Gabija Didžiokaitė | Loughborough University (original) (raw)
I'm interested in technology use, adoption and perceptions from user perspective.
In my PhD thesis I studied self-tracking related to health and fitness, in particular calorie-counting app MyFitnessPal.
I looked at intersections between food, health, technology and identity. Using semi-structured interviews I analysed how people engage in self-tracking and how this practice affects understanding of self and diet.
Supervisors: Paula Saukko and Christian Greiffenhagen
Address: Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
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Papers by Gabija Didžiokaitė
In this article, we build on the work of Ruckenstein and Pantzar, who have demonstrated how our u... more In this article, we build on the work of Ruckenstein and Pantzar, who have demonstrated how our understanding of self-tracking has been influenced by the metaphor of the Quantified Self (QS). To complicate this very selective picture of self-tracking, we shift the focus in understanding self-tracking from members of the QS community to the experiences of ‘ordinary man and woman’. Therefore, we interviewed ‘everyday calorie trackers’, people who had themselves started using MyFitnessPal calorie counting app but were not part of any tracking community. Our analysis identifies three main themes – goals, use and effect – which highlight the mundane side of self-tracking, where people pursuing everyday, limited goals engage in basic self-tracking and achieve temporary changes. These experiences contrast with the account of self-tracking in terms of long-term, experimental analysis of data on the self or ‘biohacking’, which dominates the QS metaphor in the academic literature.
The use of cognitive enhancement drugs (CEDs) among university students has raised widespread con... more The use of cognitive enhancement drugs (CEDs) among university students has raised widespread
concerns about non-medical prescription drug use, safety, exam cheating, and study-related stress.
While much of the empirical research to date has been conducted in the United States and Australia,
this article examines perceptions and experiences of CED use among university students in the
Netherlands and Lithuania. Our data comes from two qualitative studies and one mixed-methods
study drawing in total of 35 semi-structured interviews (20 in the Netherlands; 15 in Lithuania) and
from open-ended online survey responses among a convenience sample of 113 students in the
Netherlands. Employing a crowded theory approach to interpret our qualitative data, we found most
of our informants turned to CEDs to enhance their studying through better concentration and time
management. Students used a broad range of pharmaceuticals (with and without a physician’s
prescription), recreational drugs, and nutritional supplements as cognitive enhancers, were generally
well informed about the safety and efficacy of the substances they used, experienced both beneficial
and adverse effects, and self-regulated their CED use to balance these effects, ensuring that their
use remained moderate and thoughtful.
Books by Gabija Didžiokaitė
Metric Culture: Ontologies of Self-Tracking Practices, 2018
The existing literature on fatness has critically discussed meanings and morals associated with b... more The existing literature on fatness has critically discussed meanings and morals associated with body weight and explored people’s experiences of weight loss attempts. However, little attention has been paid to the practices of dieting – how it is ‘done’. Based on an interview
study involving 31 participants, who shared their self-tracking experience of using the MyFitnessPal calorie counting app, we focus on the practices of ‘doing’ calories. First, we
discuss the practices of temporality of logging food, showing that the use of MyFitnessPal not
only has to be fitted into daily routines but can also transform them. Then, we look at the practices of precision or users’ various ways of turning the ‘messiness’ of food into precise numbers. Lastly, we explore users’ practices of adjustments – their attitudes to adherence to
their daily calorie goal and ways of dealing with going above it. Based on our findings we suggest calorie counting is not a straightforward data collection, but one that involves constant practical strategies and negotiations, and can both influence and be influenced by other
everyday practices
In this article, we build on the work of Ruckenstein and Pantzar, who have demonstrated how our u... more In this article, we build on the work of Ruckenstein and Pantzar, who have demonstrated how our understanding of self-tracking has been influenced by the metaphor of the Quantified Self (QS). To complicate this very selective picture of self-tracking, we shift the focus in understanding self-tracking from members of the QS community to the experiences of ‘ordinary man and woman’. Therefore, we interviewed ‘everyday calorie trackers’, people who had themselves started using MyFitnessPal calorie counting app but were not part of any tracking community. Our analysis identifies three main themes – goals, use and effect – which highlight the mundane side of self-tracking, where people pursuing everyday, limited goals engage in basic self-tracking and achieve temporary changes. These experiences contrast with the account of self-tracking in terms of long-term, experimental analysis of data on the self or ‘biohacking’, which dominates the QS metaphor in the academic literature.
The use of cognitive enhancement drugs (CEDs) among university students has raised widespread con... more The use of cognitive enhancement drugs (CEDs) among university students has raised widespread
concerns about non-medical prescription drug use, safety, exam cheating, and study-related stress.
While much of the empirical research to date has been conducted in the United States and Australia,
this article examines perceptions and experiences of CED use among university students in the
Netherlands and Lithuania. Our data comes from two qualitative studies and one mixed-methods
study drawing in total of 35 semi-structured interviews (20 in the Netherlands; 15 in Lithuania) and
from open-ended online survey responses among a convenience sample of 113 students in the
Netherlands. Employing a crowded theory approach to interpret our qualitative data, we found most
of our informants turned to CEDs to enhance their studying through better concentration and time
management. Students used a broad range of pharmaceuticals (with and without a physician’s
prescription), recreational drugs, and nutritional supplements as cognitive enhancers, were generally
well informed about the safety and efficacy of the substances they used, experienced both beneficial
and adverse effects, and self-regulated their CED use to balance these effects, ensuring that their
use remained moderate and thoughtful.
Metric Culture: Ontologies of Self-Tracking Practices, 2018
The existing literature on fatness has critically discussed meanings and morals associated with b... more The existing literature on fatness has critically discussed meanings and morals associated with body weight and explored people’s experiences of weight loss attempts. However, little attention has been paid to the practices of dieting – how it is ‘done’. Based on an interview
study involving 31 participants, who shared their self-tracking experience of using the MyFitnessPal calorie counting app, we focus on the practices of ‘doing’ calories. First, we
discuss the practices of temporality of logging food, showing that the use of MyFitnessPal not
only has to be fitted into daily routines but can also transform them. Then, we look at the practices of precision or users’ various ways of turning the ‘messiness’ of food into precise numbers. Lastly, we explore users’ practices of adjustments – their attitudes to adherence to
their daily calorie goal and ways of dealing with going above it. Based on our findings we suggest calorie counting is not a straightforward data collection, but one that involves constant practical strategies and negotiations, and can both influence and be influenced by other
everyday practices