Pursuit
Achievement
Belonging
Devotion
Performance
Connection
Commitment
Limitations
Isolation
Sacrifice
Suffering
• Figure 1: The duality of pursuing a goal and suffering contained in a leidenschaft unfolds in three interrelated
ways—people strive for achievements, but struggle with their limitations; they seek belonging with others
engaged in the same activity, but isolate themselves from the public; and they devote themselves to their
activities, but must make sacrifices.
may it be playing the piano,
competing in a triathlon, or any
other activity people value.
[ 1] Ploderer, B., Howard,
S., and Thomas, P.
“Being Online, Living
Offline: The influence
of social ties over
the appropriation of
social network sites.”
In Proceedings of the
ACM 2008 Conference
on Computer Supported
Cooperative Work
(2008): 333–342.
September + October 2009
interactions
The Three Elements
of Leidenschaft
We observed members on
BodySpace, a social network site
specifically for people involved in
fitness and bodybuilding. Similar
to other social network sites like
Facebook, BodySpace allows people to craft their profiles, establish connections, and communicate with other users through
posts, private messages, and
blogs. Additionally, BodySpace
offers features such as training
statistics and progress pictures
to help bodybuilders keep track
of their training. There is also a
supplement store to generate revenue via the member network.
In order to understand the
meaning behind the interactions on BodySpace and the
site’s significance for bodybuilding, two of us (Ploderer and
Thomas) also worked out in a
gym. We observed bodybuilders in various gyms, attended
bodybuilding competitions, and
interviewed 25 bodybuilders in
the U.S. and in Australia. The
triangulation of methods online
and offline has enabled us (as
nonbodybuilders) to acquire an
understanding of social network
sites and bodybuilding itself.
Our findings show that the
duality of leidenschaft unfolds
in three interconnected ways:
First, bodybuilders work hard to
improve their performance and
strive for a certain achievement;
second, they seek connections
with others sharing the same
leidenschaft; and finally, bodybuilders invest time, work, and
money in their leidenschaft and
develop a commitment to it. All
three aspects gravitate toward
a positive end, but each also
exposes suffering: The pursuit
of achievements surfaces one’s
limitations; seeking connections
with a group comes at the cost
of isolation from others; and
committing to a passion also
implies sacrificing other things
for it. As illustrated in Figure 1,
these three aspects constitute
dualities that reflect the larger
duality of pursuit and suffering
contained within a leidenschaft.
Here, we use the case of bodybuilding to elaborate on these
three dualities, and building on
our previous work, we will discuss how the dualities open up
opportunities for the design of
technologies [ 1].
Leidenschaft and Performance.
One element of leidenschaft is
that people strive for an achievement. Bodybuilders strive to
transform their bodies in order
to compete in bodybuilding
shows, where they have to simultaneously look both muscular
and lean. To gain muscularity,
amateur bodybuilders usually
work out in the gym once or
twice a day, six days a week.
Four to six times a day, they eat
very healthy and regimented
food, including various food supplements to grow their muscles.
In order to get lean while keeping
their muscle size for a competition, they go through what one
of our participants, Bill, 27, called
the “hell of preparation.”
Over three to four months
they maintain training intensity
while gradually decreasing their
food consumption. They literally
starve in order to get their body
fat down to 7 percent (women)
or 3 percent (men). Such a low
energy state can have severe
physical and emotional consequences. Our participants
reported that it is almost impossible for them to pursue their
jobs or maintain long conversations. However, this is the condition that is necessary to enter a
bodybuilding competition. While
preparing backstage for a competition, they eat sweets, which
spike their blood-sugar levels,
giving them the energy needed
to step onstage. Tanned, oiled,
blinded by the strong lights, and
almost naked, they pose for 10
to 15 minutes for the judges, a
small audience of fellow bodybuilders, and applauding fans.
Competition forces bodybuilders to confront their limitations.
This can lead to severe inner
conflicts, as expressed by one of
our participants, John, 28: “Well,
we are never happy with our
