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Déjà: Hi, and welcome to Big Ideas. I’m your host, and Mount Royal University journalism alum, Déjà Leonard.
Big Ideas explores the diverse perspectives, timely research, lived experiences, and hopeful aspirations of MRU alumni, faculty, and students as solutions-focused leaders addressing local challenges.
This season we’re digging deep into wellness in the 21st Century. From aging to technology to our finances, how do the complexities of modern life impact our well-being - for better or for worse? Let’s check out what we’re talking about in today's episode…
“And so we see this commercial entity coming in and creating an empire off of this creation of community through this shared belonging. Marketers are really good at tapping into that side of us and public health we're still, we're still learning. We're still focused on reminding people that it doesn't matter what your shape is, you still belong in an exercise environment because it's good for you. And that's, if I may say, less sexy.”
Meet MRU professor, Elaine Ori, a clinical exercise physiologist and researcher specializing in the intersection of popular media and health behaviors.
In this episode we unpack how social media captivates us, and the double-edged sword of connection and commercialization in online wellness spaces. Elaine shares fascinating insights from her research, including how marketing tactics tap into our emotions and how sensationalized claims—like the infamous [0:02:00] “red wine is equal to exercise” headline—can mislead us.
Get ready for this engaging conversation that will help you think more critically about the wellness content you consume and empower you to make choices that truly work for you.
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Deja: Let's jump right in, you know, I feel like everyone's had moments where they feel confused or overwhelmed by wellness advice online and every day there's kind of something new trending. It can be hard to tell what's truly valuable and what's kind of just noise. So I'd love to start by you sharing a bit about your background and what led you to focus on social media's impact on health behaviors.
Elaine: Yeah, well, thank you for having me Déjà. It's wonderful to be with you today. It's a great point. There's a lot of information online and I really came to this space because I was working as a clinical exercise physiologist and I worked with a variety of populations. People who had been newly diagnosed with chronic disease, people who were occupational athletes, so paramedics and firefighters, and people who were brand new to fitness or maybe they'd taken it up after a big break. And so a big diverse group of, of people and backgrounds. And despite this variety in their experiences and their goals, I was getting very similar questions and it went a little something like,
“I know you're the professional. I know I'm paying you. I know I'm being with you in this exercise space for a reason, but I read this thing on Facebook…and so I'm kind of going to try that out for a little while.”
And it got me wondering what was going on in these online spaces that had people so captivated and had them choosing to adhere to the advice that they were getting from random sources online, that was being shared by friends and family and, and ads and use that as their overarching [00:04:00] guidance in exercise, in health, in, in this wellness space. And so I went back to grad school to see if I could figure out how to overcome this. And it turns out that I have a lot more questions than answers at this point. But that's where my program of research is these days is looking at the influence of social media in particular, uh, but popular media more broadly. And how that influences the way we think and act around health behaviors.
Deja: Thank you for explaining that. You know, it's kind of amazing how these platforms can influence so many people's beliefs, especially when it comes to something as personal as health. And, you know, I think it's easy, you know, we see influencers sharing health tips, but often, like you said, they might not have credentials, and they certainly aren't able to necessarily take a personalized approach when they're kind of spreading information to the masses. So how do you think that that affects how people consume and, you know, further trust health information online?
Elaine: Yeah, there's, there's a lot of nuance that goes into the way we process information and when we're encountering information, especially in an online space, we're wading through what we call information overload. That, that means we are confronted with an overwhelming amount of content and it exceeds our ability to process it. So, we're consuming and consuming and consuming but we don't actually have the time or the want to effortfully think about it, to figure out what's right, what's wrong, what's real, what's fake, so we use what we call cognitive heuristics. These are devices that we've created in our brain, and we all use them all the time. And what they do is they help us to wade through information very, very quickly. In fact, a lot of it is done at a subconscious level. And so these are shortcuts in our brains that help us to take in information that's relevant to us, and then filter through information that really doesn't have any bearing in our lives. And in an information [00:06:00] environment, what we've seen through the research is that there are five specific heuristic devices that we use. And some of them are going to seem pretty familiar to a lot of people. Things like the bandwagon heuristic. If others are doing it, then I should probably think about it too. Or I should maybe give it a try.
