The term "Quantified Self" gained media visibility between 2008 and the mid-2010s. "For some observers, the emerging interest in the "quantification of the self" or the "Quantified Self" must first and foremost be related to the increasing diffusion of connected objects (sensors, bracelets, watches and mobile applications, etc.) that are resolutely attached to people (worn on oneself in a particularly continuous manner). For other analysts, the "Quantified Self" designates an extension and renewal of the ways of measuring bodies, mental states and human activities.
This folder of the journal Réseaux proposes to "take a distanced look at the development of self-quantification, to explore its origins and variety by taking seriously the importance of the digital turn".
- This dossier opens with an overview of social science research on Quantified Self (QS): at the crossroads of sociology, anthropology and STS (Science, Technology and Society). Éric Dagiral, Christian Licoppe and Anne-Sylvie Pharabod report on the publications dedicated to the analysis of the socio-political movement of the Quantified Self, thematize "the major questions that organize these works (ethics and self-management; discipline, control and surveillance; uses and experiences of the QS) ", before proposing a classification of the available studies of uses that takes into account the methods of investigation implemented and the types of privileged fields.
- Minna Ruckenstein and Mika Pantzar review the treatment of Quantified Self by the American techno-optimist magazine Wired through the analysis of some forty articles published between 2008 and 2012. Moustafa Zouinar opens "the black box of the principles that govern their design" and categorizes and analyzes the main functions of self-tracking devices, before proposing a novel analysis of the design theories inscribed in these technologies across a wide spectrum of disciplinary anchors.
- The researchers involved in the ANR QUANTISELF project examine "the consequent place of numbers in attention to oneself at different ages of life": they point out the differences between men and women in the adoption of digital tools (applications, bracelets or watches). They show that "the stakes of self-quantification evolve according to the life cycle: regulation of an unstable life in the youngest, rationalization of professional, domestic and personal lives after the birth of children, prevention against the threats of advancing age after 50 years".
- Anne-Sylvie Pharabod proposes, in conclusion, " a dive into the making and use of personal figures on oneself by zooming in on a central practice of Quantified Self that is paradoxically completely unknown: the quantification of walking thanks to the pedometers present in many smartphones and bracelets. She explains, in particular, "why digital pedometers contribute only marginally to the transformation of walking practices".
- Éric Dagiral, Christian Licoppe and Anne-Sylvie Pharabod: Le Quantified Self en question(s) Un état des lieux des travaux de sciences sociales consacrés à l'automesure des individus
- Éric Dagiral, Christian Licoppe, Olivier Martin and Anne-Sylvie Pharabod: Beyond the Quantified Self. Thematic exploration of a data-driven paradigm
- Minna Ruckenstein and Mika Pantzar. Theories and design principles of digital self-measurement systems. From quantification to distributed self-regulation.
- Moustafa Zouinar: Making room for numbers in self-care. A sociology of quantification and recording practices at different ages of life
- Éric Dagiral, Séverine Dessajan, Tomas Legon, Olivier Martin, Anne-Sylvie Pharabod and Serge Proulx: Faire place aux chiffres dans l'attention à soi. A sociology of quantification and recording practices at different ages of life
- Anne-Sylvie Pharabod: "Doing your 10,000 steps", really? An investigation on ordinary self-tracking practices.
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