TY - JOUR
T1 - Striving to Be King of Mobile Mountains
T2 - Communication and Organizing Through Digital Fitness Technology
AU - Smith, William Roth
AU - Treem, Jeffrey
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Central States Communication Association.
PY - 2017/3/15
Y1 - 2017/3/15
N2 - This study considers fitness-tracking applications as settings for communicative performances. Qualitative interviews and observations with 41 users of a cycling-focused fitness application revealed communicative themes of qualifying, social sharing, and withholding. Users also assessed other members through social-group comparing and upward comparing. This study develops theory by revealing how individuals use the technology to communicate about their physical acts, and how the context of use facilitates organizing processes. We argue that use of this fitness application extends our understanding of how communication can constitute a community of practice (CoP; Brown & Duguid, 1991; Lave & Wenger, 1991). Primarily, the hybrid online/offline nature of Strava complicates the traditional understanding of communication and CoPs.
AB - This study considers fitness-tracking applications as settings for communicative performances. Qualitative interviews and observations with 41 users of a cycling-focused fitness application revealed communicative themes of qualifying, social sharing, and withholding. Users also assessed other members through social-group comparing and upward comparing. This study develops theory by revealing how individuals use the technology to communicate about their physical acts, and how the context of use facilitates organizing processes. We argue that use of this fitness application extends our understanding of how communication can constitute a community of practice (CoP; Brown & Duguid, 1991; Lave & Wenger, 1991). Primarily, the hybrid online/offline nature of Strava complicates the traditional understanding of communication and CoPs.
KW - Communicative Performances
KW - Community of Practice
KW - Fitness Applications
KW - Organizational Communication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85007271074&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85007271074&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10510974.2016.1269818
DO - 10.1080/10510974.2016.1269818
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85007271074
SN - 1051-0974
VL - 68
SP - 135
EP - 151
JO - Communication Studies
JF - Communication Studies
IS - 2
ER -