Digital and Physical Materiality of Information Technologies: The Case of Fitbit Activity Tracking Devices

This paper explores the role of digital and physical materiality in relation to the use of Fit bit activity tracking devices. Materiality concerns properties of a technology that transcend space, time, and particularities of the contexts. Our objective, in particular, is to examine how digital and physical properties may play a role in shaping user's perception and actions around the use of Fit bit devices. The primary findings are (1) both digital and physical material properties of the device together provide a material framework, which constrains and enables users' activities, and (2) both forms of materiality are contingent upon the design/form of the device. As a result the materiality of digital information cannot be studied without examining its entwining with the information technology that records, processes, shares, and represents it.