I’m becoming increasingly convinced I may be one of the few remaining non-Fitbit
owners left as I walk around Grounds and see the recognizable bands on nearly everyone’s wrists. I’ll give them this: they look undeniably sleek and seem to motivate people to live a more active lifestyle. But what started out as simple exercise gadget may now be giving owners more leeway to harbor a self-awareness of how much or little they exercise.
The initial intention behind Fitbits was most likely harmless: to surprise people with how many steps they took in a day without even realizing it. Or if not that, then it was to encourage owners of these wristbands to live more actively. However innocent their start, Fitbits have heightened the current popular craze for dieting and healthy living. Now when we see people wearing these bands, we can rightfully assume this person is having a relatively high degree of exercise or health awareness. Why else would they spend $100 on a wristband with such a simplistic and banal style? Surely it’s not just to serve them as a watch. But since when has this accessory of self-consciousness been generally accepted so far as to become a popular trend? Since when is it cool to be insecure?
When I think of exercise or living healthily in its broadest and more relaxed sense, I certainly don’t think of counting steps. It seems unnatural and, frankly, unnecessary. Had we not the access to Fitbits, I think the consensus on judging a person’s health based on such minute details would be deemed overly concerned or too thorough. What happened to the once highly regarded idea of 30 minutes of exercise a day? This plan was simple and easily achievable. Now someone’s health is only of merit if they reach a daily step goal.
The obsession of our generation with dieting and exercise, amounting to the unspoken goal of losing weight, is revealed by the booming popularity of Fitbit bands. Not only does this glorified wristwatch enable such a diligent monitoring of calories burned and steps taken, but competition is promoted amongst fellow Fitbit owners — the mobile app sparks a sense of rivalry or besting over who can be the most active or take the greatest number of steps in a day. We’re losing sight of the purpose of exercise in its fundamental and personal sense.
It’s bad enough that Fitbits have remodeled our once plain and straightforward conception of exercise into a scrutinizing counting of steps and tracking of calories, but we can’t blame it all on technology. After all, we are allowing for this glorification of self-consciousness and making it a trend.
Seeing a Fitbit, we are made aware of how the people around us are living actively and feel a pressure to do the same. It’s become popular to be concerned with what and how much or little we eat. It’s in style to be concerned with your weight or body type. Fitbits equip us to house these self-conscious thoughts. We can point our fingers at technology for this much, but we can’t deny the fact that we allow this trend of obsessive self-scrutiny to persist by buying them.
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