Online Doping

• In Sweden, but also internationally, official regimes and public health organizations conduct fairly comprehensive anti-doping measures. As a consequence, numerous ‘new’ ways to learn about and access these types of drugs have emerged. Social media and different Internet forums, for example, have become part of a new self-help culture in which mainly young people anonymously can approach these substances, discuss their experiences of using them, and minimize the possibility of encounters with the police. What we see today is the development of new doping trajectories. This presentation is based on a ethnographical inspired research project that focuses on how the use of performance- and image-enhancing drugs (PED) is perceived and negotiated socially in the context of an Internet-mediated and online community called Flashback. The results of the study are in accordance with similar studies on Internet bodybuilding communities. That is, even though the community members to a certain degree are aware of the risks and health costs of this kind of physical regime, the gains of using PED clearly dominate the discussions. Adding to this research, the results also indicate that in the imaginary world of online bodybuilding a number of ideas about the ‘genetic max’, as well as the ultimate possibility of exceeding one’s limits, and creating something special and extra-ordinary, circulate. These stories confirm in many ways the legitimate mission of searching for the ultimate bodybuilding adventure, using different means and methods to transcend the limits of the self/body.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Idrottsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Sport and Fitness Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Sport Science

Idrottsvetenskap

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