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Social Connectedness on Instagram: Understanding Young Women’s Experience of Thinspiration and Fitspiration on Instagram
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- Author / Creator
- Herceg, Luciana
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Viewing inspirational content such as Thinspiration and Fitspiration has been found to increase body dissatisfaction, appearance comparisons (Dignard & Jarry, 2020), and negative affect (Griffiths et al., 2019). 85.7% of young social media users use health and fitness-related social media content, with most users accessing Fitspiration-related content as women (Carrotte et al., 2015). Given the increasing role of Instagram in glamorizing eating disorders among its teen users (CNN Wire, 2021), there is a pressing need to investigate how Instagram affects young women in university, an age group overlooked in research studies on engagement of such content. With most studies focusing on adolescence, exploring the impact of Thinspiration and Fitspiration content on Instagram is crucial among this understudied population. The primary purpose of this research is to explore participants’ experiences of viewing and engaging in Thinspiration and Fitspiration content on Instagram and to explore how following and connecting with friends and family on Instagram contribute to participants’ experience of viewing and/or engaging in Thinspiration and Fitspiration content. Using thematic analysis, four superordinate themes emerged: profound ambivalence, pervasive and addicting, negative effects on self and relationships, and critical engagement. The findings suggest that young women who view and engage in Thinspiration and Fitspiration have marked ambivalence towards such content. Future directions for research and counselling in body image and social media are discussed. Finally, limitations of the current study are discussed.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2023
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Education
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.