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Body Management Information Practices on a Female-dominant Platform

Na Li, Chuhao Wu, Hongyang Zhou, Huiran Yi, Xuefei Wang, Jie Cai, Xinyi Fu, John Carroll

TL;DR

The paper investigates how a female-dominated platform, RedNote, shapes user-driven body-management information seeking and evaluation. It uses semi-structured interviews with 18 domestic Chinese users to examine influencer commercialization, content modalities, and credibility cues. Key findings reveal that trust is bidirectional—influencers can both boost and erode credibility—while video and text formats differentially support learning and recall; challenges include unhealthy methods, low adherence, and platform-induced body anxiety. The study offers design implications such as labeling professional content, enhancing moderation for health claims, and supporting content creators to promote reliable, healthy engagement with body-management information.

Abstract

With growing awareness of long-term health and wellness, everyday body management has become a widespread practice. Social media platforms and health-related applications offer abundant information for those pursuing healthier lifestyles and more positive body images. While prior Human-Computer Interaction research has focused extensively on technology-mediated health interventions, the user-initiated practices of browsing and evaluating body management information remain underexplored. In this paper, we study a female-dominant social media platform in China to examine how users seek such information and how it shapes their lifestyle choices. Through semi-structured interviews with 18 users, we identify factors including consumerism, poster popularity, and perceived authenticity that influence decision-making, alongside challenges such as discerning reliable methods and managing body anxiety triggered by social media. We contribute insights into how content and media formats interact to shape users' information evaluation, and we outline design implications for supporting more reliable and healthy engagements with body management information.

Body Management Information Practices on a Female-dominant Platform

TL;DR

The paper investigates how a female-dominated platform, RedNote, shapes user-driven body-management information seeking and evaluation. It uses semi-structured interviews with 18 domestic Chinese users to examine influencer commercialization, content modalities, and credibility cues. Key findings reveal that trust is bidirectional—influencers can both boost and erode credibility—while video and text formats differentially support learning and recall; challenges include unhealthy methods, low adherence, and platform-induced body anxiety. The study offers design implications such as labeling professional content, enhancing moderation for health claims, and supporting content creators to promote reliable, healthy engagement with body-management information.

Abstract

With growing awareness of long-term health and wellness, everyday body management has become a widespread practice. Social media platforms and health-related applications offer abundant information for those pursuing healthier lifestyles and more positive body images. While prior Human-Computer Interaction research has focused extensively on technology-mediated health interventions, the user-initiated practices of browsing and evaluating body management information remain underexplored. In this paper, we study a female-dominant social media platform in China to examine how users seek such information and how it shapes their lifestyle choices. Through semi-structured interviews with 18 users, we identify factors including consumerism, poster popularity, and perceived authenticity that influence decision-making, alongside challenges such as discerning reliable methods and managing body anxiety triggered by social media. We contribute insights into how content and media formats interact to shape users' information evaluation, and we outline design implications for supporting more reliable and healthy engagements with body management information.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 30 sections, 1 figure, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background and Related Work
  3. Study Context: RedNote
  4. Online Body Management Communities
  5. Challenges Users Encountered in Seeking and Evaluating Health Information
  6. Method
  7. Recruitment Procedure
  8. Interview Design and Analysis
  9. Findings
  10. Trust in influencers versus everyday users.
  11. Commercial activities can decrease users' trust
  12. Professional certificates can increase trust
  13. Different content modalities influence information evaluation
  14. Users' Concerns and Challenges Regarding Body Management on RedNote
  15. Unhealthy/Extreme Measures and Struggles to Discern Reliable Methods
  16. ...and 15 more sections

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: RedNote Interfaces: (a) Body management search results page: Users search for terms like "weight loss," and posts show titles such as "Lazy people can easily gain weight without exercise" or "Weight loss tips and tricks," along with views and likes. (b) Video post: A creator shares a "zero-cost" method to develop a "slim body type," with captions summarizing the advice. (c) Photo post: A user shows before-and-after photos documenting a two-month weight loss journey, sharing tips in the caption. (d) User's profile: Displays follower count, total likes, bio, and a collection of posted photos and videos.