Insta-Trainer: The cultural and social impact of Instagram on the well-being, diet, and lifestyles of young Qatari women

Abstract

In my thesis, I introduce the term Insta-Trainer to describe a new paradigm of instantaneous training facilitated by visual-based social media platforms, particularly Instagram. This concept highlights how users—especially young women in Qatar—are trained to adopt self-disciplining practices in health, lifestyle, and diet through seemingly informal yet persuasive digital content. The idea of Insta-Training is central to understanding how platforms function as instant pedagogical tools. I draw on Foucauldian (Foucault, 1977; 1978; 1991), postfeminist (Gill, 2007; 2017; Banet-Weiser et al., 2020), and neoliberal (Harvey, 2005; Berry, 2017) frameworks to analyse the interplay between platform design, algorithmic governance, and user behaviour. My research interrogates how Instagram’s multialgorithms influence users’ health choices, the negotiation of agency within these spaces, and the behavioural patterns shaped by micro-trends. I also explore how these practices shifted pre- and post-COVID-19. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006; 2012; 2021; 2022), I analyse 41 survey responses and eight in-depth interviews to extract three core themes: 1. The Healthy Qatari Citizen explores biopolitical narratives of health and critiques how these are internalised and enacted through platform use. 2. Curated Digital Manuals (CDMs) examines three types of content curation on Instagram, addressing visibility labour, cultural erasure, and algorithmic bias. 3. The New Wave of Online Consumption investigates changing digital habits post-pandemic, including mass unfollowing of influencers and more intentional engagement. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to Media and Cultural Studies and the literature on Arab Gulf women. The concept of Insta-Trainer offers a framework that future researchers can use to critically examine the influence of platforms on health, identity, and culture in digitally mediated societies.