When Personal Tracking Becomes Social: Examining the Use of Instagram for Healthy Eating

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Chia-Fang ChungSean A Munson

Abstract

Many people appropriate social media and online communities in their pursuit of personal health goals, such as healthy eating or increased physical activity. However, people struggle with impression management, and with reaching the right audiences when they share health information on these platforms. Instagram, a popular photo-based social media platform, has attracted many people who post and share their food photos. We aim to inform the design of tools to support healthy behaviors by understanding how people appropriate Instagram to track and share food data, the benefits they obtain from doing so, and the challenges they encounter. We interviewed 16 women who consistently record and share what they eat on Instagram. Participants tracked to support themselves and others in their pursuit of healthy eating goals. They sought social support for their own tracking and healthy behaviors and strove to provide that support for others. People adapted their personal tracking practices to better receive and give this support. Applying these results to the design of health tracking tools has the potential to help people better access social support.

Citations

May 14, 2019·Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies·Chia-Fang ChungSean A Munson
Apr 28, 2020·Journal of Eating Disorders·L VuillierM Greville-Harris
Jul 14, 2020·Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies·Jessica SchroederSean A Munson
Apr 2, 2020·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Youjin HwangJoonhwan Lee
Oct 9, 2020·Perspectives on Behavior Science·Inga SaboiaCláudia Pernencar
Jun 2, 2021·JMIR Public Health and Surveillance·Eric Walsh-BuhiLourdes Martinez
Oct 12, 2021·Ecology of Food and Nutrition·Paulien DecorteCharlotte De Backer
Jun 11, 2018··Jessica SchroederDaniel A. Epstein
Apr 20, 2018··Jennifer G. KimKarrie Karahalios
Apr 20, 2018··Jessica HammerSabine Harrer
Apr 24, 2018··Ee-Peng LimVibhanshu Abhishek
Nov 1, 2018··Matthew J. BietzStephen Voida
Apr 29, 2019··Katherine IsbisterDanielle Wilde
Apr 29, 2019··Eric B. HeklerMichael Kellen
Apr 30, 2019··Elena Agapie, Elena Agapie
Apr 29, 2019··Eun Kyoung ChoeYuhan Luo
Jun 5, 2019··Skanda MuralidharThanh-Trung Phan
Apr 20, 2018··Andrea HuMunmun De Choudhury
May 8, 2021··Petter Bae Bae BrandtzægKim Kristoffer Kristoffer Dysthe

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
chips

Software Mentioned

MyFitnessPal Watchers
VERA
MyFitnessPal
Tumblr
Fitbit
YouFood
iTrackBites
Polar
Weight

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