Mathilde Hallgren, Nanna Rønne & Ulrik Wagner
Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports (NEXS), University of Copenhagen
The exercise platform Strava combines self-tracking capabilities with social media features and enables interaction, inspiration and competition between its users. With inspiration from Erving Goffman’s theory this study investigates how online interaction affects Strava-users’ running experiences and self-presentations. Through semi-structured interviews supplemented by netnographic observations, Strava is analyzed as a performative scene where physical and social ideals are staged and negotiated. The study identifies how Strava’s visual feedback mechanism and interactions from other users both strengthen motivation and create performance pressures. The self-presentation of Strava-users is formed through roles that are negotiated in the intersection between authenticity and idealization. Informed by Axel Honneth’s ideas about recognition as a macro-sociological backdrop, we discuss how young Strava-users’ struggle for recognition can be seen as a reflection of digital behavior that blurs the distinction between the private and a solidarity sphere. Accordingly, the study contributes to an enhanced understanding of the interplay between technology, social interaction, and identity constructions in modern digital sport communities.
Click to access this peer review article in Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum, Vol. 17, 2026
MATHILDE HALLGREN holds a degree in Sport Science and works as a research assistant at the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sport (NEXS), University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on outdoor recreation and physical activity. She applies qualitative methods and sociological perspectives and is currently engaged in a project exploring gravel cycling and recreational use of nature.
NANNA RØNNE holds a master’s degree in Humanities and Social Science of Sport with a minor in History, both from the University of Copenhagen. She currently works as a physical education teacher at Allerød Gymnasium.
ULRIK WAGNER, Ph.D., holds a position as Associate Professor at the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sport (NEXS), University of Copenhagen. His research interests include sport and physical activities in the intersection between business, politics, leisure, and media – often with a sociological perspective. He teaches and supervises topics related to qualitative methodologies and social theory. He is currently engaged in a project exploring gravel cycling.
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