Everybody strives to live an active lifestyle. It may be a brisk walk or a hot yoga class, but nevertheless exercise is a focus for a large part of society. When media was established, this necessity grew exponentially, creating jobs for the experts in this field, also known as influencers.
Fitness gurus have ruled the centuries in the media. From the famous Billy Banks in the 90s to 2020’s Blogilates, the workout saga has only been on the rise.
What happens, however, when the narrative could be twisted? Or when a weight loss pill comes into the circuit? Are these perceived lifesavers truly saving lives?
During the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020, the world needed some extra motivation more than any time before. With quarantine restrictions and the closure of gyms globally, the influx of virtual fitness influencers became a reliance for more than half of the population.
This new era also brought speculation and criticism towards the increase of workout posts. In turn, “cancel culture” grew, and various influencers fell with it.
The Chloe Ting Craze
Chloe Ting was to be one of them. Ting was prominent for her viral “2 Week Shred” program, where she guaranteed abs and a toned boy in less than 14 days. Her 2020 tutorial to begin her program gained Ting 38 million views on YouTube and subsequently 29.5 million subscribers on the video app.
As more and more influencers came into the picture, Ting’s popularity and fandom was slowly being thrown in the fire, with hundreds of people taking to their screens explaining how Ting’s workouts do not work and are unattainable.
Ting averaged around 50-55 million views for her workouts from 2020 to 2022. Today, her most recent video, released four months ago, has 405 thousand views, a drastic decrease from her initial 38-55 million views daily.
Three students shared their insights and experiences involving exercise culture and the media, as well as discussed their thoughts on weight loss drugs and whether there should be a need for transparency in the public realm.
Student Insights
Ishita Kottakota is a second year Management Informations System at San Jose State University. Kottakota consumes most of her media off of Instagram and Snapchat. Considering herself an active person, Kottakota watched many workout shorts and exercise tutorials for help with building muscle and establishing a routine.
When inquiring about her views on fitness influencers as a whole and their reliability, Kottakota said “The people who do influence are already in a really fit body shape, you don’t know if that was the same workout that they’ve done for their body.”
She continues to explain the importance of doing separate research outside of following a video.
Sanjan Suda is a student at San Jose State University majoring in graphic design. She regards herself as both an active and stationary person this semester, but has utilized influencers like MadFit for inspiration in her fitness journey.
Though a few of her favorite creators guided her through her routine, Suda describes how skewed she feels the community is online. She explains that she has never seen drastic results and changes, which is why she is learning to do her own research similarly to Kottakota as she believes that every body requires a different regimen.
Weight Loss Drugs on the Rise
In the past few years as well, a larger number of prescription and over the counter drugs have been used to treat weight loss and allow people to maintain their body goals. Ozempic has become a popular drug in the media today.
Ozempic is a drug that was initially used to treat type two diabetes, but later became widely utilized as a way to lose a large amount of body fat in a small amount of time.
Though the drug is often talked about, media consumers have argued that there isn’t enough transparency in “getting work done” on the internet, specifically for these fitness influencers.
One of these media consumers is a second year college student majoring in business with a concentration in management information systems. The student considers exercise therapeutic and stress relieving, partaking in weight lifting and cardio on a daily basis.
She was previously influenced by Blogilates, a widely known fitness influencer with a growing apparel brand featured on famous celebrities like Taylor Swift.
When asked about Ozempic and potential claims of false transparency, the student said “Some people rely on Ozempic to lose weight. If they’re [influencers] saying they worked out or had a strict diet, it’s false.”
She touches on how this could be damaging to college students’ mental health and people in general, as she believes it creates a skewed narrative of the weight loss process.
Suda responded differently. After a discussion around the drug came up and the question of whether an influencer should say they have taken Ozempic or any kind of pill on top of their workouts, she said “Yes, they should care about their audience, but it’s also similar to giving the secret ingredient in a recipe. Not everyone wants to do that”.
The question still looms in the minds of consumers each day. Chloe Ting may have fallen, however there is still a high following of creators similar to her.
The future of the fitness community and its transparency is only in the hands of the future and how it is shaped by the reels the world scrolls through each and every day.
Who would you trust with your health and yoga mat? Let us know @HerCampusSJSU!