Social media is incredibly powerful, motivational and inspirational, but it can also have a very negative affect on us.
We recently created video discussing some of these points (see below)
One of the main issues with social media in the fitness realm is the obsession with always being super “healthy” and eating nothing but avocado, quinoa or kale! Obviously there is nothing wrong with these foods, they are all actually quite nutritional, however they are the “in” healthy foods which means it’s all everyone want to post about on Instagram and other social media accounts. So your feed ends up being full or the same type of meals so well presented that it looks like a surgeon put them together!
The problem with these recycled and recreated perfectly arranged meals and pictures is often it makes people feel they have to live this way, eating just these “in” foods in order to fit in. Having this constantly reinforced via images and videos can lead to orthorexia which is an obsession with eating healthy and that in itself is not a healthy way to live.
Life is to be lived and enjoyed, you can one hundred percent still look and feel great while still enjoying food you love that may not be perceived as “healthy” life is about balance.
Fitness on social media has a very powerful affect on viewers as so much of it is obviously about how you look, this leads to an influx of what many would call perfect bodies and physiques. Now while the majority of these people should be commended for their hard work and the way in which they help and inspire others to achieve their goals. Many are more thickle with their approach and often you’re left to feel it’s more about them than their audience and I feel this often makes people, well just feel shit about themselves! We as influencers need to be careful to make sure we are positivity encouraging people rather than negatively making them feel less adequate.
As above the same applies with influencers posting their highlights reel of their life, sure we want our pages to be cheerful and positive but I feel it’s important to also let people know that they have bad days too. Life will always have it’s up’s and downs it’s what gives us contrast and allows our highs to be high and our lows low, without one you can’t have the other. So when you are constantly comparing yourself and your life to the perfect then it’s only going to make you feel less adequate, both sides of the phone need to be aware and consider this. We as creators need to consider how we affect and motivate our viewers and all of us as viewers need to be aware that all is not always as it seems.
Ultimately social media is about being social and bridging the gap between creator and viewer, not distancing it or negatively affecting the viewer.