Ray’s BodyBlog

STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT FROM THOSE WITH REAL PROGRESS?

I have the luxury of being able to be signed in to BodyBuilding.com all day when I am at work. That doesn’t necessarily mean I am surfing it all day, but I can frequently check to see the “NEWEST” progress shots. I’ve received a lot of positive peer praise from this site, and when I see someone who deserves it, I appreciate the opportunity to do my part to motivate and encourage them. For me, that peer recognition has helped me greatly the last 5 weeks.

By being able to frequently check-in, I have noticed that MOST of the time there are photos posted as MOST RECENT PROGRESS PHOTOS which are really OLD PHOTOS, or at best, photos that have been re-posted several times. My assumption is that the number of hits one gets to their website is a status symbol. Perhaps in the same way a positive comment boosts our ego. And, in one case, I believe the member is promoting his business, not his progress.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the ability to change my profile photo to suit my mood or whatever, I just don’t necessarilly think the entire membership needs to know I did it, unless it’s actually a new photo.

Regardless of the motivation for re-posting photos or changing your profile photo 15 times a day, what we are really doing is robbing those who are really making progress from their 15 minutes of fame on the home page, and isn’t THAT what this site is all about?  Giving support to those who are making progress!

I thought it would be funny to post the photo above as a progress shot. I was surprised by the number of members who have shared my view and appreciated the humor. On the other hand, I have had a FEW members who have really been pissed. However, I think the ones who are pissed are also the ones who are guilty. I’ve been told to mind my own business, get a life, bother someone else, and “I’m done with you man,” claiming THEY are taking the higher road!

My understanding is that ADVERTISING is not allowed on this site. I hope that we as members will respect the rules and respect those who deserve our praise for building a better body. It’s all about being better today than you were yesterday, and being better in the future than we are today.

As always, this is just my opinion, but I say we HELP each other, not fuel our own ego or pocket! -Ray

This entry was posted on Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.