Strava Rises as Instagram Rival Among Active Youth

The fitness tracking app Strava has become a social media alternative for many active young people, where they share achievements, follow friends' activities, and make new connections. The app is used by over 195 million people in more than 180 countries. Young users say that kudos and comments motivate them to train more.

For many active young people, the day no longer starts with Instagram, but with Strava, a fitness tracking app that has evolved into a kind of social network for the sports world.

Training diary meets social network

Strava combines a training journal with a social platform. The app maps user workouts, analyzes performance, and allows users to share results with others. It is most popular among runners and cyclists, but a total of 53 different activities can be logged in the app, ranging from walking to kitesurfing. Instead of likes, users share kudos in Strava, and you can also comment on others' workouts.

The app is used by over 195 million people in more than 180 countries. In addition to the free version, a paid version offers personalized training plans and predictions for future workouts.

"If the workout isn't on Strava, did it even happen?"

Nineteen-year-old Keitlyn admits that not all her workouts make it to the public eye. "If I can't manage more than 15 minutes of running, that only gets saved to my watch. But if I do a three-hour run and everything goes well, then it goes on Strava."

According to her, her smartwatch and Strava serve different purposes. "On the watch app, I analyze my workouts myself, but on Strava others see them." The reactions of others play an important role for her. "When I finish a workout, it feels good that someone sees that I did well. A kudos is like praise, and a comment is even better."

Keitlyn adds that Strava sometimes even influences how she sets her goals. "I did 100 kilometres on skis last spring. If I hadn't been able to log that on Strava, I wouldn't have done it."

Community and competition in one app

Strava is also used as a way to compare athletic performance. Keitlyn says that before competitions, she often checks her competitors' workouts and even analyzes their heart rate data.

For nineteen-year-old Kadriana, Strava's value lies in the community. "Those who have Strava understand it. Most of my friends use it." The app has also brought her new connections-people who do the same sport. "Communication mainly happens through kudos, but still you feel like you know them."

Twenty-year-old Elise downloaded the app initially just for the aesthetic Strava stories, like she saw on others. "But now that I've uploaded my own workouts, I automatically check out what others have done too," she says. Alice, who has been using the app for six years, opens her friends' workouts every time she gets a notification. "When I get a notification that a friend has been running, I definitely open it and take a look."