Things like the endorsement heuristic. If people that I trust are endorsing it or saying that this has worked for them, then maybe I should also consider it. And then things like the reputation heuristic, well, I've heard of this person. So we think about some of these notorious influencers in the wellness space, like the Liver King. So he gained a lot of traction very, very quickly and people knew who he was, especially men who are trying to build muscle and adhere to this ancestral lifestyle. And he really built this through his reputation and that preceded him. And it all came crashing down. We know that now, but, uh, that's really what propelled him to the forefront. And a lot of influencers gain traction that way because we start to hear about them. And so we don't go and check.
We don't look to see if what they're saying is reliable. If they have the credentials to be sharing this information, if it's based on evidence or anecdotes. So, these heuristics help us to wade through all of this information and they are quite useful. But they can also help us to develop new biases that leave us forgetting about that need to triangulate or to verify information.
Deja : Right. Yeah, that's such a powerful kind of concept, and, know, our minds are creating these mental shortcuts that shape how we process information. But I think that that's something maybe not everyone's aware of, or like you said, it's subconscious and it's happening so quickly. I would love to take a step back, I guess. And, you know, you were saying your, your research is in popular media and social media. Do you have any thoughts on why social media in particular is like playing such a big role [00:08:00] in, you know, how we think about health and wellness today. I would say like kind of what's on my mind is that like you said, it's overwhelming content, but it's also, we all have our phones and it's right there. Like why is social media such an important piece of that? It's especially in the context of, you know, 2024.
Elaine: Yeah, it's a really good question and I think from what we can see in the research there’s a few reasons. First of all, we use it as entertainment media. So, um, the Western world enjoys its entertainment and this is one form of it for us. But another thing that we see, if we're looking at the positive side of social media, is that it's a connection tool. So whichever platform you choose, whether it's Tik Tok, whether it's Instagram, whether it's Discord, it's a way for people to connect with each other and create these online communities. And these online spaces allow us to connect with others who are like minded, which is great when we're looking for people to share our ideas with, who may have had experiences that we are hoping to gain, um, to connect with family and friends who might be geographically in different spaces than us. So it does serve that purpose of creating an online community.
And so for this reason we gravitate toward it and these feelings of connectedness and, and relatedness with others. So this is…fundamental to our psychological human needs, this, this connection and this relatedness with others. And so creating a community around a shared idea or around a shared activity is a big reason why we see social media has so much traction in the wellness and, and the fitness space in particular. Because for some of these individuals, that community doesn't exist in their real life. The online space is a great place to find others who are already involved in it or who have advice for newbies. Or who know the geographic region and can point you in the right direction. And you can do it in a way that is safe to you. You're not really [00:10:00] putting yourself out there. You're not losing any money per se by getting engaged with these communities. You can learn a lot and access other individuals in that sense and gain that online community, online as opposed to real life.
Uh, the other thing we see with online social media is that, and social media has existed for decades and maybe centuries. It's just a way of promoting information between individuals. But when we think about social media classically, we think about, you know, 2007 and Facebook and everything that followed ever since. When we think about how people are purveying information, it's this idea that my experiences matter. And so these anecdotes really gain traction. And so if I lost weight this way, or if I was able to shape my physique this way, or if this food made me feel better, then it can do it for you. And it's this idea that my experiences have value. And so this is another part of our psychology that we see emerging in social media spaces is, again, it comes back to relatedness and connectedness, but this idea that I have a voice and I have an ability to share those experiences and connect with others.
Deja : One thing that came to mind for me is that it also makes, you know, achieving some of those goals look maybe more glamorous than it is. You know, if you're wanting to do something around health and wellness and you see someone achieve that, then you see they're really kind of, tailored, edited version of what that life looks like. I can see that being really appealing to people, but also how seeing their journeys kind of builds that trust that they need to, to start believing that person without maybe thinking too much about it.
