Wong 1

Sydney A. Wong
Writing 2
Joshua Smith
09 December 2019 Deleted: 11 October 2019

Analysis of Instagram Fitness Captions as a Genre Deleted: Writing Project 1

From the age of five, my parents instilled the mindset of eating healthy and staying

active. I was put into t-ball at five, tennis at six, and basketball at seven, which set me on the path

to maintaining a lifestyle of health and wellness. Health and wellness is a huge factor in the lives

of many human beings today, and the gym plays the biggest role in creating the change people

want to see in themselves. One of the most accessible ways to attain this change within the

technological world of today is through the popular social media platform, Instagram. Instagram

has grabbed the attention of numerous fitness-lovers and gym-goers with posts of fitness

ambassadors executing specific workouts. These posts come with captions very specific to the

workouts, and are structured in a way that helps users understand exactly what to do, and feel

motivated to try it themselves. By analyzing the genre conventions and antecedents of captions

of Instagram workout posts, it can be inferred that this genre is a relatively new concept sprung

from the ever-growing age of technology.
Instagram posts are strewn with pictures and videos of a variety of topics, from sports, to
beauty, to how to decorate a three-tiered cake. Having such a broad range of topics presents
certain jargon and genre conventions for every post’s caption. For instance, what categorizes
captions of workout posts as its own genre are its descriptiveness, and how many conventions
fall into making this type of caption. Three recurring conventions are a short introduction, a list
Deleted: Majority of the human race wants to fit in. Whether
it is to please others, or have personal satisfaction, people
want to be accepted. This general idea falls into the category
of appearance, and the drive to make oneself visually
appealing to the public. To do so, many have begun to rely
on the wonders of cosmetics as makeup trends come and go,
but how do these individuals learn how to apply such
products? One of the go-to answers for the past decade has
been one thing: Instagram eyeshadow makeup tutorials. By
analyzing the genre conventions and antecedents of
Instagram workout post captionsInstagram eyeshadow
tutorial posts and its antecedents, it can be concluded that
such captionsposts are a relatively new idea sprung from the
modern and ever-growing age of technology.

of the exercises being performed, and hashtags at the end.

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Majority of workout posts have a small paragraph as an introduction. These introductions

consist of a brief explanation of the type of workout that is shown in the post (abs, legs,

shoulders, etc.), and a recap of the user’s week and what is going on in their personal life.

Including information about events that are important to them at that moment makes the caption

more inviting and personal. Being a user of Instagram for four years, I have found that the

captions of workout posts present information in a way that is both friendly and enticing. As I

was scrolling through my feed, I stumbled upon a recent post by social media influencer, Chloe

Gottschalk. Gottschalk included these sentences as her introduction:

Short leg workout this morning. *okay hand emoji* I can’t believe that I’m
working out 4-5x a week for 45 min to 1 hour. I’ve loved going to the gym and it’s
never felt like a chore! Fitness is everything to me, and I’m glad I’ve shared my
entire fitness journey with you all. *red heart emoji* Having the best time with my
family in Colorado and I’m grateful for so so much this year. I hope you guys had
a fab holiday too!! *red heart emoji*

The upbeat, motivational tone of the wording adds to the inviting feel of the caption, with

exclamation marks invoking a friendly, positive feeling among the audience. Emojis added

within the text aid the pleasant tone as well. Emojis are conventions of modern day

messages found on technological devices, which display how relatively “new” this genre is.

Including an introduction at the beginning of a workout caption is significantly distinct from the

conventions of other genres, since it allows you to feel welcome and part of that user’s fitness

journey.

