Digitized and Datafied Embodiment: A More-than-Human Approach

Lupton, Deborah; Clark, Marianne; Southerton, Clare

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-42681-1_65-1

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 62%

“…In the anecdote above, the body and more-than-human objects such as the handbag emerge as vital to how the specific affordances of the Stocard app materialise and become articulated. This finding reminds us that mobile media are always situated in relation to other objects, bodies and technologies (Lupton et al, 2022). In line with Couldry (2012: x), we suggest analyses of mobile media should "not assume media are the most important things in people's lives" but instead be "grounded in the analysis of everyday action and habit".…”

Section: Everyday Efficienciessupporting

confidence: 77%

“…In many ways this is Mobile apps, embodiment, and mundane software unsurprising, as apps, often accessed through fingertips tapping and swiping smartphones which themselves are usually kept nestled against the body in pockets or a handbag, are almost always present or close by as people engage in daily routines and personal encounters. Apps are always already embodied as they come together with human users (Pink and Fors, 2017;Salmela et al, 2018;Lupton and Maslen, 2018;Wilmott et al, 2017;Lupton et al, 2022). The participants articulated how the specific affordances of apps are both contingent upon and materialised through embodied gestures, behaviours and encounters with other bodies and objects in the context of everyday life.…”

Section: Discussion and Concluding Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are further interested in the embodied production and performance of the mundane as it relates to digital technology use. Scholars have pointed out how the embeddedness of technology in our daily lives is at least partly contingent upon the habitual relationships and growing sense of familiarity that unfolds between human bodies and digital technologies (Lupton et al, 2022;Clark et al, 2022;Southerton and Taylor, 2020). Within these relationships, both human and more-than-human entities are active participants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the term "sociomaterialism" captures multiple strands of thought, several overarching tenets can be identified. Amongst these commonalities is the insistence that meaning is not determined solely by human agents but rather through the relationships that unfold between humans, social worlds and morethan-human entities including objects, technologies and environments (Lupton et al, 2022;Thorpe et al, 2021). This approach brings the material world and processes of materiality to the fore.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The materialities and embodiments of mundane software: exploring how apps come to matter in everyday life

Clark

Lupton²

2022

OIR

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PurposeIn this article, the authors aim to explore mobile apps as both mundane and extraordinary digital media artefacts, designed and promoted to improve or solve problems in people's lives. Drawing on their “App Stories” project, the authors elaborate on how the efficiencies and affordances credited to technologies emerge and are performed through the specific embodied practices that constitute human–app relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe project involved short written accounts in an online survey from 200 Australian adults about apps. Analysis was conducted from a sociomaterial perspective, surfacing the emotional and embodied responses to and engagements with the apps; the relational connections described between people and their apps or with other people or objects; and what the apps enabled or motivated people to do.FindingsFindings point to three salient concerns about apps: (1) the need for efficiency; (2) the importance and complexity of human relationships and maintaining these connections; and (3) the complex relationships people have with their bodies. These concerns are expressed through themes that reflect how everyday efficiencies are produced through human–app entanglements; apps as relational agents; apps' ability to know and understand users; and future app imaginaries.Originality/valueThis project explores the affective and embodied dimensions of app use and thinks through the tensions between the extraordinary and mundane dimensions of contemporary techno-social landscapes, reflecting on how apps “matter” in everyday life. Our analysis surfaces the active role of the body and bodily performances in the production of app efficiencies and underlines the ways mobile apps are always situated in relation to other media and materialities.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Everyday Efficienciessupporting

confidence: 77%