Self Tracking: Quantified Self Movement

According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 69 percent of adults in the U.S. track a health indicator for themselves or a loved one. With paper and pencil or state of the art sensors and data services, Americans are tracking weight, diet, and exercise routines—even blood pressure, blood sugar, headaches, mood, sleep patterns, and more.

Dan Gottlieb looks at self-tracking as a trend that’s influencing our overall approach to health, with leaders of what’s known as the Quantified Self Movement and others closely associated with it. We hear from Susannah Fox, Ernesto Ramirez, and Heather Patterson.

Susannah Fox studies the cultural shifts taking place at the intersection of technology and health care. She’s associate director of Digital Strategy at the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Her research has documented the social life of health information, the concept of peer-to-peer healthcare, and the role of the internet among people living with chronic disease.

Ernesto Ramirez works with Quantified Self Labs founder Gary Wolf. He’s getting his Ph.D. in Public Health and developing the science of persuasive health technology.

Heather Patterson is a postdoctoral fellow at NYU’s Information Law Institute and Department of Media, Culture, & Communication, where she researches cognitive, social, and legal aspects of personal information sharing and information flows.