Listing each exercise is the most notable aspect of the genre of workout captions. As the

main focus, this component of the caption explicitly states the amount of reps and sets done for

each workout associated in the post. A rep is a term used to describe the number of times a

specific exercise should be performed, and sets are the number of cycles of sets that are
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completed. The inclusion of the number of reps and sets needed to go through with the workout
make the process of completing each exercise more efficient. Based off of my personal
experience utilizing workout captions for my gym routines, the layout of the listed exercises
makes the process of exercising easier to follow. The inclusion of numbers are an integral
component of this layout because it allows me to visualize and calculate what exactly I will be
doing before I begin. Having a simplistic layout of the workout captions makes Instagram
workout posts a significant tool for people of all ages, for every level of training (beginner to
advanced). This sense of including such captions exhibits a modern-day form of workout plans,
and are integrated into the schedules of those who exercise.
Hashtags are integrated into the end of workout post captions to relate the posts to similar
topics. For instance, including “#fitnessmotivation,” “#abworkout,” or “#healthylifestyle” adds
to the message/purpose of the post in general, and creates more exposure of the post. Hashtags
lead to exposure because when users click on them, it leads directly to other posts similar to the
one you were just looking at. Hashtags create a larger audience with the ability to introduce more
types of workout posts with captions of exercises, making this type of mass exposure a
component that is up to date with modern trends. The type of publicity captions get from
including hashtags is a convention of workout posts that pertain to the community of those
interested in fitness, which differs from other genres of captions such as those of professional
basketball teams. Hashtags are distinct to the topic of the post in general, making hashtags of
workout captions specific to the category of health and wellness.
Before Instagram workout captions evolved, video home systems (VHS tapes) were one
of the closest forms of learning how to exercise. As an antecedent of workout captions, the
purpose of making exercise simpler and efficient was maintained. To get a better sense of the
Deleted: Instagram eyeshadow tutorial posts have a broad
range of topics, from what brushes to use, to the basics on
how to apply eyeshadow in general. It is used as a social
photo-sharing platform, instantly posting images and/or
videos at a quick rate. “Beauty bloggers” are known as the
ones who post this content on Instagram, mainly appealing to
the female audience of Instagram users. Within these posts,
new eyeshadow palettes are shown and reviewed, as well as
different eyeshadow looks that can be created. This relates a
great amount to YouTube eyeshadow tutorials, for YouTube
is another video-sharing platform with makeup videos that
fall under the same genre as Instagram eyeshadow tutorials,
due to the same videography involved. However, on
Instagram, videos can be up to one minute long, whereas on
YouTube, there is a general upload limit of 15 minutes.
These portray differences between genre conventions of
popular modern day genres, so one can only imagine the
contrast in genre conventions compared to its antecedent
genres. Nowadays, the fact that people of all ages can access
posts of others so efficiently displays a drastic difference
between communication in the past compared to now. This
brings us to the blatant fact that Instagram as a whole
originated in 2010, which was less than a decade ago,
validating how new the concept of eyeshadow tutorials really
is. …
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benefits that came from VHS exercise tapes, I interviewed my mother, who was a workout

junkie back in the 1980s. As a member of the powderpuff football and track and field team, my

mother was always physically active. On the weekends, she would go to her room, insert her

“Low Impact Aerobics” VHS tape into the television, and follow the steps of the exercises while

watching the video. She claimed “jazzercise and dancing tapes were really popular… the

instructor would talk through the steps and it’d be really upbeat and fun.” It can be concluded

that there was more emphasis on aerobic types of exercises rather than “core” body parts such as

shoulders and quadriceps, which are consistently found in Instagram workout captions.

The differences between VHS exercise tapes and Instagram workout captions regard the

conventions of each genre. In VHS tapes, there is obvious use of solely verbal explanation of

workouts, whereas on Instagram, text-based captions are used to explain each step of the

workout. An example of an Instagram workout caption states:

*sweat emoji* Tuck jump to jump squat: hips are bringing the knees up high in
the tuck jump, and we’re landing back down softly on the balls of the feet. If you
need a little more time to reset, you can always switch to two fast drop squats
between each tuck jump.

