While we approach the phenomenon of lifestyle gurus from a critical standpoint, this book is not a rejection of the internet. Like all new technologies, there are many cultural anxieties around the internet, especially regarding its use and impact on younger generations. The role of the internet in how we navigate lifestyle advice is more complex and nuanced than reductionist critiques about causes and necessities. The ubiquity of mobile broadband and digital devices offers incomparable benefits, providing new opportunities to share health information and experiences with others. But despite discourse about the democratic potential for social media to give everyone a voice, and the opportunity to access health advice and share knowledge at an unprecedented scale, these relations are not without their risks, not least because of the potential for information to mislead. While some internet sites are credible and well moderated, many are not. There are concerns over the quality of information found online, how to differentiate credible from bogus advice and how to recognise when advice is compromised by commercial interests. This is not because people are stupid, but because it has become increasingly difficult to know what lifestyle advice to trust online. These concerns become more pressing as scientific and medical issues become incorporated into the wellness industry. The internet is a growing source of health information and lifestyle advice that aligns with broader goals of self-improvement and personal life management. As more of us turn to the internet for answers, there is a need to become more informed about the sources we use online. Most would agree that you cannot believe everything you read online, yet it is not always clear what and whom to believe. There is a tendency to overestimate our capacity to discern quality information online, assuming that only others are fooled by pseudoscience and quackery. The Belle Gibson scandal encourages us to rethink this proposition. Gibson had over 200,000 followers on Instagram, 200,000 downloads of her app in the first two weeks of its release, and sold thousands of copies of her book. Her following enabled her to make close to half a million dollars from sales of the app and book in just eighteen months. Gibson’s rise to fame and the success of her global brand indicates how compelling her narrative was to the general public. Those duped were not confined to cancer patients in search of a miracle cure, they were health-conscious individuals, informed consumers, media pundits, nutritionists and dieticians bound by a common interest in health and well-being. It is only by understanding how lifestyle gurus like Gibson achieve authority and influence online that we are able to be better informed as consumers.
1 What is a Lifestyle Guru?
How to be among, and what to expect from, and rely upon, Others? These questions occur to every child, and are repeated, over and over again, in countless different settings, by every adult, for a lifetime. In part, the rise of today’s lifestyle gurus may be conceived as a response to these imperatives in the digital age. In this book, we use the term ‘lifestyle guru’ to refer to unlicensed native agents of awareness, positioned in conventional and social media, to offer emotional support, an identity matrix and pedagogy for self-discovery and well-being. By the term ‘unlicensed native’ we aim to highlight that lifestyle gurus are ordinary members of society, who possess limited, or no certified qualifications, and hence, no professional standing to claim expertise in emotional management, health, constitutional law and licensing matters. Lifestyle gurus employ a mixture of selective scientific knowledge, folk tradition and personal experience to offer alternative advice and guidance on medical, psychological and social problems afflicting others. The stance that they adopt is often dismissive of professional, elite knowledge and practice on the grounds that it under-values lay traditions and ordinary experience. While lifestyle gurus typically present themselves as anti-establishment, it would be an overstatement to propose that they are part of an anti-scientific movement. A sounder way of looking at things would be to describe them as generally adopting a selective, instrumental approach to science. Given that much scientific knowledge about lifestyle issues is conflicted, and often turns out on inspection to be tainted, lifestyle gurus cherry pick information to advance the profile and appeal of their own views. The media often collude in making these views newsworthy in an attempt to capture public attention. Lifestyle gurus embrace a broad range of editorial newsroom concerns from health to beauty, fitness, fashion, food, wealth, relationships and travel. They provide practical advice that people can apply in order to function more optimally and effectively under the guise of well-being. Against the implied remoteness of scientific and professional authority, with its lofty jargon that bespeaks insinuated superiority, and the uncomfortable rituals of privilege that distinguish it from habitual, mundane experience, lifestyle gurus propagate knowledge and applications that are a mixture of science, ordinary life experience, plain speaking and marginalised, discarded, or forgotten, ways and means of coping and wellness.
Lifestyle gurus typically portray themselves as offering practical, no-nonsense advice on life issues. Using psychological concepts, they propagate a cult of perfectionism that mostly celebrates and affirms middle-class values. Although there are manifold inflections of this cult, at its core are four life goals:
1 AcceptanceThe attainment of recognition and access in social groups and society at large.
2 ApprovalThe achievement of positive reactions from individuals, groups and society that reinforce a sense of self worth.
3 Social