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Narcissism Through Fitness Apps

Social media has allowed the act of quantifying popularity and validation to become a much more convenient and common occurrence. This, in turn, has led to a society that has become very focused on publicizing the ideal self and publishing (ideal) results. Fitness has become a major trend in the past few years and the Fitbit, a fitness tracker device, allows users to share their results on social media. A study found that “’fitness boasters’ were the most irksome of social media users” (Counter 2015). People become extremely competitive, wanting to outrun or out-exercise their peers. In the study, it mentioned that a 41-year-old mother was tempted to slip her Fitbit into her child’s pocket in order to gain more merits. This demonstrates how narcissism and the need to win can alter the integrity of the product since she would then be trying to prove something rather than use the Fitbit for its sole purposes.  Counter suggests, “constant oversharing and validation-seeking behaviour becomes an inescapable Catch-22” (Counter) since there is a higher risk of disappointment if one does not reach their goals.

Similar activity can be seen on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, with many users posting fitness photos showing off their progress or routines. It can be seen as a way to share fitness inspiration or simply to share one’s journey with their peers. But with the rise of more fitness accounts, users become more competitive and seem to attract other users in order to gain popularity. It then becomes over sharing of results and a competition of skill or ideal body image in a very narcissistic manner since they are doing it for others and no longer themselves. It has turned fitness and body image into a quantification of merit.

Works Cited:

Counter, Rosemary. "Every step you take, I'll be avoiding you: the fitness-tracker ethos has created a new social media villain: the Fitbit bore." Maclean's, 17 Aug. 2015, p. 71. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A426149514/AONE?u=lond95336&sid=AONE&xid=a53365a4. Accessed 4 Apr. 2018.

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FitBit and Fitness Tracking

An analysis of fitness, social media, and quantifying the self is incomplete without one of today’s most powerful fitness technologies: FitBit. FitBit is a popular example of both a wearable technology and app that tracks not only your steps but your heart rate, sleep and more, depending on the model. FitBit provides users with fitness goals, modes to challenge friends, and the ability to share your progress/badges/step counts on various social media platforms.

The advent of technologies like FitBit may have a fitness-positive front, but no new technology comes without consequences of its actions. Firstly, Fotopolou and O’Riordan (2017) point out in their writing that FitBit is a form of biopedagogy, i.e. of biological control. They write, “Like reality television and other cultural sites, Fitbit tracking devices mediate the body, prescribing what is normal and acceptable, including normal weight and weight loss through exercising and calorie restriction” (56). The FitBit, as a piece of technology, is unable to be aware of our human differences- and by tracking one’s every move FitBit normalizes ritualization of checking one’s activity, comparing to others, and attaining arbitrary goals.

Secondly, is it healthy to rely on technologies like FitBit to motivate us to be active? In a study done by Amber Edwards (2017) she found that: “dissatisfaction with the body does provide motivation for using a Fitbit and that users were generally looking to improve their bodies in some way” (250). She also found: “Fitbit generally improved the participants’ body satisfaction, with seven participants claiming they felt better about themselves compared to before they used a Fitbit” (250). While these findings may not seem problematic, it is of concern for the body positive movement because you can’t always rely on technology to improve your dissatisfaction- this aligns with why #Fitspiration and unhealthy fitness social media is so popular.

Works Cited:

Edwards, Amber. (2017). “The impact of body image on Fitbit use: a comparison across genders.” Health Information and Libraries Journal 34, no. 3: 247-251.

Fotopolou, Aristea, and Kate O’Riordan. “Training to self-care: fitness tracking, biopedagogy and the healthy consumer.” Health Sociology Review 26, no. 1: 54-68.

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“Fat Activists” and Body Positivity

In popular media, negative portrayals of fat embodiment continue to circulate online society. There is a high volume of content that stigmatizes and shames fat people while portraying thin bodies as more desirable and ideal. However, anti-fat-shaming and fat activist platforms have proliferated in hopes of combatting fat shaming discourses. Lupton observes that newer media have allowed the masses to draw attention to issues such as fat embodiment using hashtags, organizing forums, and more. She states, “The emergence of digital devices such as smartphones that enable users to easily take and share selfies with others has afforded fat people opportunities to make their own choices about the ways in which they want to portray themselves” (Lupton 122). Social media has not only brought awareness to the issue, but has also brought people together such as queers, black activists, and more, to shed light on body positivity.

Different initiatives have been taken to counter fat shaming and bring about fat activism. The website, “Adipositivity Project” offers professional, aesthetic, and artistic images of fat people showing off their bodies (123). Hashtags such as #fatpositive, #fatbabe, #bodypositive, #thickspiration, and #fatacceptance have trended on Instagram and Tumblr to demonstrate positive portrayal. The typical #ootd (outfit of the day) trend was also altered to incorporate those who identify themselves as fat during “Fatshion February,” in order to bring awareness to the fashion opportunities available for plus size individuals as well. With a newer generation of more accepting social media users, communities have been established on the Internet to represent fat bodies in a positive light through online fat activism.

Works Cited:

Deborah Lupton (2016) Digital media and body weight, shape, and size: An introduction and review, Fat Studies, 6:2, 119-134, DOI: 10.1080/21604851.2017.1243392

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#Fitspiration and Self-Image

While different media over time have been adding to low body positivity, objectification, mental illness, and eating disorders, no medium has proliferated the issue like social media has.

There are many factors that play into how social media has attributed to low self-image in users. Many studies have proved so, including one done by Hefner et. al (2016) where they found that: “Results showed a significant and positive association between individuals’ use of mobile phone applications and microblogs [Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.] and reports of disordered eating” (8). The #Fitspiration hashtag movement may seem inspiring at first but can be extremely harmful. For example, Instagram accounts like @fitnessgirlmotivation has 5.5 million followers with before and after pictures glorifying extremely skinny women with muscular bodies and low body fat (Deighton-Smith and Bell 2017, 7). The tag #fitspiration has over 14 million posts on Instagram alone, not including the many other popular “fitness” hashtags like #fitspo and even #Thinspiration/#Thinspo.

Social media not only gives power to those wanting to share their fitness stories to help others but also allows for extreme proliferation of a very certain type of body that many do not share. A study done by Robinson et. al (2017) found that: “Although fitness-idealised images aim to inspire positive body image and encourage women to live a ‘healthy lifestyle’,they may not accomplish their intended purpose, instead leading to increased body dissatisfaction” (69). The #Fitspiration movement, proliferated largely by social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter, is doing more harm than actual fitness inspiration according to several studies.

Works Cited:

Deighton-Smith, Nova, & Beth T. Bell. (2017). “Objectifying Fitness: A Content and Thematic Analysis of #Fitspiration Images on Social Media.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1-17.

Hefner, V. et al. (2016). “Mobile exercising and tweeting the pounds away: The use of digital applications and microblogging and their association with disordered eating and compulsive exercise.” Cogent Social Sciences 2, no. 1: 1-11.

Robinson et. al. (2017). “Idealised media images: The effect of fitspiration imagery on body satisfaction and exercise behaviour.” Body Image 22: 65-71.