Year: 2013
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Running, walking and cycling are physical activities with a low entry threshold.Their health benefits are well documented.Yet, many people don't meet the minimum requirements of physical activity due to a wide variety of reasons.In this context, the emergence of new media can be partly identified as a cause of sedentary lifestyles.However, new media (tools) such as RunKeeper, Endomondo, Strava and Mapmyrun might also offer opportunities to encourage physical activity.Mobile fitness apps designed for smartphones experience an increasing popularity.They afford tracking and monitoring of activities as running, cycling and walking.More importantly, these activities can also be shared online on social network sites as Twitter and Facebook.In this paper we focus on the motivation of people for sharing their workouts with online peers.Results indicate that community identification, receiving positive feedback on activities and sharing information on activities are important predictors of a positive attitude towards sharing workouts, which leads to frequent sharing of those workouts.
Authors: Jeroen Stragier, Peter Mechant
Institution: Ghent University
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2249973655