The dark side of online communities of fitness app users: effects of social comparison and tie-strength

Poncin, Ingrid [UCL] Charry, Karine [UCL] Kullak, Avreliane [UCL]

People need support to change their behavior and achieve long-term health goals. Health apps are increasingly developed to offer the supportive tools many seek. Some apps integrate social influences, particularly through online communities. However, the effectiveness of these online fitness communities in providing support is not well established. Specifically, the roles of social comparison and tie-strength within these communities are not well understood and established. These elements may negatively impact the effectiveness of apps in fostering sustained behavior change. To explore the potential downsides and darker sides of online communities, this research, consisting of two experiments, examines the negative impacts of social comparison and tie-strength within fitness app user communities. Our findings contribute theoretically by extending current research on the role of online communities in fitness apps. We demonstrate that upward social comparison leads to negative reactions, whose negative effects can be countered by stronger links. By increasing opportunities for upward comparison, online user communities may reduce the effectiveness of fitness apps but stronger links support effectiveness. As such, this research enables us to stress the limits of communities to managers and how to overcome those downsides.