Doing auto-netnography: the everyday personal use of self-tracking technologies
Topics: Qualitative Methods
, Digital Geographies
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Keywords: Auto-netnography, self-tracking, embodiment, datafication
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 31
Authors:
Olivia Fletcher, University of Liverpool
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Abstract
This paper explores the potential of the methodological practice of auto-netnography, an approach that extends netnography which “highlights the role of the netnographer’s experiences of his or her own online experiences” (Kozinets and Kedzior, 2009, p.8), to research the body in relation to digital self-tracking. Auto-netnography is a method that involves the researcher’s deep engagement with online communities, documenting this through ethnographic reflexivity. Auto-netnography is an important methodology to develop as many aspects of everyday life are subject to datafication (van Dijck, 2014) and thus digital spaces have become a continuation of, embedded within, and interact with people’s everyday (offline) lives. This paper offers a reflection on my own experiences of employing auto-netnography (on Strava, the Step Count app and associated social media) in my doctoral studies on young people’s use of self-tracking devices and the geographies of surveillance. This paper discusses how auto-netnography allows us to reflect on how the data collected is embodied and experienced in relation to everyday lives, discussing the practical and ethical challenges of conducting auto-netnography, such as the role of my body within the research process and how the body might impact and be impacted by the research. The paper contributes to conversations about new ways to research through a digital lens, whilst developing debates in digital geographies around the entanglements of the fleshy and digital body, allowing for and recognising the messiness of data in our everyday lives, bodies and identities.
Doing auto-netnography: the everyday personal use of self-tracking technologies
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
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