I try my best to avoid the “Screen Time Tracker” in the Settings app of my phone. Honestly, it makes me feel kinda bad about myself… I don’t even want to know how many hours I spend doom-scrolling on TikTok and Instagram. That said, the other day I forced myself to take a look—and I was completed shocked by the results. Oftentimes I spend up to 5 hours a day on social media, significantly more than the amount of time I spend in class most days—and I didn’t even realize it!!
This realization led me to think more critically about the content that I am consuming, and it became clear that the vast majority is health, lifestyle, and food related. In the words of Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder, am I falling down a rabbit hole of false-productivity, using “GymTok” as a replacement for actual healthy living?
Considering this question, I started to realize that very little of the health content that I was spending so much time consuming was actually helpful, productive, and applicable to my everyday life. Sure, the occasional recipe inspo is helpful, and a gym transformation is inspiring every once in a while—but the hours that I was spending watching girls talk about massaging castor oil into their bellybuttons to reduce bloating (yes, that’s a real thing) or the best mouth tape to use in order to achieve a snatched jawline are just not.
Now I’ll admit, these beauty hacks are an extreme example – but exercise and diet videos can also contribute to unhealthy lifestyle choices. To get a better understanding of this issue, I sent out a survey into my community to see what others think about GymTok and this recent rise of lifestyle influencers.
Some Responses
Of the responses that I received, 78% came from responders that identify as female or non-male between the ages of 18 and 23 years old, and the majority reported to spend 2 to 5 hours a day on social media apps. When asked to open their most-used social media app and record the number of lifestyle/gym/diet related videos that pop up in the first 15 videos after refreshing their feeds, over 50% reported 3 or more videos that fall into those categories.
Furthermore, the vast majority of responders expressed that they weren’t specifically seeking out this kind of content—that it just seemed to pop up. One responder expressed: “I don’t really search for health and lifestyle content, but if it comes up I listen and try to see if the advice would be applicable to me. I have no concern with this kind of content, but I also am not seeking it out.”
Many people seemed to consider this type of content a net positive. One individual expressed that this kind of content gives them “ideas about what to try and what to avoid… [and can be] quite motivating.” Another stated that “I get a lot of videos from people a lot more well off than me so it’s interesting and a little encouraging to see what their lives are like.”
However, many people expressed their concerns towards the impact that this kind of content can have upon impressionable audiences. “Sometimes it’s motivating to eat better or move more,” one responder expressed. “Other times it seems too unrealistic. If there is no ad or promotion connected to the video I’m less skeptical. I concern myself with the videos that seem more beneficial towards my personal life.” Another agreed: “I don’t really use social media as a place to find health related things at all. It concerns me that some of them promote disordered eating in young people.”
In Conclusion
I find myself agreeing with all of these responders. I often find myself captivated by GymTok lifestyle influencers – drawn in by their luxury apartments, stunning closets, perfect lives, perfect bodies. Blinded by this seeming “perfection,” it’s dangerously easy to succumb to the over-consumption and unattainable comparison that they promote. Plus, like I discussed earlier in this article, these videos can easily trap viewers in a cycle of doom-scrolling, distracted by the illusion of productivity that they create.
Only by forming healthy boundaries with this kind of content can one really begin to sustain a healthy life. I am slowly working on building and fortifying mine, and will continue to work hard to do so.