Uhm, but kind of, as you were saying, like social media can be a really great place for inspiration, a positive place for community. But I think on the flip side, sometimes [00:12:00] it can kind of disempower people from wanting to actually engage in wellness activities when they see this perfect version of things. Uh, could you chat a little bit about that?
Elaine: Absolutely. So that actually is the heart of what we're working on right now. And it's looking at, like you say, these expectations of the outcomes. And what we see often in social media is this representation of what it will look like as you're achieving your goals, working towards it, feeling strong and proud and fierce. And what it's going to look like and feel like when you come out the other side, once you have achieved those goals and this almost selling of emotion, this idea that you're going to feel good, you're going to feel connected to others, you're going to feel part of a community, you're going to be desirable, you're going to fit in physically with, um, whatever the cultural ideal is that is being promoted.
And so it's this this idea that the process of achieving as well as the achievement itself is going to create this really positive outcome for you. And what we unfortunately disregard, consciously or otherwise, is that… what we're seeing online and what we're seeing shown to us in these images and these, these trending hashtags, like “fitspiration”, like “gymtalk”, what we're seeing there is these outcomes that might mismatch what they're promoting. So if you go to the gym, you're going to look like this. And that's not reality for everybody. Not everybody can follow the same regimen and achieve the same outcome. We are not all made the same. We have different body types. We have different preferences. We have different socioeconomic backgrounds. We have different nutritional experiences. And so all of this is going to factor in to what we can achieve through, say, an exercise regime.
So, we have to be really mindful and careful [00:14:00] about how we're processing this information and how we're consuming this information. Understanding that what might work for one person is not necessarily a one size fits all, and it may not work for me. And we see on the dark side of it is that individuals will look at these glamorous representations of what your body could look like or what your life could look like if you just follow this process. And for some individuals, looking at that, saying, well that's good for them, but it's never going to happen for me. I'm never going to be able to do that for a variety of reasons. And so I'm not even going to bother trying it. And so we see the complete opposite happen in a lot of cases where people look at, say, exercise outcomes and these western, cultivated ideals and then the consumers are saying there is no way I can afford to go to the gym that much, I don't have that much time, I don't have access, I don't have the finances for the membership, I don't know how to do the exercises properly, I have an injury, I have a chronic condition, there's so many reasons.
So, I can't look like that, then I'm not going to bother exercising at all because what's the point?
It, when in fact the reality is there is a, a, quite a happy middle ground where anything is going to help your body. You're going to feel better, you're going to move better, you're going to offset your risk for disease.
But that's not what's portrayed online, very often that's not what we see. And so it can be detrimental in that way.
Deja : Yeah, that, that makes a lot of sense. And I think that'll resonate with a lot of people when they think about even outside of health and wellness, any goal they want to achieve and they see other people, uh, getting there, you know, um, not knowing the full story and not knowing that, uh, or not acknowledging that everyone's journey can look a little bit different. So kinda of speaking of consumers, I guess, you know, social media, it's packed with wellness products. Uh, fitness, teas, [00:16:00] supplements, all of those types of things. How has commercialization affected the way that we see health?
Elaine: That, yeah, that's definitely something that we, we start to take a step back and look at and we think about the way commercial industry, you know, for profit organizations, whether that's a corporation or whether that's an individual who's just trying to make a little bit of a side hustle. We see some of the items that are being promoted aren't necessarily for altruistic means. So we see these influencers, “fitfluencers”, um, people that are trying to promote these healthier lifestyles, and we see the content that they're sharing. But what we often forget is that there's a monetization happening in the background. And so we did some research, uh, quite a few years ago now, but what we were looking at was some of the most popular fitness and exercise blogs in the world that were written in English at the time. And an overwhelming majority of them, almost 90 percent of them, had monetized their content.
