SOCIAL MEDIA

For those of you that don’t already know I’m not a big fan of social media. Pretty much despise it. Yes I have Facebook and Instagram accounts but I use them sparingly. I’ll put up the odd post but to be honest there’s so many better things I prefer to do than get distracted by it all.

By the way, 1 out of every 7 people on the planet has Facebook. Crazy stat!

I can see how it serves a purpose for a lot of people though. It keeps us connected, gives us the ability to express ourselves, increases business productivity, creates entertainment and educates us.

Instagram has also taken off over the last few years and now many believe it’s rivalling Facebook for the most popular social media platform going around. Even though it’s a different model, Instagram still gives users the ability to connect and share with others and it too is a massive marketing tool for business.

There’s no denying that these platforms and technology as a whole are creating easier, faster, more convenient ways of living and interacting – and it’s obviously here to stay.

Still for me personally, social media isn’t really something i’ve ever been comfortable with – as I alluded to earlier. Obviously having a business of my own it’s now a necessity and I have no choice but to engage in it but it’s pretty much where my use for it stops and I’m gonna jump in and have my say as to why.

Ps. Just a little heads up there’s a bit of a rant coming so you may wanna take a seat and strap yourself in. I’m one of those guys that if I feel passionate enough about something I’ll say what needs to be said. Even if it ruffles a few feathers.

Ok here we go.

I’m gonna start by talking about a huge trend becoming prevalent these days in the fitness industry that really grinds my gears and it all revolves around one term.

The term – Influencer

Or to be more specific – female fitness influencers on social media.

Now call me sexist if you want I don’t care. There are male influencers out there too but hands down the majority of piss takers floating around at the moment have vaginas.

You know the ones that are scantily clad in ALL of their pics promoting weight loss products, nutritional advice, meal plans, detox strategies, proven workouts to strip body fat and whatever the fuck they want to sell as they are easy on the eye. These are the same people that haven’t lifted a weight in their life, don’t even know how to spell cardio and usually have all the drugs, junk food, Botox, fillers and surgery they can get their hands on.

Now before I go any further there are obviously peeps out there using social media for business, doing the right thing and going about it in the right way. Morally and ethically.

However it’s the ones that aren’t that I want to touch on here so I’ll share an example of what I’m talking about.

I recently called out one of these ‘influencers’ after she posted up a heavily filtered pic of her and her 4 year old daughter playing in the garden.

To paint the picture – this bird posts pics 99.9% of the time of her wearing next to nothing in order to show off her rig and create some attention around the products she wants to sell. Sex sells as some would say and she clearly has jumped on the wagon.

Anyway back to this recent pic she posted. Her and her daughter were playing on the grass with the sprinklers on. She was in her bikini (like most of her pics) and her daughter had a cute little one piece on. She was smiling and looked a million bucks as her child’s face was scrunched up getting sprayed in the face by the sprinkler.

Now on face value a lot of people would think – Oh my god this is adorable you guys are so cute together.

However, besides the fact the most important thing was she ‘looked good’ (after a couple of filter adjustments of course) there was no real care as to what her daughter looked like. But it was the text that accompanied the post that really got me wound up.

This is word for word mind you.

She writes….

‘’It frightens me how many conversations I have with my 4yo daughter about the items of clothing she thinks she needs to wear in order for her to look more beautiful. Even though I aim to be a glass half full kind of girl, I still tend to worry it won’t be long before her mentality shifts to picking apart her body in one way or another. We may have little control over the media our kids are exposed to, but we do have control over what happens at home, from the dialogue we use towards ourselves and others, accepting compliments positively, the TV shows we watch, the books we read, the toys we buy and so forth…’’

Hang on a second what??

This chicks instagram page is absolutely FULL of filtered pics of her in next to nothing showing pretty much everything but her hoo-ha and she then says it frightens her when her daughter is concerned about looking pretty enough.

Are you fucking kidding me or what? I wonder why mate. All you do every day is promote a fake, filtered version of yourself that revolves around what you look like. How do you think your daughter is going to respond?

She then says we may have little control over the media our kids are exposed to.

