The paradox of mobility technology usage: How GPS sports watches keep “active lifestylers” (im)mobile

Historically, recreational running grew partially with the aim of controlling the side effects of “sedentary” lifestyles and physical inactivity, i.e., obesity, heart diseases and other health risks. This trend developed in the 19th century, with the emergence of middle classes who had the requisite time and resources to exercise during their leisure time. Recreational running became popular in the 1970s, within the context of renewed societal attention to fitness and physical health, which developed in countries such as the USA and spread quickly to other industrialised nations. Based on ethnographic research, I discuss in this article the crucial role that mobile tracking devices, as markers of an active lifestyle, play in keeping runners (im)mobile. I focus on how the data generated by GPS sports watches are widely shared and used by runners and their followers in general as well as specialised social media platforms. I disentangle why, paradoxically, these mobility technologies make exemplary mobile people more immobile, because many hours are spent behind electronic device screens to communicate (and seeking social approval for) their mobile performances. I place my critical anthropological analysis of recreational running and mobility technologies within the context of wider societal trends related to (self-)discipline.

Jaar van publicatie:2022

Toegankelijkheid:Open