For this blog post, I have chosen to explore the influence of social media on individuals who go to the gym.

I am a person who is heavily influenced by social media and the appearance of celebrities and friends. When scrolling through Instagram I always find myself looking at celebrities on the beach and friends posting throwback images of their summer bodies. This is a huge motivation for me to go to the gym as I want to be able to look like one of those people.

This week at the gym I decided to find out what motivates other people to work out and improve their fitness. In order to do this, I asked a small group of girls what their motivations and goals are and who they wish they could look like.

A girl named Lucy, aged 21 said: “I’d love to look like Emily Ratajkowski, I think she’s stunning.” I then asked Lucy how she stays motivated to achieve this and she said that she follows Emily on Snapchat and Instagram and it easy not to stray from her goals as Emily posts regularly. Other girls in the group had similar opinions and also have said they follow ‘fitness girls’ on Instagram, who post tips on beneficial exercises and healthy eating, as well as pictures of themselves in sports-wear and bikinis.

Social media re-emphasises the inequalities of people and networking sites offer a mediated perception of reality. The endless creative potential of social networking sites that is mobile and interactive presents a mythic world. This opinion furthers my views that individuals try to achieve the unattainable figure that social networking provides. (Curran et al. 2012)

Bibliography:

Curran, J. Fenton, N. Freedman, D. (2012). Misunderstanding the internet. Routledge, pp.123-137.