European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity 12, 10 (2019) | DOI: 10.5507/euj.2019.010

An evaluation of social media images portrayal of disability discourse: #amputeefitness

Fallon R. Mitchell1*, Sara Santarossa1, Isuri L. Ramawickrama1, Emily F. Rankin1, Jessica A. Yaciuk1, Erin R. McMahon1, Paula M. van Wyk1
1 Department of Kinesiology, University of Windsor, Canada

The widespread use and influential impact of social media has made it increasingly important to analyze the social norms and discourses that are being presented and promoted among social media users. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine whether the conversation and images associated with #amputeefitness on Instagram promoted the medical model discourse (i.e., a focus on aesthetic) or the social model of disability discourse (i.e., a focus on adapted physical activity). Using the Netlytic software, all publicly available Instagram media tagged with #amputeefitness were collected, and a text and image analysis were performed. The text analysis revealed that the conversation was positive or neutral and focused on four themes: community, motivation, aesthetic, and physical activity. The image analysis suggested an emphasis was placed on body structure (i.e., having an acceptable appearance) and physical activity. Although there was evidence of the medical model within the posts associated with #amputeefitness, there was a stronger indication of a shift towards the social model of disability discourse.

Keywords: social model of disability; medical model; body image; Instagram; physical activity; Netlytic

Received: September 9, 2018; Accepted: August 5, 2019; Prepublished online: October 6, 2019; Published: November 15, 2019  Show citation

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Mitchell, F.R., Santarossa, S., Ramawickrama, I.L., Rankin, E.F., Yaciuk, J.A., McMahon, E.R., & van Wyk, P.M. (2019). An evaluation of social media images portrayal of disability discourse: #amputeefitness. European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity, 12(2), 10. doi: 10.5507/euj.2019.010
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