Kudos, segments, and heatmaps

The development and utilization of social media apps creates both opportunities and ‎challenges for users, a phenomenon that includes the endurance sport community. The Strava app, ‎launched in 2009, has grown in popularity to approximately 100 million users as of March 2024. At ‎times referred to as social media for endurance athletes, Strava illustrates a specific form of virtual ‎communication worthy of examination. In this paper the aims are to: 1) describe the app features and ‎its impact on users, both the benefits and the challenges; 2) explore a number of ethical issues associated ‎with using Strava. Methods include a philosophical approach with a particular focus on the American ‎philosophical tradition (e.g., Henry David Thoreau, William James, Henry Bugbee), along with first-person ‎accounts of using Strava for running and swimming workouts.‎