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20th December 2016
12:10am GMT
Not that long ago, in a galaxy very, very nearby, an Instagram account appeared under the name @thegymwhisperer.
It claimed to be a space where pretenders to the title of #Irishfitfam would be called out, under the guise of exposing their false claims.
Y'know, they'd post pics of guys who "clearly didn't lift" alongside a weighed-down squat bar, or of a girl showing off her #squatgoals, asking why she felt it necessary to take all of her pics from behind.
It very quickly turned from asking wannabe personal trainers (#PTintraining) where they got their qualifications from to targeting Irish fitness Instagrammers for the littlest perceived slight.
But things quickly got just a little bit nasty: The Gym Whisperer asked for Instagram users to send in their pics – to suggest the fitness Instagrammers who deserved to be "exposed", and they did in their droves.
What started out as an account calling out and highlighting people who called themselves "fitness coaches" (without qualifications) turned into a slanging match, targeting high-profile #fitfammers for every perceived slight.
It's no surprise that things quickly went downhill, from comment threads accusing people of steroid abuse to collages of Instagrammers' selfies placed side by side with candid shots that cast them in less than flattering lights.
The account was eventually taken down – but, y'know, this is the internet, so there's just another username around the corner, and pretty quickly @thegymwhisperer2.0 and 3.0 and 4.0 were born.
Well, we're up to 5.0, and @thegymwhispererofficial even has a rival in the form of @gymwhisperer4.0, who claims to be doing pretty much the same thing but, y'know, nicer.
Well on the one hand, everything is there to be satirised, right?
And if someone's putting selfies online that bear no relation to reality – well, there's an argument where pointing out the fake nature of Instagram is probably good for the world in general, and particularly those taking their first steps on a fitness journey.
But when you find yourself feeling a slight thrill at another smug #fitfammer being publicly shamed, you have to ask: who's the troll now?
