‘Fitspo’ is a culture that has risen with the expansion of digital and social media. ‘Fitspo’ is a term short for ‘Fitspiration’. The concept of ‘Fitspiration’ is online profiles promoting healthy living in the attempt to inspire their audience. ‘Fitspo’ personas post content online including workouts, clean eating and daily life in an attempt to gain a following and inspire others. The concept of ‘Fitspo’ has boomed over the last five years, especially through the platform of Instagram. In a society where people are spending more and more time in front of screens, fitness moguls are becoming increasingly present in young people’s online feed.
‘Fitspo’ personas promote healthy, happy, ‘perfect’ life…. but does this create a notion of disbelief among audiences? Has promoting inspiration become so curated that ‘Fitspo’ is loosing its integrity?

Instagram profile of famous fitness moguls.
Ashy Bines, Sophie Guidolin, Tammy Hembrew and Khloe Kardashian, just to name a few. Influencers of behaviour, attitude and actions, promoting a healthy lifestyle and workout programs. We have access to fitness moguls through the internet and social media platforms such as Instagram, but we can only interact with this content when we’re in front of a screen….
Ironic? Yes.
Bad? Not necessarily.
Through my investigation I intend to uncover the extent to which ‘Fitspo’ personas influence the actions and behaviours of their audience. I intend to investigate whether fitness models on social media prompt audiences to put down their devices in order to go exercise or whether they just make their audiences spite health trends due to unrealistic body expectations.
This project will assess the effect of media, audience and place. I personally have experienced the influence of ‘Fitspo’ personas and will conduct an ethnographic study by completing fitness classes and assessing the effect of a different media, audience and place on overall inspiration and attitude.
One factor I will consider in my investigation is ethics, through which I will adhere to the MEAA Code. The MEAA code is a set of practices to be used by researches that ensure research is conducted ethically. In my investigation, it is especially important that I remain unbiased when interpreting findings and that I am conscious of differing opinions between genders. To find more information on the MEAA code of ethics, see here.
To see examples of fitness inspirations and information on ‘Fitspo’, see the links below:
- https://www.instagram.com/ashybines/?hl=en
- https://www.instagram.com/sophie_guidolin/?hl=en
- https://www.instagram.com/tammyhembrow/?hl=en
- http://theconversation.com/why-the-fitspo-movement-is-damaging-to-women-60453
- http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/11/what-do-all-those-fitspo-hashtags-actually-mean-6568305/
Until next time, that’s this week Pinned.
Emma.