Fitspiration: How Instagram seduces the youth to the muscle cult

Fitspiration: How Instagram seduces the youth to the muscle cult

In today's digital world, social media are indispensable, and one of the most popular platforms for this is Instagram. This network offers a wealth of content that is often considered inspiring and motivating. Especially the hashtag #fitspiration has prevailed, but what does that really mean and how does it affect users?

If you enter #fitspiration on Instagram, you are literally overwhelmed by pictures of muscular body. Men proudly show their abdominal muscles, while women often stage their buttocks. These images are not only a representation of fitness, they should also serve as an incentive to pursue an active lifestyle and bring the body into shape. But the question remains: what actually happens with the self -image of the audience?

research project of the FH St. Pölten

To get to the bottom of this question, a research project by the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences has examined exactly how fitness influencers affect their followers, especially young people. In a conversation with nutritionist Elisabeth Höld it becomes clear that the influence of such images can be profound and result in various psychological effects.

Höld explains that the representations of "idealized" bodies often set unattainable standards that can lead to a distorted body image among young people. The pressure arises to correspond to this ideal, and this can have negative effects on self -esteem. The hashtag #fitspiration is supposed to have a motivating effect, but also carries the risk that it stirs up pressure and unrealistic expectations.

In today's society, in which physical ideal images are omnipresent, we have to ask ourselves how we can encounter these trends. A conscious examination of the content on social media is essential to promote a healthy self -image and to question the buzzing influence of such images. Further information and views on this topic can be found in the podcast, which is related to this research project.

The phenomenon of idealized body pictures remains a controversial discussion. The consequences that arise from the constant consumption of such content are given special attention. The coordination between fitness and realistic goals could be the key to a healthier handling of social media, as expert Höld emphasizes. It remains to be seen how this debate will develop and what approaches are taken to convey a healthy body awareness.