Fitness has a major role to play in the fast-changing global landscape, both in terms of harnessing the power of technology and shielding us from its more harmful aspects, Randi Zuckerberg told delegates at IHRSA 2016 today (23 March).

Zuckerberg, who is CEO of Zuckerberg Media, author of Dot Complicated, and sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, delivered a high-energy keynote about technology trends that are shaping the fitness industry and the way we do business.

Under the theme – ‘It’s Dot Complicated’ – Zuckerberg took the audience through the opportunities and threats afforded by technological advancements and noted that fitness can be used as a force for good in both instances. In a world where screen-staring is becoming many people’s number one pastime, Zuckerberg said the value of fitness in helping us to energise our bodies and find balance by disconnecting from the digital world will become increasingly prominent.

“It’s important to find balance, unplug and from time to time have a digital detox,” she said. “Health and fitness can be the key to getting away from it all and helping us to head outdoors to enjoy movement and mindfulness.”

Zuckerberg said another trend impacting the fitness industry and wider world is the on-demand economy. She noted how we can now obtain massages and other services virtually instantaneously through the ‘Uberisation’ of the marketplace, and said this yields major opportunities for fitness businesses in providing consumers with instant workout plans and personal trainers.

She also highlighted how gamification has spawned a slew of motivational apps that seek to either encourage or shame you into exercise, such as apps which make charity donations on your behalf if you choose to stay in bed, or the scales that automatically tweet your weight.

Another big trend Zuckerberg pointed to is the fact that everyone has the potential to be a media company these days and build an audience around their content.

“If you have an online presence at all, you are a media company,” she explained. “You have an incredible opportunity to be an expert, a thought leader – to do something in your industry – and you have a huge megaphone to do it.”

But she cautioned that this power must be used responsibly, citing the example of an executive who threw away a lengthy career through a single thoughtless tweet.

Zuckerberg concluded that technology can massively enrich our lives, but reiterated the importance of taking a break from the digital world from time to time. She said her children’s book on the character Dot – a tech-savvy girl who finds balance between her gadgets and the great outdoors – has been picked up for a children’s TV series and hopes it will help spread the message of outdoor enjoyment that she emphasises to her own children.