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Cited by 53Innovative Human-Technology InteractionPersonal Information Management and User BehaviorDigital and Traditional Archives Management

It's Just My History Isn't It?: Understanding Smart Journaling Practices

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Elsden, Chris, Durrant, Abigail C., Kirk, David S.·2016·Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
DOI 10.1145/2858036.2858103
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Abstract

Smart journals are both an emerging class of lifelogging applications and novel digital possessions, which are used to create and curate a personal record of one's life. Through an in-depth interview study of analogue and digital journaling practices, and by drawing on a wide range of research around --technologies of memory?, we address fundamental questions about how people manage and value digital records of the past. Appreciating journaling as deeply idiographic, we map a broad range of user practices and motivations and use this understanding to ground four design considerations: recognizing the motivation to account for one's life; supporting the authoring of a unique perspective and finding a place for passive tracking as a chronicle. Finally, we argue that smart journals signal a maturing orientation to issues of digital archiving.

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  • Qualitative data give users more room for interpretation and for reconstructing past events than quantitative data, because they provide richer and more diverse information about autobiographical events, including perceptual details and insights into thoughts and motivations.

    “qualitative data give users even more room for interpretation and for reconstructing past events (Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016), arguably because they provide richer and more diverse information about autobiographical events, including perceptual details”

    From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Reviewing old social media posts, photos stored on the smartphone, entries in one's smart journal, or quantified lifelogging data may support individuals in understanding their personal past and in creating a unique perspective that integrates thoughts and feelings about positive as well as negative life events.

    “reviewing old social media posts, photos stored on the smartphone, entries in one's smart journal, or quantified lifelogging data may support individuals in understanding their personal past and in creating a unique perspective that integrates thoughts and feelings about positive as well as negative life events (Crete-Nishihata et al., 2012;Elsden, Durrant, et al., 2016;Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016;”

    From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Elsden, Durrant, et al., 2016

    Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Reviewing old social media posts, photos stored on the smartphone, entries in one's smart journal, or quantified lifelogging data may support individuals in understanding their personal past and in creating a unique perspective that integrates thoughts and feelings about positive as well as negative life events.

    “reviewing old social media posts, photos stored on the smartphone, entries in one's smart journal, or quantified lifelogging data may support individuals in understanding their personal past and in creating a unique perspective that integrates thoughts and feelings about positive as well as negative life events (Crete-Nishihata et al., 2012;Elsden, Durrant, et al., 2016;Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016;”

    From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016

    Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The recorded content can often be accessed anywhere at any time.

    “In addition, the recorded content can often be accessed anywhere at any time (Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016;Heersmink, 2020)”

    From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016

  • Recorded data do not present an authoritative version of one's past and individuals are aware of this.

    “the recorded data do not present an authoritative version of one's past and that individuals are aware of this (Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016)”

    From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Elsden, Kirk, et al., 2016

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Elsden, C., Durrant, A. C., & Kirk, D. S.
Affiliations
Newcastle University (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher
ACM
Published
2016-05-07
Pages
2819-2831
DOI
10.1145/2858036.2858103
OpenAlex
W2395048880
Cited by
53
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2
FWCI
2.21
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (submittedVersion)
  • Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity) (cc-by)
Funders
  • Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2012-642)
  • EPSRC (EP/K025678/1)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Personal Information Management and User Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Digital and Traditional Archives Management
Keywords
lifelogging, personal digital archiving, electronic journals, user motivation, chronicles, design considerations

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