Step-by-step explanations are expressed in the VHS tapes, but are not physically typed out for

people to easily reference again. Having the steps visually written out gives the audience an

improved sense of awareness and understanding. This understanding is furthered when it comes

to explicitly displaying specific exercises in terms of how many reps and sets should be

performed. The layout of the listed steps of the workout presents a sense of repetition that helps

the user remember the components of the workout easier. Repeating exercises in a listed

structure helps the audience becomes more familiar with the caption’s content, and is a prime

difference from its antecedent of VHS exercise tapes.

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From the 1980s to now, those interested in fitness found a greater use of Instagram

captions for workout routines than tapes.1 The genre of Instagram workout captions is fairly new

in terms of the textual structure of the exercises, and is efficient due to having the entirety of the

workout laid out at once. VHS tapes lack in efficiency when it comes to easily accessing

information on specific exercises. The audience would have to first insert the tape into a

television or videocassette recorder (VCR), wait for it to start up, then begin the tape from the

beginning. If you wanted to rewind the content, it would have to be done using the VCR, which

adds an extra inconvenient step. In relation to Instagram workout captions, the conventions of a

text-based introduction, steps of exercises, and use of hashtags serve to provide a practically

effortless way to view workouts typed out before your eyes. The audience has the ability to view

every component of the caption at once with the specific conventions presented, and serve as a

complete synopsis of the post as a whole. The lengthy, descriptive layout of the caption

ultimately differs from those of the antecedent (VHS exercise tapes), leading the genre of

Instagram workout captions to be a substantially new and efficient innovation.

Although there is a textual and verbal difference between Instagram workout captions

and its antecedent, there are similarities within their conventions as well. Both guide the

audience through the steps of exercises and ultimately have a positive influence through the tone

of the words used. Earlier in the essay, I drew on a direct introduction from a workout caption.

This introduction had outgoing, positive tone, using personal aspects to interact with the

audience. Personal aspects go towards VHS exercise tapes as well, due to verbal communication

being the only form of communication in these tapes. Verbal communication is the most

