Wearable Fitness Trackers: A Reflection on the Individual’s Understanding of the Self

In this critical reflection, I will examine how individuals regard the self through the use of these self-surveillant ICTs in a society governed by neo-liberal values. I will argue that through self-tracking, the idea of a reflexive, fluid identity is developed. Here, the self is malleable, measurable and perfectible. However, literature researching these devices has discovered drawbacks for the individual, most predictably the provoking of negative emotions (Goodyear et al., 2019) as argued by Lupton (2013) to be because of increased visibility of health, which will similarly be reflected upon.