Critical consumers: How do young women with high autonomous motivation for exercise navigate fitness social media?

Abstract

Fitness content on social media (FSM) is now ubiquitous across society. Despite its potential to improve the low levels of physical activity (PA) often seen in young women, FSM can have negative effects on mental wellbeing (particularly around heightening body concerns) and be a source of misinformation. Yet for some young women, engaging with FSM appears not to be detrimental to their wellbeing. We purposively recruited nine young women who were frequent users of FSM (M age = 25 years) and demonstrated a high autonomous motivation for exercise (which suggested a preserved mental wellbeing in the context of exercise). Participants were interviewed about their experiences of using FSM, including how they felt it impacted their exercise motivation and behaviour, as well as how to engage with FSM in a “healthy” way. Data were thematically analysed to generate three overarching themes: 1) FSM can motivate and demotivate me, 2) FSM is a harmful environment and 3) to protect yourself you need to be a critical FSM consumer. Whilst these individuals recognised the dangers of FSM, they appeared to be well-equipped to protect themselves from its maladaptive influences and made practical suggestions for navigating the FSM environment in a “healthy” way.