1
Zhang, Jingwen, Devon Brackbill, Sijia Yang, and Damon Centola. “Efficacy and Causal
Mechanism of an Online Social Media Intervention to Increase Physical Activity: Results of a Randomized
Controlled Trial.” Preventive Medicine Reports2 (2015): 651–57.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.08.005.
 Wong 6
effective form of creating a certain outlook wanted from a specific audience, especially when
aiming to create a positive mood from the viewer.
VHS exercise tapes were not the only form of exposure of fitness in the 1900s. During
World War II, fitness manuals and pamphlets served as necessary tools for the growing interest
of health and wellness in American society, particularly the youth. In cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Education, Army, Navy, and Public Health Service, fitness booklets were made
for high school and college students.2 Fitness booklets served as another prime antecedent genre
of Instagram workout captions due to having a similar audience. The audience of the booklets
were students, which concur with a whopping 36 percent of Instagram users as of October 2019.3
The similarity between audiences works as a connecting factor between fitness booklets and
workout captions, yet the information in such booklets slightly differ. Fitness booklets for the
youth include knowledge on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle rather than listing exercises to
perform. This type of text is strictly informational, and more formal in the sense that full
sentences are used and colloquial language is rarely present. Fitness booklets are used more as a
Public Service Announcement (PSA) than a guide on how to work out. Despite these differences,
it can still be said that both genres help the audience gain insight on health in general, whether it
focuses on dietary choices or weightlifting. It can be conferred that fitness booklets are a prime
antecedent of Instagram workout captions due to the similar broad message of health and
wellness.
There is a general rhetoric when creating a caption for an Instagram workout post. This
2
Mood DP, Jackson AW, Morrow JR Jr. Measurement of physical fitness and physical activity:
Fifty National children and youth fitness study years of change. Measurement in Physical Education and
Exercise Science. 2007;11(4):217–227.
3
Clement, J. “Instagram: Age Distribution of Global Audiences 2019.” Statista, November 20,
2019. https://www.statista.com/statistics/325587/instagram-global-age-group/.
Deleted: Since Instagram eyeshadow tutorials are relatively
current, the closest thing to an antecedent of such posts
would be commercials and paper ads of well-known
cosmetic brands such as Maybelline, Revlon, and Clinique.
Consumers would be “in the know” through viewing
commercials with updated information about new products,
which generally presented women applying the featured
cosmetics on themselves. To get a sense of how individuals
were able to better understand makeup and eyeshadow in
general, I interviewed my mother, who started wearing
makeup in 1989. She explained how makeup commercials
gave her an idea of how eyeshadow application should be
done, as well as what palettes to purchase. She carried on by
stating, “seasonal holiday-themed palettes and eyeshadow
looks for Halloween and Christmas were very popular… I
always wanted to buy makeup to [re]create looks I saw in
ads.” This comes to show how there were never step-by-step
tutorials on how to apply eyeshadow, and the closest thing to
that were pictures found in cosmetic magazines. On the other
hand, a similarity among the genre conventions of Instagram
tutorials and advertisements of the 1980s are reviews from
the viewer/consumer. For Instagram eyeshadow posts,
reviews can be found in the comment section, whereas in ads
and commercials from the past, reviews and more insight are
usually found within the commercial itself. Regardless,
reviews helped deem what was popular during that time, and
allowed the consumer to feel included in the makeup
industry. Inclusion is what makes Instagram eyeshadow
tutorials so distinct from the past due to numerous people
being able to share, comment on, and save post
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rhetoric relates to the statement that there is usually an informal, positive tone towards the
intended audience. In the fitness community, there is a certain way trainers speak to their clients.
They want to be informative, positive, and motivating all at once, just like captions of workout
posts tend to be. Instagram workout captions have the goal of inspiring users of
Instagram to want to exercise. To do so, captions are meant to be friendly, but also challenging to
a point where the audience is motivated to complete the workout. Sentences such as “challenge
yourself to this quick little circuit before you start you day” or “stay motivated to finish the week
off strong” is speech that is specific to Instagram workout captions. This type of speech is meant
to persuade the reader to do what the caption states. It is expressed that “rhetoric...is what makes
the media work...as you read, more ways to get those messages to you quickly and in a
persuasive manner are being developed.”4 The upbeat tone of the workout captions inflicted onto
the viewer is what pushes them to gain interest in exercising. This rhetorical analysis informs the
genre of Instagram workout captions as “new” from the ability to quickly influence the audience
through the efficiency of social media.
The differences of the conventions between Instagram workout captions and its
antecedents supersede the similarities. Similarly, both genres have a recurring positive tone and
informational components. However, the conventions of workout captions are modern on a scale
that includes current slang and hashtags within the text. An example of informal writing in a
caption is “if you want your lil abies burnin’ give this workout a try!” Grammatically, there
should be an apostrophe after “lil,” and “abies” is not even a real word. The style and
grammatical conventions of Instagram workout captions are informal as a whole. In regards to its
antecedents, VHS exercise tapes and fitness manuals have different rhetoric when it comes to
4
Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis .” In Writing
Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 1. Parlor Press, 2010.
Deleted: ¶
There is a general rhetoric when commenting on eyeshadow
posts, due to comments customarily containing phrases with
relation to the makeup post. For instance, under Instagram
eyeshadow posts come comments with phrases such as “so
beautiful” and “what eyeshadow palette did you use?”
Overall, this creates a rhetorical situation in terms of
commenting on other users’ Instagram makeup posts. The
universal wording within the comments provide a sense of
positivity and admiration for that particular eyeshadow look,
since it is most appropriate for that situation. Past makeup
commercials and ads also share that same upbeat, positive
rhetoric due to the need to make the cosmetics appealing to
the consumer. Both the producer of the product and the
producer of the Instagram post contain some sort of pathos
into what they are sharing with the public to spark any mode
of interest. The main component that makes Instagram
eyeshadow tutorial posts most effective in terms of mass
viewers is through its rhetorical analysis. It can be expressed
that “rhetoric...is what makes media work...as you read...,
more ways to get those messages to you quickly and in a
persuasive manner are being developed.”5 Media is far more
effective in terms of getting ideas across than physical copies
of advertisements. To this day, both men and women are
turning to Instagram makeup tutorials as inspiration for their
own makeup, and less on what they read in books or
magazines. The trend of this generation is to use social
media and technology as an outlet to view what is relatively
“new” in the public eye. ¶
Deleted: Trends also have a large impact on society as they
come and go. In the 1980s, colorful ¶
makeup was in, being the main craze in the makeup industry.
Nowadays, we view 1980-themed makeup as a whole genre
in itself, and even create makeup tutorials based off of 1980
looks, since it is a category that has features unlike any other.
This brings us back to the fact that Instagram eyeshadow
tutorials are fairly new in terms of the increasingly large
amount of people that can visually learn to apply
eyeshadow, and stay updated on popular products in a span
of a minute or less. The introduction of social media really
transformed the way humans were, and still are, able to
post/share content with anyone they desire. Above all,
celebrities truly have an influence on what society deems as
“trendy,” leading to the point that if a reality television star
such as Kim Kardashian does an eyeshadow look for a Red
Carpet appearance, many others will attempt to recreate it.
This will ultimately carry on to social media, with many
makeup artists posting video tutorials of Kim Kardasian’s
eyeshadow on Instagram. I personally see this first hand on
my Instagram feed, for almost every day I see a new post
regarding a recreation of a celebrity’s makeup. For instance,
today I came across a makeup artist’s post with images of
Kylie Jenner next to images of recreations of her makeup. It
was captioned “choose your favorite #kyliejenner makeup
recreation. Tag someone who would like this.” The fact that
the media is the quickest and most efficient way to reach a
large audience at once clarifies how Instagram eyeshadow
tutorials are a relatively new aspect. Referring back to the
Instagram comment under the Kylie Jenner post, the
inclusion of a hashtag and the component of tagging a friend
is something that had never existed in antecedents of this
genre.¶ ... [1]
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portraying certain concepts. The rhetoric of these antecedent genres differ from the captions in