So they weren't just driving people to their blogs. They were using social media, and so again, overwhelming majority, over 90%, were using social media to promote their messages, to promote their stories, and their programs, and whatever it is they were promoting. But, they were using their blogs as their primary source. It was almost their encyclopedia, and then their social media was their, their marketing tool. And on the surface it looked like they were promoting, you know, couch to 5k, learn how to run and feel good about your body, or eat these healthy recipes and get more vegetables in your diet, whatever they were promoting. But when you went back to their website, almost 90 percent of them were actually trying to monetize something, buy their merch, um, buy these supplements, buy their cookbook, there was something that they wanted you to pay for, their services, their time. So we also have to be really aware that what on the surface might look [00:18:00] like, I'm promoting this program or, or this nutritional process or this exercise regime because it's good for you.
When we dig down into it, how much of it are they getting in their own pockets? How much cut are they taking off the top of it? Are they really truly promoting it for your benefit or for their own?
Deja : Right, yeah, that's so important to keep in mind. And I think the same thing kind of happens when you think about brands as well, maybe bigger brands. So, you know, we have these big brands, they have marketing engines, um, and they often appeal more to our emotions than talking about what's actually good for us. So it's those aspirational messages. Why do you think that this is so effective, especially when we compare it maybe to other public health entities who also want people to be healthy, but you know, are taking a different approach and perhaps have a more altruistic goal, uh, you know, in those actions.
Elaine: Yeah, it's a great question. I think marketing has really defined the art of, of appealing to our emotions, to our fundamental needs as humans, that's connectedness, relatedness, belongingness. And public health, I'm sorry to say, I've worked in public health, I still do a lot of work with public health and I have to say we're not good at that.
We're really good at sharing information. But information isn't what drives people to behave. People know overwhelmingly that exercise is good for them and sitting for eight hours a day is not good for them. That too much alcohol is not good for them. That eating fruits and vegetables is good for them. That saturated fats and, and processed, hyper processed foods are not as healthy for them. People know this. We don't need to keep telling people these messages. And yet we see, uh, over and over again, public health is promoting this [00:20:00] knowledge based information, and that's not what people really use to make these decisional prompts. They, what we need as humans is this connectedness, this appeal to emotion, and we see that marketing is quite good at that. In fact, in the 90s and early 2000s, Nike came out with a campaign to appeal to women. And so it was a famous campaign at the time. And it was overcoming what had happened with their, um, their 80s and 90s reveal that they had been using a lot of really poor industrial approaches, so sweatshops, child labour to create the product.
And so in the early 90s and early 2000s, Nike came out with this new campaign that was for Nike women. And in this campaign, they stopped appealing to product. They stopped using product as a product advertisement. So they weren't showcasing shoes, they weren't showcasing clothes anymore, what they were actually focusing on was the parts of women that had been historically excluded in a fitness community. And so the one that really sticks in my mind and one that I like to use with my students is this particular print campaign that talked about thunder thighs. And so the image was a woman from about the belly button to the knees and it was just a very close up picture of her in short shorts with thighs and they were very muscular thighs. And it talked about what I can do with my thunder thighs. I can bounce my children on these thunder thighs. I can climb mountains with these thunder thighs. And so it wasn't about what product she was wearing, it wasn't about achieving any kind of athletic goals. It was about acknowledging that bodies can look different and bodies can do these incredible things. And what this campaign really did was it drew in women who had historically felt excluded from the fitness and exercise environment. Women who had felt that because they were muscular or athletic, they didn't fit the, the form [00:22:00] at the time. And if we remember the form at the time, that the physical aesthetic ideal of the 80s and 90s was this waif or heroin chic look, very, very skinny, little muscle.
And so what Nike did was they invited in these women who were athletic, who had more muscle, who didn't fit that very, tiny muscle-less physique at the time. And it created a community. It created a community of athletic women and it showed them that they belong. They belong in a fitness and exercise environment. And they did that all through this unifying swoosh. That's all they did. They weren't promoting products and it worked. And so we see this commercial entity coming in and creating an empire off of this creation of community through this shared belonging. Marketers are really good at tapping into that side of us and public health we're still, we're still learning. We're still focused on reminding people that it doesn't matter what your shape is, you still belong in an exercise environment because it's good for you. And that's, if I may say, less sexy.
