Fitness apps, leaderboards and comparisonitis

What research tells us about fitness apps, social networking and their impact on motivation and self-esteem

I’ve never been the fastest athlete, so imagine the rush I felt when I got my first leaderboard times on Strava. These initial top 10 times and KOMs motivated me to keep cycling and train harder, especially on days I didn’t feel like exercising.

And then the KOMs started falling.

As more riders passed through my regular routes, my times dropped lower on leaderboards. Initially I used this as motivation to work harder, and on some segments I was able to improve my personal best, move up the leaderboard and even reclaim one or two KOMs. But in many cases the new times to beat were well out of my reach.

It was a setback for sure, but no worries, I thought. I’ll just focus on having fun and enjoying my rides. I started finding new routes and taking my bike with me on travels. But then I would put out a really strong effort I was proud of on a remote segment 3 hours from home or on family vacation 8 hours away, only to open my ride on Strava and discover that the same riders who own all the local KOMs bested me here, too.

My motivation was gone.

The double-edged sword

When Strava asked users in its most recent product survey how they feel about competition, I struggled with the answer because the reality is competition can be both motivating and demotivating.

It’s natural to compare yourself to others. Social comparison theory was initially developed in the 1950s to help us understand how comparing ourselves to others can explain our self-esteem, motivation and overall worth.

Research has shown that social comparison can be beneficial in a fitness context. For example, researchers recently found that fitness app users who compared themselves to better athletes tended to be more motivated and more likely to participate in physical activity. The idea is that better athletes can act as role models, and we exercise more because we aspire to be like our role models.

Fitness apps like Strava, Zwift and Peloton have known this and many apps have built leaderboards into their core design as a part of gamifying fitness. And studies have shown that users who engage with leaderboards or other game-like elements of fitness apps are more likely to participate in physical activity.

But we’ve also known for some time that social networking can have a negative effect on users’ self-esteem. Our Instagram feeds are filled with attractive, successful influencers jet-setting across the globe. Our LinkedIn feed is filled with connections who successfully climbed the corporate ladder. And on Strava, there’s no shortage of athletes who can make your personal best look like active recovery.

This comes from an analysis of 49 studies that looked at the impact of social networking sites:

Results of the reviewed studies suggest that when a social networking site is used to compare oneself with others, it mostly results in decreases in users’ self-esteem. On the other hand, receiving positive social feedback from others or using these platforms to reflect on one’s own self is mainly associated with benefits for users’ self-esteem.

On Strava, the need for social climbing has reached a point that some users have hired Strava jockeys to compete on a segment using their login so that they can climb the leaderboard. The cheating is a clear violation of Strava’s terms and a threat to leaderboard integrity, but in a recent interview Strava’s CEO still recognized the users’ “innate desire” to be a “better, healthier version of themselves.”

“They’re not taking the right approach to do so,” he says with a laugh. “But the motivation to do so, the aspiration, the admiration that underlies that – that’s a powerful thing and a positive thing.”

Comparison is the thief of joy

Comparison and competition can motivate us to work harder while at the same time making us feel worse about ourselves.

So what can we do about this?

For app designers, the implication is a need to focus on elements that encourage friendly competition but at the same time build self-esteem. I would love to see app developers tackle this design challenge and find ways to motivate users in a more personalized way.

And remember the second part of the key findings from the self-esteem research? Positive social feedback can help boost users’ self-esteem.

Fitness apps need to continue finding innovative ways to leverage this positive feedback. We know that getting kudos from another athlete on Strava can be powerful. A group of Dutch researchers recently found that runners who received more kudos were more likely to run.

For fitness app users, reframing your goals can help you avoid comparisonitis.

• Instead of comparing yourself with others, compare yourself with…yourself. Set your goals around personal bests and celebrate your wins.
• Instead of setting goals around KOMs or leaderboard times for a segment, focus on on other goals like average pace, total distance or total climb over the whole ride.
• Give yourself some grace. If you’re a working parent with limited time to train on your entry-level road bike you’re bound for disappointment if you constantly compare yourself to regular Ironman triathletes. If you must compare, one of the smart features of Strava leaderboards is the ability to filter by age, weight or sex cohorts. This gives you a better picture of how you compare to peers.

The important thing is finding what makes fitness enjoyable and motivating for you. That and not hiring a Strava jockey to exercise for you.