The Age of the Influencers!
Influencers
The Age of the Influencers!
A decade back there was no concept of “Influencers”; today it is almost a mainstream occupation.
From electronic gadgets to food, social media influencing is a reality.
A reality which we all have to accept. Before the age of social media and video phones, people actually needed to achieve something to be on screen- today all you need is a phone and internet connection and voila- you can cause a sensation- sensible or foolish but a sensation nonetheless.
Fitness industry also has its share of social media influencers who talk about various topics including but not limited to fat loss, muscle building or improving performance. While I am all for freedom of expression and the right to voice whatever one feels, sometimes I just wonder at the amount of misinformation being spread in the name of facts.
People spend 15-18 years of education to earn a degree, spent countless hours of research; and a young wannabe kid with rudimentary high school level education dish out utter nonsense- no credible science to back their claims, they rely on optics and bro science- and the sad reality is that millions of people consume it on an everyday basis.
“The industry, the advertisements, the cacophony of falsehood is not going to change. What you can do to minimize the damage, is being mindful. Think research or take the help of a professional you trust before making decisions on matters of health and fitness. This might be the best chance you have as you navigate the murky waters of modern day business.”
Same is the situation with misleading advertisements of “health products”; products with tall claims to cleanse your system or heal your body, take away chronic pain or give you the strength of a superhuman. Consumer forums and advertisement protocols do exist to keep a check on such misleading information, but are these agencies able to keep pace with the rapidly expanding and dynamic nature of media today?
More importantly do these agencies have the wherewithal to understand the ramifications of what is being dished out and do they have the resources to effectively do their purported job. I daresay, no!
In such a situation it is very difficult for a layman to distinguish between the truth and hearsay. As it is, people are always on a look out for the easy way out. So if someone promises you an easy fix, there are a lot of people who fall prey to such scamsters. Just today morning, while browsing my social media feed, I came across an advertisement of a protein company, which projected its protein as having being designed specifically for Indians.
Being a part of the industry, it piqued my interest and I looked deeper into it. On closer inspection of the ingredients, I found that the product simply had a higher proportion of proteins and very less carbohydrates!
There are hundreds of similar products already out there in the market and so I requested for an explanation on how their product was “designed” specifically for Indians. As expected, they could not give an answer and instead went about explaining something completely different.
Nonetheless, I wished them the best and advised that they should find an alternate way of representing their product and not make baseless claims. This is not a one off incident- there is rampant mislabeling, false claims and substandard products abound in the fitness industry. The irony is that most people fail to understand that the product that they are consuming in the belief of giving them good health is actually causing more damage, and often irreversibly, than gain.
The problem does not end with products; services too are being sold with no understanding of how the human body works or responds to training. Gym memberships and programs are sold like formalin infused fish- the focus is on reaching sale targets not consumer benefits.
There are some industries which lie beyond mere profits- health and fitness is one such. If these industries focus only on commerce, you know how it ends. But it is foolish to expect ethics in modern day businesses- in the age when a man’s worth is known more by his pelf than credibility- one would be hallucinating to think otherwise.
The industry, the advertisements, the cacophony of falsehood is not going to change. What you can do to minimize the damage, is being mindful. Think research or take the help of a professional you trust before making decisions on matters of health and fitness. This might be the best chance you have as you navigate the murky waters of modern day business.
(The writer is a fitness educator, coach and consultant. He can be contacted at angshuman9@gmail.com)
Mahabahu.com is an Online Magazine with collection of premium Assamese and English articles and posts with cultural base and modern thinking. You can send your articles to editor@mahabahu.com / editor@mahabahoo.com (For Assamese article, Unicode font is necessary) Images from different sources.
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