Deja : Um, what about. You know, do you have any examples or instances of wellness brands or influencers manipulating facts to fit a certain narrative? There was an example where, you know, obviously our public health entities are saying things like, okay, drinking alcohol, that's not great for us. But then I remember there was some type, there was a bunch of articles that came out, essentially saying, you know, red wine is good for you, about a certain kind of element within red wine, it was a bit of a stretch. So I'm not sure if you know that one and want to walk us through it or have any other examples of kind of where the truth is manipulated to fit a certain narrative. That's maybe more, more appealing to the masses [00:24:00].
Elaine: Yeah, I have, I have a few examples. Uh, I know exactly which one you're talking about. So in 2012, researchers out of the University of Alberta came out with a new study and what we saw on the headlines, it was global headlines. I mean, this was 12 years ago and going on 13 years and we're still hearing about it. I still overhear people say, I don't need to exercise because I can have a glass of red wine. Glass of red wine is the same as an hour of exercise, right? That's what the research says. And that's, that's the headline. Those are the sensationalized claims that we saw everywhere. You can still Google it and maybe if your listeners want to type it in, they can find red wine, a glass of red wine is equal to an hour of exercise.
But what the study actually said was that when they took two groups of mice, and they put them on a cardiovascular training program, so they wanted to improve their, their heart function and the cardiovascular function. One group of mice got a supplement called resveratrol. The other group of mice just did the cardio training. So they both did all of this work to improve their heart health through exercise. The mice that received the resveratrol, they got a mega dose of resveratrol, so quite a bit of it, and their cardiac function did improve more so than the mice who didn't get the resveratrol. Oh, and by the way, if you're interested in what resveratrol is, it's an antioxidant, you can find it in very small doses in red wine.
That's what the study said. There was no wine used in the study. The study didn't use humans, they used a, a, a nutrient and they supplemented it with the mice. And then from that it blew up into this huge sensationalized claim that we're still fighting in the exercise and fitness industry today. And so the issue we also see. It's not as much in the research. It's more in that translation of research information to [00:26:00] lay knowledge to the general public. It's that what we do sometimes in the lab isn't super worthy of headlines. It's, it's not, it's not earth shattering. And it's small pieces of information that we're learning at a time to build a bigger story to understand something a little bit better.
But that doesn't make for good news. That doesn't make for good, you know, dinner conversation. So when this gets put out into press releases and, and the media picks it up, they're spinning it in a way that makes people want to read it. And unfortunately it's damaging to the research because again, they didn't use red wine, they didn't use humans. And yet somehow, we've gone from some mice taking a micronutrient to “grown adults don't need to exercise, they can just drink red wine”, and so there's this disconnect. And it is because there is a need. We've got 24 hour news broadcasts and news networks. We've got this vying for time and, and attention on all sorts of media platforms.
And so, in order to be heard, we're one upping all the time, we're sensationalizing, we're making claims that will attract the eye so that people will pay attention. And unfortunately, that is also our undoing because it is perpetuating misinformation.
Deja : That is, yeah, that is something else. And I think also on the kind of consumer side or outside of the media, not only is that, you know, a headline you want to click on, but I think for a lot of people, it's, it's the information that they want to hear. They want to hear that red wine is, you know, just as good as an hour of exercise. So that there's that part too, where you're like, I'm not sure which one of the heuristics this is, but it's kind of like, that sounds great to me. I want that. It's almost the confirmation bias type of thing where it's like, it's what you want to hear. [00:28:00] So you will also choose to believe that, uh, without looking any further into it.
Elaine: Yeah, it absolutely goes back to what you were just saying. This confirmation bias or this this shortcut and there is no magic pill.
I'm sorry to all of the listeners, but there is no quick fix. Health is a lifelong journey.
