Creating Dissonance: Self-Tracking Devices and their Effects on Users

Abstract

This paper explores the challenges that appear to emerge with the continuous everyday use of wearable devices for physical activity tracking. With self-tracking becoming one of the leading fitness trends over the last few years, the effects these devices have on the user warrant further investigation.

Based on theories of the extended embodied self (Fuchs, 2018) and the extended mind (Clark & Chalmers, 1998), I have argued before for tracking devices as being able to constitute an extension of the self by becoming part of a coupled system between the user and the tracking device with said coupled system then carrying out the cognitive task of gaining new self-knowledge (Schmidli, unpub.). In line with that argumentation, this paper continues to explore the effects this continued extension can have on the self of the user. The paper will furthermore lean on theories of affective technologies and hostile scaffolding to establish its point.

Drawing on empirical research that has shown that certain discrepancies are common when comparing the information given by the tracking devices and the bodily perception of the user (Nelson, 2020), this paper argues that this conflicting information can lead to a dissonance of the self. This is in line with arguments that have been made to show that extended cognition is not always beneficial to the self (Spurrett, 2024). This paper therefore argues that self-tracking devices can be considered ‘affective technologies’, and are thus capable of oppressing, manipulating, or standing in conflict with the user’s perception of their moving, embodied self, thereby affecting or changing self-knowledge.

This argument serves as a continuation of the theory of self-extension through tracking devices and aims to further elaborate on the relation between humans and digital technology, especially in a fitness context. This theory further serves as a stepping stone for empirical research to be conducted, while also giving a clearer understanding of the embodied self in the digital age.