Tracking the Self; Women’s Experiences with Self-Tracking Technology

Self-tracking is currently on the rise with mobile device users who downloaded at least one health-related application onto their smartphone doubling between 2011 and 2012, growing to about 21 million individuals globally using their smartphones for self-monitoring their health in 2013 (BBC Research). Technology gives users the ability to record and interpret data about everything from their moods, sleep patterns, heart rate, to their calorie intake / outtake, and for this essay I will be focussing specifically on apps designed to track users’ step-counts. I will be focussing on the way women explain their experiences with tracking their day-to-day activity, and arguing whether the data-self presented by these types of apps are truly reflective of their users. Self-tracking fits into an overarching trend of healthism and self-optimisation, with more people becoming invested in taking control of their health and activity to achieve the concept of a “better self”, changing their behaviours and habits based on a system of quantifying experiences and urging users to reach a certain goal with their day. My interest is in the relationship of power between app and user when this happens, how they interact with one another, and what norms and discourses are reproduced by the use of these self-tracking apps.