Recommending Physical Activity During the COVID-19 Health Crisis. Fitness Influencers on Instagram

Abstract

Fitness content creators on Instagram used the COVID-19 lockdown period to strongly and frequently recommend physical activity to their followers. These individuals are not professional fitness trainers and their Instagram activity consisted of sharing images that were more about the staging of their bodies than about educational content. However, when fitness clubs in France were forced to close in March 2020 following the government's decision to restrict non-essential movement and activities, influencers changed the images they shared daily to promote fitness training that could be done at home. In comparison, this study also analyses the case of a chain of fitness clubs which offered live fitness sessions online via its Instagram account, in order to manage the repercussions of the forced closure of its establishments. This article reveals some consequences of the temporary lockdown of the fitness training industry in France and questions the new dynamic of online fitness recommendations that was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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