Week 4: Strava- The Contagious fitness app

 Strava, the contagious fitness app!

There is no denying that exercise is socially contagious especially when supported by online social networks designed to glorify and underline its benefits. With the digital world morphing into our everyday lives, it was only a matter of time before we started to see fitness bedevilled by social media gratification.

Since its debut in 2009, Strava has become a prominent fitness tracking app allowing users to build a social network focused on fitness. Amongst the temporary closure of gyms as of 2020, Strava has captured a growing market of fitness enthusiasts who are seeking an alternative ways to stay motivated and active.  

So what is Strava? 

Strava (Swedish word for strive), was created as a social network that tracks a plethora of exercise regimes using a GPS system which can be used to share activities amongst the users community. Like Instagram, Strava features a following system whereby, you can follow and share your achievements by building a virtual community with like-minded athletes. With an average of 11 million activities lodged each week, Strava is cementing its position as the epicenter of social exercise. 

But what makes Strava so remarkable? 

What makes Strava so compelling is that it is unlike any other fitness app as it encompasses a range of different activities in one app . Its segmented features allow users to be displayed on a leaderboard inspiring competition and allowing the user to see how they are performing in that particular scope against both friends or strangers. With athletes no longer able to compete with each other in the physical world, many are turning to the app for its social benefits that highlight the physical achievements of highly competitive individuals. Ultimately this medium has digitised the fitness community and acts as a status symbol; celebrating those who  can go faster or longer whilst enabling a discussion space for likeminded fitness enthusiasts.    

This concept of sharing your achievements with like-minded fitness fanatics has allowed some users to achieve a cult like following and been a life changing tool for those individuals seeking to build relationships and share their journey with a passionate audience.  Each post has the opportunity to tell a brief summary or 'story', keeping content fresh and subscribers engaged.

Though this intense devotion to Strava may seem harmless and often funny, the question becomes:  can a site dedicated to building relationships around health and fitness become a source of real pain as well as pride? 

like any social networking platform, Strava and all its prospective glory has its pitfalls. Many users are beginning to question whether the liberty of exercising is being diminished by the constant need to document our every move. Prompting many users to ask 'if its not on Strava, did it really happen? An addicted person might manifest a compulsive attitude through seeking constant gratification from their peers, willing to push themselves beyond their physical capacity to gain the social currency.  

 

Therefore I ask, do you think Strava creates a positive mentality towards exercise through 'healthy competition' or is it just another platform created for social gratification that could be harmful to users in the long term?