Uhhhhh sooooo you don’t think the fact you’re putting your body on show for everyone because you’re so obsessed with yourself and have your head so far stuck up your arse isn’t contributing to this? You’re totally contradicting yourself!

Your whole life is based around you posting half naked pics all for people to tell you how amazing you look. Because that’s the most important thing right? Makes heaps of sense!

This poor little girl is a product of the environment she is getting brought up in. Her mother has a huge influence on how she thinks about things and posting the pics she does is certainly not helping.

But that’s ok as long as she is getting a few thousand likes and her ego is inflated for a minute or two it’s all worth it right?

I’m sorry but in my humble opinion you are a selfish cow.

This is an all too common example and one that really pisses me off as there’s an innocent and harmless child involved and it’s not on. If you want to influence adults on these social media platforms, promote yourself and suck people in with your bullshit detox crap then good luck to ya. Funny thing is a lot of us are dumb enough to get sucked in by it (which is why there’s so many around) but when it comes to little children being affected – that’s crossing the line. Especially your own daughter.

Makes me sick.

Ok rant over…. I think. Although there’s still more I want to get off my chest in regards to my thoughts on social media in general so bare with me….

One of the many things I’m grateful for is that I grew up in an age without social media. I don’t even think I had a mobile phone until I was 21 or 22. Having access to anything and everything with the click of a button was non existent back then and as a result I learnt some important life skills.

You see… Making the transition from adolescence to early adulthood can be extremely challenging and confronting. As well as more responsibilities and pressures we’re not used to its the first real stage of our lives where we discover passions, instil beliefs and create an identity for ourselves.

We are impressionable, vulnerable and want to fit in. We seek validation, acceptance and want to be loved.

Today with ever increasing pressures to be validated by society we now have the ability to turn to Facebook and Instagram to showcase what we have to offer the world. It’s our chance to give the impression we are successful and therefore accepted.

This is where I believe social media is being used for the wrong reasons and having a negative impact especially on our younger generation.

For me it’s creating a value based culture that is totally warped.

I think it’s great to share life experiences, milestones and achievements and social media facilitates this. Although I often feel when it comes to this people have a hidden agenda and it all reverts back to one addictive trait.

Feeding the ego.

Posting selfies – Posting attention seeking status updates – Making sure I’m seen at all the ‘supposedly fashionable’ restaurants by tagging or taking photos of what I’m about to eat – Making sure everyone sees my expensive new clothes – How cool my job is – How rich I am – How much weight I’ve lost – How good I look in my bikini etc etc… The list goes on.

We’ve become self obsessed, narcissistic, aesthetic people that have to edit ourselves to ‘fit in.’ We put more value on how many followers, friends and likes we have than doing things for others and making meaningful connections to others.

Further to that being rewarded in a public forum for promoting a filtered version of you is an extremely toxic space to get caught up in and one that I see daily as part of my job.

Because being in everyone else’s business with the click of a button is so easy, constant comparisons are always going to be made between individuals on extremely materialistic levels. It does nothing but create self consciousness, anxiety, segregation and ultimately depression in some and the example I mentioned before is testament to that.

I once read a quote that said…

”Nothing brings you greater peace than minding your own business”

How true this is. It’s something I like to live by today and a major reason I stay away from social media platforms as much as possible.

A huge focus of mine as a PT is to coach and instil beliefs in anyone I come in contact with that there is a difference between pleasure and happiness.

Outside sources of validation although they seem motivating at the time are only fleeting forms of pleasure. Real happiness and fulfilment come from within.

Sounds corny yes! But there are way too many people these days on planet vanity and social media ‘influencers’ are at the top of the list! God that term makes me want to vomit.

Don’t get me wrong Facebook and Instagram can be great tools and by all means post, share and tag the shit out of whatever you’re doing – have fun doing it too!

Just be really really careful of falling into the trap of constantly chasing acceptance from others or base your success through it as you’ll find you’ll be in a forever state of unfulfilment. Not to mention the impact chasing these things can have on the closest people to you.

Ok I’m done.

I hope I got my point across. Thanks for listening.

‘’If you have a body, we can help you’’

Ben
Infinite Fitness Peninsula