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Start Date
23-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
23-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
In 2020, popular fitness YouTube Scott Herman accused fellow influencer AthleanX for using fake weights in his videos, giving the impression that the programs he sold to followers worked. The accusations kicked off “YouTube drama” (Christin and Lewis, 2021) between AthleanX and Herman. Fellow fitness YouTubers joined in on the hot topic, discussing AthleanX and the how the use of fake weights in fitness videos damaged one’s credibility and authenticity.
Credibility and authenticity are hallmarks of the influencer and content creator communities, as individuals perform as micro-celebrities to build audiences, gain views, and promote products (Marwick, 2015). Through an analysis of fifty videos involved in the Athlean X fake weight YouTube controversy, I expand existing conversations about men, influence, and authenticity, and how men in the fitness influence sphere rely largely on tenets of toxic masculinity to build their “credible” brand. Here, authenticity and toxic masculinity become intertwined, with traditional gender roles inflated as argumentative tactics and success in the male fitness influencer industry means one is not “a real man” or misogynistic, homophobic, or transphobic enough when their authenticity is questioned.
Christin, A. & Lewis, R. (2021). The Drama of Metrics: Status, Spectacle, and Resistance Among YouTube Drama Creators. Social Media & Society 7, 1 (pp. 1-14).
Marwick, A. (2019). “You may know me from YouTube: (Micro-)Celebrity in Social Media. In P.D. Marshall and S. Redmond (Eds). A Companion to Celebrity (pp. 335-350). Wiley-Blackwell.
“Even stronger or just faker than last time?”: Men, authenticity, and toxic masculinity in YouTube’s fitness influencer community
In 2020, popular fitness YouTube Scott Herman accused fellow influencer AthleanX for using fake weights in his videos, giving the impression that the programs he sold to followers worked. The accusations kicked off “YouTube drama” (Christin and Lewis, 2021) between AthleanX and Herman. Fellow fitness YouTubers joined in on the hot topic, discussing AthleanX and the how the use of fake weights in fitness videos damaged one’s credibility and authenticity.
Credibility and authenticity are hallmarks of the influencer and content creator communities, as individuals perform as micro-celebrities to build audiences, gain views, and promote products (Marwick, 2015). Through an analysis of fifty videos involved in the Athlean X fake weight YouTube controversy, I expand existing conversations about men, influence, and authenticity, and how men in the fitness influence sphere rely largely on tenets of toxic masculinity to build their “credible” brand. Here, authenticity and toxic masculinity become intertwined, with traditional gender roles inflated as argumentative tactics and success in the male fitness influencer industry means one is not “a real man” or misogynistic, homophobic, or transphobic enough when their authenticity is questioned.
Christin, A. & Lewis, R. (2021). The Drama of Metrics: Status, Spectacle, and Resistance Among YouTube Drama Creators. Social Media & Society 7, 1 (pp. 1-14).
Marwick, A. (2019). “You may know me from YouTube: (Micro-)Celebrity in Social Media. In P.D. Marshall and S. Redmond (Eds). A Companion to Celebrity (pp. 335-350). Wiley-Blackwell.
Bio
Jessica Maddox is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama and co-director of the Office of Politics, Communication, and Media. Her research investigates social media platforms and internet popular culture. Previous research has been published in New Media & Society, Television & New Media, and The International Journal of Cultural Studies. Her book, The Internet is for Cats: Attention, Affect, and Animals in Digital Sociality (Rutgers University Press) is forthcoming.