You've got to keep on it from all of the aspects. And there is a confirmation bias in the sense that I knew they were hiding something from me and then these sensationalized claims come out and it, yes, the researchers were hiding something from me. In reality, um, it really does circle back to that sensationalized, attractive claim that people want to read. They're looking for the quick fix. Um, but to your point, the wellness industry is rife with product and service and all of it is trying to sell you this promise that they've got the solution. The reality is our bodies are too complex for a single quick fix. We need things like regular movement, like things that have been made by nature to nourish our body. Fruits and vegetables, healthy grains, lots of water. We need to manage our stress. We need to get good and healthy doses of sleep. We need to be connected with a community and have strong social relationships.
It's clear, through decades of research, that these are the things that don't change. Trends come and go. They, they ebb and flow. They create a big splash. People get on them. It helps to get people mobilized around perhaps a new exercise routine or, um, a new way of managing their stress, mindfulness, meditation. These, these are all wonderful things, but what historically we have seen in human health, what we have seen in the research is that it's not the big [00:30:00] trends and, and doing these things in a big way for a short period of time.
It's creating practices that are consistent over very long periods of time over years and decades. This is what contributes to lifelong health, to quality of life, and to longevity. And it's not sexy.
It's not something that I can promote on social media as a “follow me for more tips and tricks”. It's the things we already know how to do. It's the things that Grandma showed us. It's the things that we have known innately about our bodies throughout our lifespan. Connect with people that make us feel good, eat things that feel good in our bodies, move our bodies, manage our stress, get good sleep. Um, don't be overly rigid with any one aspect of it. These are the things that work to keep us moving, to keep us healthy, to keep us feeling full in our hearts, in our minds. And there's just no sensational headline that I can share. There's no hashtag that I can create that's going to make millions, if not billions of people want to jump on that bandwagon with me.
Deja : Yeah. And then just to close us out, we've had lots of great advice throughout, but is there any kind of last piece of advice you would give for people to help them recognize and challenge their own cognitive biases or, you know, in general, make better informed decisions, um, as consumers in the, in the wellness industry?
Elaine: My best advice would be, think before you purchase. Think before you click. Um, it takes more time to do those things. It's very easy to see that, you know, what we sometimes call the Kardashian Effect. Trying to fit these appearance ideals or these lifestyle [00:32:00] ideals to curate a life that matches what we see portrayed online. That's not reality. That's online. And as much as we often hear people say that, it's enacting it, it's recognizing that that really isn't real life. And just because it worked for one person or just because the Kardashians are promoting it, doesn't mean that it works, it doesn't mean that it's going to work for you, it doesn't mean that it's safe for you.
And so, one practice in information and science literacy that we teach is triangulation, which is taking this information that you're encountering, pausing and thinking about it, going to another source and verifying it, and even going to a third source, or going to the creator and verifying it, and spending the time. If it's something you really think might work for you, you really think this is going to be a solution that helps you, spending that time looking through other sources and I don't mean reading the comments section, I don't mean reading the reviews, the user generated content. What I mean is going to, um, going to the website, reading the ingredients or reading the exercise trend, learning about what it actually entails, figuring out what this means. How much time is it going to take out of your day? Thinking about it constructively.
And then if you think that this might be a good fit for you… make those decisions afterwards. But, um, step back, and take the time to really process it and think about it. Because without that critical thinking process, you're going to end up spending a lot of time and money on things that are not going to hurt [sic] you and can potentially harm you.
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That was a very informative conversation.
As we navigate the overwhelming landscape of wellness information, it’s important to remember that true [00:34:00] health is not dictated by social media trends —it’s about making informed, intentional choices that serve your body, mind, and soul.
The Big Idea that I’m taking away from this episode; is that in a world flooded with misleading messages, your ability to critically evaluate what you see and hear is your most powerful tool.
Déjà: The Big Ideas podcast is produced by the Office of Alumni Relations at Mount Royal University. A special thanks to MRU journalism and digital media alum, Gabrielle Pyska, for her savvy editing talents.
Until next time, I’m your host, Déjà Leonard and this is Big Ideas.
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