Has social media ruined bodybuilding?

buck · Dec 17, 2018

PYGMY said:
I don’t know if it’s ruined bodybuilding. But it’s certainly made anyone who’s been hitting the gym and meal planning for a year think that they’re some kind of fitness expert or pro. Six months into training and dieting and all of a sudden their entire page is #gains #squats #doyoueventrainbro #shutupandlift.

Nothing new there. I have been going to the gym for decades and as soon as a guy works out for awhile and reads something( it used to be magazines) they think they are a personal trainer.

jeroendebleser · Dec 17, 2018

This is my study domain at the moment (mediapsychology) and I can tell you from the research about social media in general (unrelated to bodybuilding obviously): it's mostly not positive. Lots of social media induced loneliness, socially popular people get more popular (since they are better at promoting themselves) while unpopular people get even more unpopular, lots of social media-induced depression and suicidal thoughts (passively using social media to follow other people is seriously depressing, just so you know

), cyberbullying is rampant among kids and even among adults, ... Most of the time when there is talk of narcissism, it's about people updating their profiles with exercise- or diet-routines they're following.

It's not all bad though but in general the scientific verdict on social media is not positive and this should come as no surprise. It's heaven for the empty-headed narcissists, posting all days about their meaningless accomplishments, getting actual likes for it.

nothuman · Dec 17, 2018

jeroendebleser said:
This is my study domain at the moment (mediapsychology) and I can tell you from the research about social media in general (unrelated to bodybuilding obviously): it's mostly not positive. Lots of social media induced loneliness, socially popular people get more popular (since they are better at promoting themselves) while unpopular people get even more unpopular, lots of social media-induced depression and suicidal thoughts (passively using social media to follow other people is seriously depressing, just so you know ), cyberbullying is rampant among kids and even among adults, ... Most of the time when there is talk of narcissism, it's about people updating their profiles with exercise- or diet-routines they're following.

It's not all bad though but in general the scientific verdict on social media is not positive and this should come as no surprise. It's heaven for the empty-headed narcissists, posting all days about their meaningless accomplishments, getting actual likes for it.

Spot on 100%

What's crazy is years ago, people were complaining when social media was just Facebook and you only followed your friends. So much more intimate and better that way. I really miss the Facebook only days.

FK86 · Dec 17, 2018

nothuman said:
If Twitter were deleted forever, that would be a terrific thing.

Instagram first. It's reduced attention spans and amplified impatience. Nobody can fucken read anymore. It has to be instantaneous and a picture is just that.

nothuman said:
What's crazy is years ago, people were complaining when social media was just Facebook and you only followed your friends. So much more intimate and better that way. I really miss the Facebook only days.

I grew up as a teenager on ICQ and then MSN Messenger. Those were good forms of social media. All you could do was chat and you could only have contacts of people you actually knew. I can recall having many in-depth, important conversations with friends from my past. If they discussed a topic I wasn't familiar with I'd open a browser and start reading. Conversing, researching, and learning. I feel I got to know some people on a deeper level as you could discuss things you might not want to in a classroom with people overhearing.

Facebook was the beginning of the end. The wall post eliminated being interactive with one another. You could view things and ignore them. Or you could "like" them. Conversations became more and more rare. Then it snowballed into an endless circle jerk of one-upsmanship by insecure people who seek validation from others to get through their day. It's all become my weekend, wedding, party, vacation etc is better than yours. Girls especially, started having thousand of friends on facebook. Could they name 50 of them? No. It's because they approve every friend request from every asshole that hit on them at a bar and it makes them feel good.

I deleted facebook two years ago and it was a great decision. I really think it can be psychologically overwhelming when everyone is just constantly comparing themselves to one another. You become obsessive of how you're living your life and if you should be living it like that person you follow online.

https://zenpencils.com/comic/129-marc-maron-the-social-media-generation/

nothuman · Dec 17, 2018

FK86 said:
Instagram first. It's reduced attention spans and amplified impatience. Nobody can fucken read anymore. It has to be instantaneous and a picture is just that.

I grew up as a teenager on ICQ and then MSN Messenger. Those were good forms of social media. All you could do was chat and you could only have contacts of people you actually knew. I can recall having many in-depth, important conversations with friends from my past. If they discussed a topic I wasn't familiar with I'd open a browser and start reading. Conversing, researching, and learning. I feel I got to know some people on a deeper level as you could discuss things you might not want to in a classroom with people overhearing.

Facebook was the beginning of the end. The wall post eliminated being interactive with one another. You could view things and ignore them. Or you could "like" them. Conversations became more and more rare. Then it snowballed into an endless circle jerk of one-upsmanship by insecure people who seek validation from others to get through their day. It's all become my weekend, wedding, party, vacation etc is better than yours. Girls especially, started having thousand of friends on facebook. Could they name 50 of them? No. It's because they approve every friend request from every asshole that hit on them at a bar and it makes them feel good.

I deleted facebook two years ago and it was a great decision. I really think it can be psychologically overwhelming when everyone is just constantly comparing themselves to one another. You become obsessive of how you're living your life and if you should be living it like that person you follow online.

https://zenpencils.com/comic/129-marc-maron-the-social-media-generation/

I mean Facebook circa 2010 or so, before the like button and before public comments were allowed on public articles. When it was just friends, you could post a status update, a picture, and that's about it. That was perfect.

PYGMY · Dec 17, 2018

buck said:
Nothing new there. I have been going to the gym for decades and as soon as a guy works out for awhile and reads something( it used to be magazines) they think they are a personal trainer.

Yeah, but back then there were no selfies, social media feeds and hashtags.