What jobs can you get if you do media?

What jobs are people trying to get done, when they post photos of themselves in the gym/working out, to social media sites?

• It'd seem easy to just state the "obvious": some people need external validation; a pat on the back; need to feel competitive, etc. However, I think there's more to it than that – are there some uncovered jobs that could be met by gyms and the fitness/workout industry at large?

• Answer:

  I totally agree with you that there could be unmet needs that gyms could deliver on if the had a good understanding of the jobs that people hire a gym for.  Forgive the following stream-of-consciousness reply, because I haven't done any real work in this area. I think there are some offerings out there that are doing a good job of addressing some of social dimensions involved in the hiring process (e.g. Curves weight loss centers), but there seems like there is still a lot of area for innovation. I've only done a few interviews with consumers about how they signed up for / switched gyms, and there is always strong social energy that is involved in the decision. It seems to come in many forms: Connectedness with the instructor if it's a class (close friendly relationship vs. friendly relationship vs. acquaintance).  Do I strive to connect or do I want to be left alone? Connectedness with others in the gym.  Do I want to share/talk or be left alone? (my workout time is my alone time).  Do I want to be on display (run in front of a big glass window that faces a busy street) or be hidden away? Connectedness with those outside the gym.  Can I share my progress with others (photos on FB and Instagram). As always, the interesting part is hearing the story of how someone came to prioritize what is important to them, and make tradeoffs as they go through the decision process and ultimately buy - "I didn't like the instructor that much, but I loved that the people in the class were friendly and we weren't on display, so I signed up."  And then adding up enough of those similar stories to say that we have a theory of how to design a gym with aspects that will get people to join our gym. Interestingly enough, I think products like the Nike Fuel Band are doing a great job of addressing the social-sharing dimension of the job.