seeing as the link between consistent social media use and negative body image has to do with appearance comparisons. [3] Comparing oneself to thin and attractive social media creators, including fitness influencers, creates unrealistic body goals and causes low self-confidence. [22]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Au-Yong-Oliveira, M., Cardoso, A. S., Goncalves, M., Tavares, A., & Branco, F. (2019). Strain Effect - A Case Study About the Power of Nano-Influencers. 2019 14th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI). https://doi.org/10.23919/cisti.2019.8760911
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lofft, Z. (2020). When social media met nutrition: How influencers spread misinformation, and why we believe them. Health Science Inquiry, 11(1), 56–61. https://doi.org/10.29173/hsi319
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Fardouly, J., & Vartanian, L. R. (2016). Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 9, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.005
- ↑ Taylor, V. (2020, September 29). How to Start a Bomb Fitness Instagram Account (With Examples). wishpond. https://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675437921/how-to-start-a-fitness-instagram.
- ↑ Schnirring, L. (2015). Referring Patients to Personal Trainers: Benefits and Pitfalls. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 28(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.3810/psm.2000.01.607
- ↑ Woodruff, M. (2012, January 2). The Cost Of Hiring A Dietitian. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/the-cost-of-hiring-a-dietician-2011-12.
- ↑ Klassen, K. M., Douglass, C. H., Brennan, L., Truby, H., & Lim, M. S. C. (2018). Social media use for nutrition outcomes in young adults: a mixed-methods systematic review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-018-0696-y
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Norton, M. (2017, May). Fitspiration: Social Media's Fitness Culture and its Effect on Body Image. Digital Commons @ CSUMB. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=fitness+influencers+body+image&btnG=&httpsredir=1&article=1138&context=caps_thes_all.
- ↑ Noonan, M. (2018, June 21). Social Media Fitness Influencers: Innovators and Motivators. Iowa Research Online. https://ir.uiowa.edu/honors_theses/192.
- ↑ IZEA. (n.d.). Sponsored Instagram Posts. IZEA. https://izea.com/managed-services/influencer-marketing/sponsored-instagram-posts-2/.
- ↑ Khamis, S., Ang, L., & Welling, R. (2016). Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers. Celebrity Studies, 8(2), 191–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2016.1218292
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Heck, D., & Reed, C. (2020, February 4). How Do Influencers Make Money? Hecktic Media Inc. https://hmi.marketing/how-do-influencers-make-money/.
- ↑ TikTok. (2019, August 16). TikTok Creator Fund: Your questions answered. TikTok. https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/tiktok-creator-fund-your-questions-answered.
- ↑ Sidhu, S. (2018). Social Media, Dietetic Practice and Misinformation: A triangulation research. Journal of Content, Community & Communication, 8, 29–34. https://doi.org/10.31620/JCCC.12.18/06
- ↑ Hosie, R. (2021, February 16). 5 red flags to look for before you take fitness advice from influencers. Yahoo! News. https://news.yahoo.com/5-red-flags-look-fitness-132254666.html.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Hiley, C. (2021, February 1). The FitTok Report. money.co.uk. https://www.money.co.uk/mobiles/fittok-report.
- ↑ Gray, S. E., & Finch, C. F. (2015). The causes of injuries sustained at fitness facilities presenting to Victorian emergency departments - identifying the main culprits. Injury Epidemiology, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-015-0037-4
- ↑ Crowe, T. (2014). Are fad diets worth their weight? Australasian Science. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.508889208448431.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Khawandanah, J., & Tewfik, I. (2016). Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges. Journal of Food Research, 5(6), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.5539/jfr.v5n6p80
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Schlossberg, M. (2016, July 23). The Dangers of Instagram Fitness. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-dangers-of-instagram-fitness-2016-7.
- ↑ JW Media, LLC. (2018, December 10). The 50 Best Fitness Influencers on Instagram. Muscle & Fitness. https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/girls/30-hottest-female-trainers-instagram/.
- ↑ Baranow, R. (2019, May 16). The impact of influencer marketing in the fitness industry on consumers’ trust. Modul Vienna University. https://www.modul.ac.at/uploads/files/Theses/Bachelor/Undergrad_2019/Thesis_1621022_BARANOW__Rebecca.pdf.
