Press & publications
The Digital Health Self: Wellness, Tracking, and Social Media
(Quantified Societies & Selves Series) Hardcover – 30 May 2023 PRE-ORDER HERE​
This is a detailed analysis of how understandings of health management past, present and future has transformed in the digital age. Since the mid-20th century, we have witnessed ‘healthy’ lifestyles being pushed as part of health promotion strategies, both via the state, and through health tracking tools, and narratives of wellness online. This marks a seismic shift from a public welfare state responsibility for health towards individualised practices of digital self-care. Today health has become representative of ‘lifestyle corrections' which is performed on social media. Putting the spotlight on neoliberalism and digital technology as pervasive tools that dictate wellness as a moral obligation, Rachael Kent critically analyses how users navigate relationships between self-tracking technologies, social media, and everyday health management.
Media and News
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HEAT Magazine (2022) 'Is Fit-Tech Ruining Your Health'
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Women and Home Magazine (2022) 'Are You an Internet Addict'
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The Daily Mail(2022) 'Apple Face Courtroom Showdown'
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The Independent(2022) 'Apple Facing full trial over anti-competitive App Store claims'
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Health and Wellbeing Magazine(2022) 'How to Spring Clean Your Scroll'
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MixMag(2022) ‘Have You Got Rave Fatigue – Why we’re all so tired after lockdown’
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The Innovation Group: Innovating Business and Organisations Through ICT (2022) ‘Lockdown and post-pandemic stress, how to get out of it’
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Business Community Magazine (2022)‘Five Tips to Combine Smart-Working and Wellbeing’
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Start-Up Italia(2022) ‘How to Break with Smartphone & co’
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Metro UK(2021) 'How to Stop Mindless Scrolling'
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The Independent 'What happens psychologically when we're cut off from social media'
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Stylist Magazine (June 2021) 'Re-entry Fatigue: Feeling extra tired post-lockdown? Here to boost your energy'
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Metro UK 2021 'How to make your phone habits healthier following lockdown'
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The Independent 2021 '1/3 People are addicted to their phones, here's how to break up with your device'
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The Independent 2021 'Facebook will finally remove false vaccine claims, including that jabs cause autism'
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Metric Life 2020 'COVID-19, Toxic Productivity & Technology Overload: Our New Visceral Digital Life'
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Metro Newspaper 2020 'Lockdown 2.0: Staying the Course'
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Metro UK 2020 'Bullying, eating disorders and death, the dark side of a decade of Instagram,
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Forbes Magazine 2020 'Should we all social media detox after the pandemic'
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Spotlight on COVID-19 2020 Investigating COVID-19's Effect on Digital Behaviour, King's College London Arts & Humanities Research
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The Know Show Episode 2020: 'The Impact of COVID-19 on Communication & Socialising'
PODCASTS & interviews
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A Need To Read Podcast (2022) ‘How Technology and Social Media are Impacting our Health’
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BBC Scotland 'The Nine' show interview (October 2021) 'Tik Tok and Tourettes; mental & physical health impacts
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Down to Flow at Home (Feb 2021) 'Talking Digital Health with Dr. Rachael Kent'
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Brain Care Podcast (Feb 2021)'Technology & Mental Health with Dr. Rachael Kent'
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Global Women 4 Wellbeing (Feb 2021) 'Digital Health & Ethical Guidelines to Reduce 'Always on Culture'
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King's Think Tank, The Policy Plug Podcast 2021 'NHS COVID-19 Contact Tracing App'
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Runners World Podcast, 2021 'Fitness Trackers, Social Media & the Impact on Mental Wellbeing',
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The Know Show, Episode 14, 2020 'The Impact of COVID-19 on Communication & Socialising'
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The Know Show, Episode 09, 2020 Health Tracking Dangers & Data Surveillance 2020
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Coming 30 May 2023, The Digital Health Self – Wellness, Tracking and Social Media, Bristol University Press. Pre-order Here
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2022. ‘From the Welfare State to Digital Self-Care: Historical Context of Tracking Health and Quantifying Bodies’In (Ed) Ajana, Btihaj. The Quantification of Bodies in Health. Emerald
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2021.'Digital Food Tracking: Combining Traditional and Digital Ethnographic Methods to Identify the Influence of Social Media Sharing of Health and Food Upon Users’ Everyday Lives' In Krogager, S, G, Stinne. and Leer, Jonatan. (eds) Research Methods in Digital Food Studies. Routledge
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2020. Self-Tracking Health Over Time: From the Use of Instagram to Perform Optimal Health to the Protective Shield of the Digital Detox, Social Media + Society Special Issue: Studying Instagram Beyond Selfie
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2020, June 1. 'How Fitness Tracking Tech Can Become Addictive - and Why That's a Problem', All Hail Kale: No-Nonsense Wellness Website & BBC Podcast
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2020. Self-Tracking and Digital Food Cultures: Surveillance and Representation of the Moral ‘Healthy’ Body. In Lupton, Deborah and Feldman, Zeena. (eds.) Digital Food Cultures. Routledge.
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2018. Social Media and Self-Tracking: Representing the ‘Health Self'. In: Ajana B. (eds) Self-Tracking. Palgrave.