On Twitter and Instagram a Hashtag (#) turns any word or group of words that directly follow it into a searchable link. This allows you to organize content and track discussion topics based on those keywords. So if you wanted to post about the Bachelor In Paradise finale, you would include #bachelorinparadise in your tweet to join the conversation, or to view other posts you would type it into the search bar. Recently I was doing some research to find out what the most common hashtags for sharing fitness posts were and most of the results were more or less what you’d expect:
#fitness #fit #healthy #eatclean #hardwork #gym #fitspiration #dedicated #motivation #inspiration #instagood #instamood #statigram #iphonesia #igers #instadaily #tweegram #instagramhub #twelveskip #follow #bestoftheday #iphoneonly #igdaily #picstitch #followme #webstagram #jj #picoftheday
However, some of the results were very objectifying and not what I would think of as fitness focused at all. Then a #Fitness search on Instagram brought up a screen of both men and women who were clearly not wearing fitness attire, or really much at all. I am late to the social media game, the internet did not become popular until years after college so some of the trends are lost on me. Not that young people (all people) have not sought attention for the way they look but back in my day it was localized, and the instant gratification of a like or comment wasn’t present in the thousands. It seems as though social media is creating a more visual, more competitive body image environment for young people or really anyone who is looking at themselves through the lens of a smart phone.
Recently, the Royal Society For Public Health did a study called #StatusOfMind on young people and the influence of social media on their mental health. One of the findings was that “there are 10 million new photographs uploaded to Facebook alone every hour, providing an almost endless potential for young women to be drawn into appearance-based comparisons whilst online. Studies have shown that when young girls and women in their teens and early twenties view Facebook for only a short period of time, body image concerns are higher compared to non-users.” Some other findings were increases in anxiety and depression, loss of sleep and an increase in cyber-bullying. Despite that it wasn’t all bad news, the study also found that social media can be an effective platform for positive self expression and community building, a way to reach out in an emotional crisis and share health experiences and information.
The internet and social media are not going anywhere, in fact in the next 5 years it will probably only become more influential and widely used. As women, parents and people, we have the opportunity to shape the trajectory of what that will look like for the next generation. SHIFT is an acronym for Shaping How I Feel Today and is built on a community of people who support each other in their fitness, health and life goals. So next time you post a fitness selfie use #SHIFT to extend our community of acceptance into social media!
