Sharing workout results through social media boosts performance

Study examines how social media affects sports outcomes
Regular sport is good for human health. Motivation is undoubtedly crucial to whether we exercise enough sport or not. Researchers have now discovered that the competitive nature of human beings makes the exchange of workout outcomes on so-called social media platforms an incentive to engage in sports activities.

Researchers at the internationally acclaimed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found in an investigation that results from workouts published on social media platforms may lead us to become more sport-motivated. The scientists published the results of their study in the journal Nature Communications.

Many people use sports apps and so-called technical gadgets. This will, among other things, share the results of workouts with friends through social media platforms. Researchers are now exploring whether these shared results motivate friends to do more sport as well. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com)

More sports through social media?
At the present time, many people share their preferences and achievements through social media platforms. Whether it's pictures of the food or results obtained during the workout, everything is shared with friends. Can the exchange of workout results make us better motivated and therefore more active? Experts tried to answer exactly this question in their study.

Social media motivates to more sport
The researchers found in their investigation that the shared physical activity on social media platforms quite motivated. These results are, so to speak, socially contagious. Individuals are motivated to do sports longer or harder, the doctors say.

Researchers are studying data from 1.1 million runners for their study
For the study, the scientists followed the exercise patterns of 1.1 million runners over a five-year period. They pay particular attention to the geographic location, social networking and daily patterns of each participating person, explain the researchers. In addition, the daily distance, the duration, the pace and the calories burned were taken into account, the experts add.

Effects of sharing the run results
The researchers concluded from the findings that sharing personal data on social media platforms can motivate people to do more sport. For example, an additional mileage run by friends could cause people to keep walking themselves. Ten minutes more sport from friends, for example, causes friends to run a total of three minutes longer that day, the authors explain.

Men benefit particularly strongly
The data found particularly affect men because they are motivated by both sexes. By contrast, women are only influenced by the results of other women, experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology explain.

Comparisons on social media lead to improved performance
The data also showed that runners tended to compare with experienced individuals. This is how they promote personal improvement. However, established runners also benefit from motivation by comparing them with slower runners. This is due to the fact that the better runners want to get the superiority over the slower friends, the researchers say.

82 percent of runners use wearable technology or fitness apps
While these findings are interesting, they are limited by the fact that they only apply to runners with a form of wearable technique or use some form of fitness tracking app. This affects about 82 percent of athletes, the authors add. (As)