Training the algorithm: Agency and algorithmic injustice in Instagram’s ‘whitewashed’ health and fitness spaces

Abstract

Research on women’s body image has often focused on the potential harms associated with engaging with health and fitness content on Instagram. Recently, scholars have turned their attention to exploring women’s agency in relation to social media to examine how particular groups of individuals participate in the curation of their online worlds in pursuit of a positive body image. In particular, we consider the experiences of specific racial groups who are interacting with what some claim are ‘whitewashed’ and algorithmically biased digital environments. We aim to contribute to this enquiry by drawing on semi-structured interviews and ‘content elicitation’ with 32 Chinese Canadian women who were invited to describe their experiences with health and fitness content on Instagram. We found that our participants displayed a heightened awareness of algorithmic bias and in response, attempted to actively ‘train’ their algorithms to provide content that reflected greater bodily diversity.