terms of including academic vocabulary and formal structure of the information presented. For

instance, a specific line from a 1943 fitness manual states:

the purpose of the program outlined in this manual is to make secondary school pupils
physically fit to undertake tasks that they will probably be called upon7

The academic jargon found within fitness manuals are clearly different from Instagram workout

captions. Not only does the content vary, but the formal language does as well, adding a direct

example to why workout captions are particularly new. The reason for this newness is the change

of what is ‘popular’ in present-day culture, making Instagram workout captions a new form of

attaining workout routines.

Analyzing the conventions and rhetorical situations of Instagram workout captions and

those of its antecedents clarifies the modern aspect of captions. It is evident that workout

captions utilize modern-day colloquialism, and a wide variety of information to invite the

audience to read its content. On the other hand, VHS exercise tapes and fitness booklets consist

of strict explanations of health-related topics purely aimed to instruct the audience. The audience

of Instagram (as a social media base) unquestionably consists of the youth of today, thus growing

to be a mainstream form of media-sharing. As a result, workout captions are popular tools for

those who currently exercise. With the conventions of including personal information, listed

exercises, and hashtags, as well as the rhetorical usage of positive tone, it is clear that Instagram

workout captions are a new genre of today.

7 eye makeup through Cleopatra’s reign as queen. With this,
Wilzbach, Carl A. “Physical Fitness Through Health Education for the Victory Corps, 1943.”
American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health34, no. 8 (1944): 905–6.
https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.34.8.905.
Deleted: Principally, as the makeup industry evolved over
time, forms of communicating and displaying new trends of
eye makeup have been increasingly sourced through social
media, with a large amount of content stemming from
Instagram posts. The use of social media proves Instagram
eyeshadow tutorials to be fairly new compared to its
antecedents of 1980s advertisements, and the emergence of
societal demands for wanting to be trendy and popular are
huge driving forces to upload more Instagram eyeshadow
posts for days to come.
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