Abstract
Lack of sufficient sleep is associated with a range of health consequences (Hillman & Lack, 2013), and is considered a significant public health issue (WHO, 2004). In response to the problem of poor sleep hygiene (Irish, Kline, Gunn, Buysse, & Hall, 2015), some doctors are now prescribing sleep apps to their patients (So, 2014). Given the rapid pace of citizens’ entanglement with these technologies, there is a need for greater focus on the sociocultural implications of these developments, for example, in relation to issues of identity, subjectivity and power (Lupton, 2014, 2015). In this paper, I employ Foucauldian discourse analysis (Foucault, 1972) to analyse the discursive construction of sleep app-users, using as data the “Bedtime” app (iOS 10) for iPhones, pop-up information about using the app on the iPhone, and the app’s promotional video. The main findings are that potential “Bedtime” app-users are
constructed as self-determining in some areas yet lacking self-control in others, as needing help, as victims in their life circumstances, as sensitive to stimuli and as quantifiable. I argue that the construction of the m-patient evident in the data has more in common with the biomedical patient than the e-patient (Fage-Butler & Anesa, 2016).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2017 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
| Event | Metric culture: The quantified self and beyond - Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Aarhus University, Buildings 1630-1632, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 6B, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Duration: 7 Jun 2017 → 9 Jun 2017 |
Conference
| Conference | Metric culture |
|---|---|
| Location | Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Aarhus University, Buildings 1630-1632, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 6B, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. |
| Period | 07/06/2017 → 09/06/2017 |