ABSTRACT
Through a literature review and a content analysis, this chapter examines the use of Instagram from the perspective of fitness professionals, James Smith, Mark Carroll and Sophie Guidolin, to understand the implications of managing follower expectations to provide insight into their personal lives and the blurred lines of business (i.e., fitness) and personal (i.e., relationships) content. It is suggested while there are several advantages for fitness professionals on social media, there appears to be a perceived negative connotation amongst the community to being labelled an ‘influencer’. While sharing of both fitness and personal content by fitness professionals can develop followers who are increasingly interested and invested in the latter, this may develop tension between the demand for authenticity, while planning or choosing content that meets followers’ expectations.
