Fitspiration and Social Media

Adolescence is a key period for developing ideas and expectations related to health behaviours and body image, and social media can influence these ideas.

Objective

Social media is filled with content related to dieting, fitness and health, including ‘fitspiration’ – content which aims to inspire people to be fit and healthy.

However, fitspiration has received significant media attention for sometimes containing objectifying and inaccurate health messages, praising thinness and focusing on appearance rather than healthy behaviours.

Emerging research indicates that fitspiration may influence people in negative ways.

Our research around fitspiration and social media aims to:

• identify the characteristics of people who like or follow fitspiration and related content on social media
• describe the messages portrayed by fitspiration and related content
• explore opportunities for reducing harmful impacts of fitspiration.

Timeline

2015–2018.