Hashtag fitspiration: credibility screening and content analysis of Instagram fitness accounts

"You started working out to get a flat stomach and a fat a$$": A content analysis of fitspiration videos on TikTok

Fitspiration presents idealised bodies to viewers, emphasising a fit ideal to women and a muscular ideal to men. Previous content analyses have focused on images from Instagram, with research yet to examine video content on TikTok or verify the accuracy of the diet and exercise information posted by fitness influencers. This content analysis examined 200 videos from popular TikTok fitspiration hashtags (fitness, fitspo, gymtok, fittok). Two independent coders used a standardised codebook containing definitions and examples for coding. Overall, 78 % of videos showed only women, and 10 % of videos showed only men. Videos of women included both fit and thin idealised bodies, whole body and specific body part objectification, harmful themes, and promoted appearance-related reasons for exercise more frequently than videos containing men. Videos of men included muscular idealised bodies and objectification through face obscurity (excluding the face from view) more frequently than videos of women. Most videos were posted by fitness influencers, and 60 % of videos presented incorrect or harmful information. Findings suggest that fitspiration TikTok content contains characteristics known to negatively impact body image and highlights gendered differences in content themes. Further investigation is required on the promotion of appearance reasons to exercise, and the credibility of information and content creators.

Physical attributes of workout instructors and appearance-related messaging in a sample of home workout videos on YouTube: A content analysis

Given the popularity of home workouts and effects of exposure to media messaging regarding appearance ideals, the purpose of this analysis was to examine the content of YouTube home workout videos. A sample of 298 YouTube home workout videos was coded for demographic factors and body shape of instructors and the presence of body positivity messaging, appearance-related messaging, and other relevant themes. All videos in the sample included detailed instructions and demonstrations of the exercises by instructors. The majority of the videos depicted young White women with low body fat and thin/athletic bodies with visible muscles. Instructors often focused on burning fat/calories but also emphasized body functionality, exercising for fun/enjoyment, and the importance of taking care of one's body. Overall, findings demonstrate that workout instructors on YouTube conformed to unrealistic, narrowly defined appearance ideals present in Western culture, but the messaging in the videos contained many positive and affirming qualities.

#workoutathome: How Instructions in the Captions of Fitfluencers' Posts Impact Adolescents' Body Satisfaction and Intention to Exercise

The present study examines how content of fitfluencers can be employed to improve body satisfaction and intention to exercise among adolescents. Specifically, this experimental study (N = 114 adolescents, age: 16-18) compares the effects of fitfluencer content with instructional captions that contain exercise or workout instructions (as a form of edutainment) with those of self-focused fitfluencer captions that emphasize the fitfluencer's appearance. These two types of captions are found to induce no significant differences in either body satisfaction or intention to exercise. In addition, there were no significant indirect effects via state appearance comparison or self-efficacy. The results do show that less state appearance comparisons increase body satisfaction, and that more self-efficacy increases body satisfaction and intention to exercise. The results suggest that instructions in fitfluencer captions do not differ from self-focused captions in their effects on body satisfaction and intention to exercise among adolescents.