Journal article
John S. Seberger, Hyesun Choung, Jaime Snyder, Prabu David
Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact., 2024
Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact., 2024
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DOI
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APA
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Seberger, J. S., Choung, H., Snyder, J., & David, P. (2024). Better Living Through Creepy Technology? Exploring Tensions Between a Novel Class of Well-Being Apps and Affective Discomfort in App Culture. Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact.
Chicago/Turabian
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Seberger, John S., Hyesun Choung, Jaime Snyder, and Prabu David. “Better Living Through Creepy Technology? Exploring Tensions Between a Novel Class of Well-Being Apps and Affective Discomfort in App Culture.” Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact. (2024).
MLA
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Seberger, John S., et al. “Better Living Through Creepy Technology? Exploring Tensions Between a Novel Class of Well-Being Apps and Affective Discomfort in App Culture.” Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact., 2024.
BibTeX Click to copy
@article{john2024a,
title = {Better Living Through Creepy Technology? Exploring Tensions Between a Novel Class of Well-Being Apps and Affective Discomfort in App Culture},
year = {2024},
journal = {Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact.},
author = {Seberger, John S. and Choung, Hyesun and Snyder, Jaime and David, Prabu}
}
Abstract
Well-being apps promise to improve people's lives. Yet evidence shows that the data-hungry app culture that contextualizes well-being apps normalizes the user experience of affective discomfort. This apparent contradiction raises a difficult question: Is it responsible to ask people to improve their well-being by engaging further with an app culture that normalizes affective discomfort? We approached this question by deploying an online, scenario-based survey (n=688) about a fictional, but realistic well-being app called "Thalia." Thalia represents a novel class of well-being apps that are envisioned to: (i) utilize AI-driven facial recognition and analysis; and (ii) collect data for use in medical contexts. We found that people perceived Thalia to be affectively discomfiting even as they judged Thalia to be beneficial. Such findings imply a trade-off between 'better living through technology' and the negative affective implications of surveillance capitalistic app culture. Such a trade-off necessitates high-level analysis of just what "well-being" means in the context of contemporary app culture. Through analysis and discussion, we explore a troubling interplay between novel well-being apps and affective discomfort that requires careful attention from HCI researchers if human-centered well-being -- flourishing -- is truly what our products are intended to foster.