Pin it for Yourself: Women’s Health and Fitness Content on Pinterest
Keywords:
Pinterest, health and fitness, appearanceAbstract
The current study examined content and images in Pinterest’s Health & Fitness category. Unlike women’s magazines, Pinterest content has no editors deciding what content appears; instead, users generate and share content directly with other users. Findings indicated that Pinterest users more frequently see models with more realistic body types, as opposed to the ultra-thin models presented by traditional women’s magazines. Thin models received fewer repins and likes, indicating negative feedback from users on excessively thin models in exercise and health content. Additionally, the majority of content focused on exercise, with a lesser emphasis on recipes and general health. Pinterest may represent a space for women, controlled by women.
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Thompson, J. K., Heinberg, L. J., Altabe, M., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (1999).Exacting beauty: Theory, assessment, and treatment of body image disturbance. American Psychological Association.
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Willis, L. E., & Knobloch-Westerwick, S. (2014). Weighing women down: Messages on weight loss and body shaping in editorial content in popular women's health and fitness magazines. Health communication, 29(4), 323-331.
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Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckman (Eds.), Action-control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11-39). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.
Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Chicago, IL: Dorsey.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), 179-211.
Ajzen, I. (2002). Perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(4), 665-683.
Bergstrom, R. L., & Neighbors, C. (2006). Body image disturbance and the social norms approach: An integrative review of the literature. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25(9), 975-1000.
“Bloated? Hungover? Dull skin? We’ve got the smoothie to cure you.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/508062401684880304/
Conlin, L., & Bissell, K. (2014). Beauty ideals in the checkout aisle: Health-related messages in women’s fashion and fitness magazines. Journal of Magazine and New Media Research, 15(2), 1-19.
Conlin, L., McLemore, D. M., & Rush, R. A. (2014). Pinterest and female sport fans: gaining a foothold in the male-dominated sport world. International Journal of Sport Communication, 7(3), 357-376.
Cusumano, D. L., & Thompson, J. K. (1997). Body image and body shape ideals in magazines: Exposure, awareness, and internalization. Sex roles,37(9), 701-721.
“Design your own yoga tees and tanks.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/164381455125458993/
Duggan, M., & Smith, A. (2013). Social media update 2013. Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Fishbein, M. (1979). A theory of reasoned action: some applications and implications.
“Fitness Friday: 30 day ab and squat challenge.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642288/
“Five functional bike helmets made just for women.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642357/
“Go splits! Nine stretches to get you there.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642284/
Godin, G., & Kok, G. (1996). The theory of planned behavior: a review of its applications to health-related behaviors. American journal of health promotion,11(2), 87-98.
Grogan,S.(1999).Bodyimage:Understandingbodydissatisfactioninmen,womenandchildren. London:Routledge.
Hambrick, M. E., & Kang, S. J. (2014). Pin it: Exploring how professional sports organizations use Pinterest as a communications and relationship-marketing tool. Communication & Sport, 2167479513518044.
“How to use MyFitnessPal.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/myfitnesspal/
“Late-night workout.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642268/
Madden, T. J., Ellen, P. S., & Ajzen, I. (1992). A comparison of the theory of planned behavior and the theory of reasoned action. Personality and social psychology Bulletin, 18(1), 3-9.
Malkin, A. R., Wornian, K., & Chrisler, J. C. (1999). Women and weight: Gendered messages on magazine covers. Sex Roles, 40(7-8), 647-655.
Mittal, S., Gupta, N., Dewan, P., & Kumaraguru, P. (2013). The pin-bang theory: Discovering the pinterest world. arXiv preprint arXiv:1307.4952.
“Natural psoriasis soap.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642308/
Nejad, L. M., Wertheim, E. H., & Greenwood, K. (2005). Comparison of the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior in the prediction of dieting and fasting behavior. Sensoria: A Journal of Mind, Brain & Culture, 1(1), 63-74.
“Nine green smoothie recipes you’ll actually enjoy drinking.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642228/
Ottoni, R., Pesce, J. P., Las Casas, D. B., Franciscani Jr, G., Meira Jr, W., Kumaraguru, P., & Almeida, V. (2013, July). Ladies First: Analyzing Gender Roles and Behaviors in Pinterest. In ICWSM.
Pawlak, R., Brown, D., Meyer, M. K., Connell, C., Yadrick, K., Johnson, J. T., & Blackwell, A. (2008). Theory of planned behavior and multivitamin supplement use in Caucasian college females. The journal of primary prevention, 29(1), 57-71.
“Quick post-workout snacks under 150 calories.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642233/
“Relieve colds and congestion with yoga.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562035228466911302/
Sypeck, M. F., Gray, J. J., & Ahrens, A. H. (2004). No longer just a pretty face: Fashion magazines' depictions of ideal female beauty from 1959 to 1999.International Journal of Eating Disorders, 36(3), 342-347.
“Stop competing with others and start competing with yourself.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914690936/
Tekobbe, C.K. (2013). A site for fresh eyes: Pinterest’s challenge to ‘traditional’ digital literacies. Information, Communication, & Society, 16(3), 381-396. doi: 10.1080/13 69118X.2012.75605
“The best foods for weight loss.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642248/
Thompson, J. K., Heinberg, L. J., Altabe, M., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (1999).Exacting beauty: Theory, assessment, and treatment of body image disturbance. American Psychological Association.
“Ultimate ab workout.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175992297914642279/
Victoria’s Secret Model Workout.” (2015). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/449515606532475639/
Wasylkiw, L., Emms, A. A., Meuse, R., & Poirier, K. F. (2009). Are all models created equal? A content analysis of women in advertisements of fitness versus fashion magazines. Body Image, 6(2), 137-140.
Wilkinson, Z. (2013). Oh, how Pinteresting! An introduction to Pinterest. Library Hi Tech News, 30(1), 1-4.
Willis, L. E., & Knobloch-Westerwick, S. (2014). Weighing women down: Messages on weight loss and body shaping in editorial content in popular women's health and fitness magazines. Health communication, 29(4), 323-331.
Zarro, M., & Hall, C. (2012, June). Pinterest: Social collecting for# linking# using# sharing. In Proceedings of the 12th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital Libraries (pp. 417-418). ACM.
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2016-05-31
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