The Self-Surveillance Failures of Wearable Communication

Abstract

By discursively analyzing blogs and popular press articles written by people who discontinued using Fitbit, this article reveals the incongruities between the tracking of our bodily information, the communication of that bodily information via wearables, and the promises of changing of users’ attitudes and behaviors with how wearables are actually used in practice. The discourses of discontinuance in this analysis also reveal how former Fitbit engenders feelings of disconnection and may affect users in detrimental ways. As a result, and despite the predominant framing and conceptualization of wearables as “motivating,” “empowering,” and “useful” (self)surveillance tools, I argue that Fitbit is an example of a failure both of self-surveillance and of wearable communication for helping users achieve their health and fitness goals. Finally, I argue that we need to start thinking about wearable communication like other forms of communication that are inherently inconsistent and contradictory, and that can be accepted, negotiated, or rejected by users. Instead of focusing on the disciplinary or controlling potentials of wearables as a form of self-surveillance, this paper considers the resistance and negotiations inherent in the (dis)use of wearables, and demonstrates the necessity of exploring both wearables and surveillance itself in relation to fundamental understandings of communication.

Social interaction, support preferences, and the use of wearable health trackers

“…The need to consider potentially negative outcomes from social comparison however are important. Social comparison can have negative effects on body image and mental health (Scheid and Lupien, 2021;Zimbars, 2021;Russell et al, 2023). While research generally views the desire to engage in more exercise as a good thing, Russell et al (2023) note that social comparison may encourage exercise to the detriment of individuals.…”

“…Similarly, Li et al (2019) found that when users compared themselves to someone outperforming them, it could lead to frustration and decrease use. Further, past work has identified concerns related to WHT use in terms of mental health and body image (Scheid and Lupien, 2021;Zimbars, 2021). While Russell et al (2023) did find that participants who used the running app Strava considered social comparison as a motivator to use the app more, participants also expressed concern about the negative impacts from comparison, including greater feelings of anxiety and sadness.…”

The “Dark Side” of General Health and Fitness-Related Self-Service Technologies: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

“…Wearable activity trackers prompted users to engage in social competition, but this caused a reduction of self-efficacy in users who performed poorly in the competition (Rieder et al 2021). Fitbit users reported that focusing on goals, especially unmet goals, made them experience a sense of disconnection from their body's internal signals and their real personal objectives (Zimdars 2021).…”

Wearable witnesses: Deathlogging and framing wearable technology data in “Fitbit murders”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic's emphasis on mobile media such as community contact tracing apps positioned wearable technologies as means of assessing individuals’ health and tracking locations (de Souza e Silva & Xiong-Gum, 2023; Gilmore, 2021). Wearables have also been studied in research on location tracking (Beattie & Cassidy, 2021; Gilmore, 2020) as well as surveillance (Zimdars, 2021).…”