My colleague Glen Fuller and I have started a new project on people’s use of fitness self-tracking apps and platforms (such as Strava and RunKeeper). We are interviewing people who are active users of these devices, seeking to identify why they have chosen to take up these practices, what apps and platforms they use, how they use them and what they do with the personal data that are generated from these technologies. We are interested in exploring issues around identity and self-representation, concepts of health, fitness and the body, privacy, surveillance and data practices and cultures.
The city in which we live and work, Canberra, is an ideal place to conduct this project, as there are many ardent cyclists and runners living here.
See here for our project’s website and further details of the study.
This Sociological Life 
Hello Deborah,
It’s unclear whether or not you’ve decided to exclude wearable tech (Fitbits, Fuelbands, etc.) that feed information ‘passively’ (i.e. they’re recording, but you don’t need to turn them on/off as you would with Runkeeper) back to phone apps and associated dashboards. Just wondering a bit about that decision.
Best,
Natalie
Hi Natalie
We are including any device or app that our participants are choosing to use.
Gotcha! Thanks so much for clarifying. I’m curious to see if people talk about some of the apps designed to accompany and encourage exercise, like Zombies, Run. The tracking is a bit different, but they have done the gamification of exercise quite well. Thanks again!
Hi again Natalie. I discuss some preliminary material from this project here, if you are interested: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2636709
Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll take a look.