Fitness|The University of Jyväskylä has studied the reasons why people who enjoy running share their results in a fitness app and on social media.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The study found out runners’ reasons for sharing their performances digitally.
More than a thousand running enthusiasts responded to the survey by assistant professor Pekka Mertala and research doctor Lauri Palsa.
The use of substitute runners was not observed in Finland, but the phenomenon is known in Europe.
Why people share the results of their own runs on social media or the fitness app Strava?
Answer: At least we want to belong to the “tribe of runners”, but for some the reason is frankly egoism.
This is what the assistant professor says Pekka Mertala from the University of Jyväskylä. He is also a research doctor Lauri Palsan studied the technology relationships of sports enthusiasts and the latest study deals with runners’ reasons for using digital technology.
The name of the project is Running With Data.
More than a thousand Finnish runners responded to Mertala and Palsa’s survey. Even more research publications are coming from the material.
However, one thing did not appear in the Finnish study: the use of substitute runners. There has been a lot of buzz about the phenomenon in Europe.
It’s about busy, often business people hiring others to run runs for them. The substitute runner logs into the customer’s account and runs the run while the customer is doing something else.
However, the phenomenon did not surprise the researchers.
“Not surprising in itself. Regardless of whether it is in any area of life, yes [sosiaalisessa mediassa] we try to present ourselves in such a light that we think that this is something to be appreciated and that this is something that people consider to be a great thing,” says Mertala.
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“Kekkonen skis and Kekkonen high jumps. After all, they were goal-oriented actions that were able to show the people that we have a strong leader.”
In Mertala’s opinion, it is the same phenomenon as in idyllic family posts. Taken to the extreme, it’s about staging or, as in running, someone else does the run for someone else.
Although no substitute runners were found in the Finnish study, the reasons for publishing one’s own results are very self-centered for some.
“It flatters their ego, that is, that they are capable of performances that not many necessarily are capable of. By sharing this on social media, you get feedback that ‘whatever you can do with those things, I just could never do it’. It makes you feel good,” says Mertala.
The background can also be the idea of how to appear on social media. A person who does a good running performance may be considered a credible and respected person anyway.
“This is combined with perceptions and beliefs about a person’s comprehensive knowledge and competence.”
It is by no means just a thing brought about by social media. For example, presidents, regardless of their country, have been presented as fitness miracles for ages. A good example is the president Urho Kekkonen.
“Kekkonen skis and Kekkonen high jumps. After all, they were goal-oriented actions that were able to present to the people that we have a strong leader whose fitness and health are sufficient.”
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