Negative body talk as an outcome of friends’ fitness posts on social networking sites: body surveillance and social comparison as potential moderators

ABSTRACT

A sample of 488 male and female young adults completed an online survey in effort to explore whether social networking sites (SNSs) are a way in which sociocultural influences regarding body image are propagated. Negative body talk was predicted as an outcome to frequent exposure to friends’ fitness posts (e.g. pictures and status updates about working out, fitness inspiration quotations/images, etc.); we also explored whether this relationship was moderated by body surveillance and social comparison. Results revealed that friends’ fitness posts were positively associated with negative body talk, and this relationship was strongest for individuals who reported a higher tendency to compare themselves to others – even after controlling for body satisfaction, healthy eating and exercise behaviors, and frequency of SNS use.

KEYWORDS:

• Social networking sites
• fitness posts
• negative body talk
• social comparison
• body surveillance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.