An estimated 4.9 billion people use social media, with reports suggesting users scroll for an average of 2.5 hours each day.
Celebrity and influencer endorsement is a popular means of marketing for wellness products online, often promoting anecdotal evidence to receptive audiences and swaying consumer behaviour.
Is diet a dirty word in your feed?
Dr Gina Cleo is a dietician and world leading expert in habits. She explains how social proof dictates whether people consider behaviour ‘normal’ or ‘desirable’ based on if others are doing it.
“In a way, it shapes our culture, it shapes what we think is acceptable or not.”
She explains social media can be positive for disseminating information, [positive] social norms, visualising results, offering accountability, and further suggests some of the trends and challenges can make people “feel like they’re part of a community.”
However Dr Cleo acknowledges the “dark side” of social media being “the peer pressure, comparing ourselves to others.”
“I do think there’s a promotion of self care, which I really do love about the wellness industry. But I also think [it] over emphasises the idea of clean eating and idealised body sizes.”
Some suggest the wellness industry has been co-opted by diet culture, which comes equipped with its own harmful effects. Dr Cleo believes there’s some merit to the idea of “overlap and similarities” between industries, however wellness encompasses a more holistic approach to lifestyle, like sleep, mindfulness, and emotional wellness.
While wellness in the online space can be difficult to regulate, social media exacerbates the hype around different trends and plays a significant part in the digital age.
Nicolette Harper’s social media following skyrocketed when she lost 40kg and started a business. She made gradual lifestyle and dietary changes after trying a number of ‘quick-fixes’ and fad diets first, to no avail.
“There’s too many people putting information out for people to readily receive without any backing, without any depth to what they are saying. It’s just, ‘Here’s what I think, and you should do it too ‘cause it worked for me’.”
Nicolette explains education is the foundation of her business helping others on their own fitness and wellness journeys, and encourages people to go to “trusted sources…nutritionists, dietitians, people that have studied” food, health, and wellness.
“The first thing I always tell people is do your research. Is that fat burner going to work because someone who studied it said it [will] and they’ve got proof? Or does the label say it’s going to work because they’re trying to make money from it?”
Online spaces provide a vast opportunity for wellness, impacting the consumer market at a global rate with near immediacy. The dangers of social media lie in its ability to normalise potentially harmful behaviours, which go beyond the scope of the wellness industry. One study highlighted the likelihood of women aged 18-35 accepting health advice from social media the same as they would from that of public health communicators.
Though it’s well-known we’re more inclined to post our best selves, or only the ‘good’, users can internalise what they view online, holding themselves to a standard perceived or idealised in comparison.
For Nicolette, who’d gotten used to keeping up appearances online, she would reflect on her posts —of eating healthy, exercising, enjoying holidays— and think “what a lie, what a joke,” she admits.
“In my life, there was hospital trips, tears, sickness, there was so much financial stress, everything was going on underneath, but on the Instagram feed, everything looked great.” She said seeing people “beat themselves up” in comparison motivated her to share more of the reality of her story.
“‘Hey, I’ve got my period this week and I’m so bloated’…Like ‘I got three hours of sleep last night because I have a baby. Mums, I get you, you’re not going to look perfect everyday.’
“That’s just the reality of life. But social media pretty much took that away.”
“I think the wellness industry, in a way, is trying to sell us this ideal of happiness. ‘If you do this, everything in your life is going to fall into place and you’re going to be your best self’. And I’m sure there’s elements or tiny bits of truth in that, but I think it’s also an illusion.”
Where do we go from here?
Researchers note the paradoxical relationship between social media and health or wellbeing related initiatives, resources, and products being promoted on such platforms.
E-commerce continues to soar in health and wellness spaces and while online trends come and go, there’s no doubt social media will remain prevalent and pervasive and at the tips of our fingers.
Amidst the positives of social media, Dr Cleo suggests how to stay cognisant and not immediately subscribe to everything you see online.
“Self awareness is very important. Deeply understanding ourselves, our values, our goals, what makes us happy.” She also suggests paying attention to our own body’s signals, emotions, and needs.
“And I think that’s the importance, as well, of intrinsic motivation—wanting to do something because you want to do it for yourself and you have your own personal reasons for it, rather than doing something because everyone else is doing it, or because this influencer or social media person said that it was a good idea.”
“What does it actually mean to follow someone? You follow their teachings, you follow their belief systems. And if you’re following people on social media, but you don’t align with their teachings, then what does that mean for you as a person?”
We’ve grown accustomed to using social media and adopted it into so many aspects of our lives. As Dr Cleo explains, habits and addictions, while embodying similar characteristics of repeated behaviour, differ in the level of control we have over them, and how much they impact our lives. If picking up our phone has become a subconscious behaviour, especially in a state of idealising growth and progression in the pursuit of being ‘well’, then self-awareness is key in normalising everything else.
“Listening to our bodies because life is full of ebbs and flows,” she says.
“And I would really love to see more promotion of self acceptance and body positivity and a focus on overall health rather than perfectionism—in any of the industries.”
