Before the rise of social media—and especially pre-Covid—the opportunities to capitalize from one’s attractiveness or athleticism were mostly limited to modeling, acting–or for the most gifted–professional sports. However, the emergence of the ‘fitness influencer category’, combined with the growing perception of being overweight as low status in a visually-driven online world, has created entire new niche for guys who maybe were not cut out for competitive sports or who were not the biggest, the fastest, or the strongest growing up, but have found a second wind on social media.
So being an athlete must be better than being an influencer? Not necessarily. Pro sports careers short and injury-prone. Most players retire by the their early thirties. By comparison, influencers span all ages. Regarding pay, the vast majority of contracts are much more modest than the 8 or even 9-figure deals that make headlines. Moreover, athleticism early in life is no assurance of staying that way if one gains weight after college or retiring, which is a common occurrence, and made worse by chronic injuries. Another advantage is versatility, such as looking good on one’s profile picture–a more modest but still useful goal. On Twitter/X, it’s not uncommon for someone to be ‘face-shaped’ [0], compared to as recently as 2020-2021 when Covid created a socially-acceptable excuse for those less visually fortunate to literally hide their imperfections. So appearance does matter, and probably more than ever.
Other options include viral binging or food review videos, in which being thin is seen as an asset, as it contrasts or offsets the performative gluttony of the act. Being fat is expected and invites criticism, as opposed to evoking awe of someone who eats a lot but is not fat. It’s not so much that people are opposed to overeating per se, but how it’s attached to obesity, which makes it bad.
I surmise success at the influencer game requires a fast metabolism, more so than big muscles, as leanness is paramount; and moreover, to stave off the middle-age weight gain that is typical in life. Like athleticism, metabolism is highly genetic or innate, although not at the same level of extreme rarity as being talented enough to play professional sports. Starting from a higher baseline TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) means more room to cut calories to achieve the sought leanness—as well as staving off becoming fat later in life even if one has no aspirations of influencer fame,
Regarding metabolism, if we imagine two homogenous individuals at homeostasis, at, say, 80kg, who have a baseline TDEE of 4,000 kcal/day and 2,500 kcal/day respectively (such intraindividual variance is not unheard of when it comes to metabolism), the former will have more root to cut calories to lose weight. If they both cut their daily caloric intake by 50-percent, even if they perceive same level of hunger and discomfort, the first will lose more weight simply owing to having a bigger metabolic furnace. This is key. When thousands of people watch fitness content and only a handful are successful at applying the techniques in said video or tweet (e.g. ‘cut calories’), those those who are successful or are influencers themselves, I posit have faster metabolisms, as a higher TDEE means more calories to spare and a faster fat-burning rate.
At some point everyone hits a plateau, in which further weight loss is not possible at a given daily calorie level, controlling for weight and height. Where this stall vs. weight occurs is mediated by genes to a large extent. Someone with good metabolism genes will stall out a lower bodyfat percentage relative to calories consumed. Someone who stalls out at 2,000-1,600 kcal/day while still being overweight has poor genetics for leanness, as cutting more calories will be too unpleasant or infeasible (many such cases), or lead to nutritional deficiencies and muscle loss due to eating so little. By contrast, someone who is able to keep losing weight at a higher intake, conversely has better genetics for being lean; so in this case, producing a lot of waste heat energy. Waste is good in this context, whereas wastefulness is otherwise seen as a negative in life.
At almost everything in life, at some point, we run up against our biological limits. This can be long-distance running, or learning an instrument, where practice only goes so far, but likely the same principle is true for achieving and maintaining leanness. Technology can raise those limits (e.g. lighter running shoes, or GLP-1 drugs for weight loss), but if we assume everyone has access to the same drugs or technology, then biology will still be the deciding factor, as environment has now been controlled for. Even merely not being fat, let alone being an influencer, is to some extent genetic in a world where at least three-quarters of the general population are at least overweight–either requiring superior ‘willpower genes’, or metabolism genes, or a natural aversion to calorie-dense processed foods.
So like VO2 max when it comes to cycling, or fast vs slow twitch muscles in the context of explosiveness vs endurance, fast metabolism is just another trait that has its own uses, that being attractiveness well into adulthood and the social status this confers, whether it’s being an influencer or just looking good online.
[0] This is where someone will repost only someone’s Twitter/X avatar as the reply, typically a headshot. Because Twitter compresses images, the effect of the tiny, compressed avatar being ‘blown up’ is especially unflattering when someone carries a lot of facial fat from obesity or is otherwise unattractive.