Promoting health and well-being, by the way, is one of the priorities of the United Nations, and is promoted by Goal 3 of Sustainable Development: Quality of Health. The question remains whether or not the proliferation of well-being-related services in digital applications contributes to this goal.
“Wellbeing and apps may appear to be opposites, given the investigations that some digital platforms can be detrimental to wellbeing,” recalls Ana Marta Flores. However, the researcher stresses that it is this “apparent paradox” that has generated interest in better understanding “how well-being is portrayed on Instagram” and in “mapping the supply of digital mobile app stores in terms of well-being”. , which are the two research pillars of the WellApp project.
Both researchers bring to the project a history of researching digital applications and methods, throughout their careers. However, as they explain, this is the first time they have coordinated a research project together, in what represents an opportunity to explore and challenge experiments.
As Ana Marta Flores adds, this is also a project that “because of its approach, its field of study and the methodology used in it, also caters to thematic areas already explored in the iNOVA Media Lab, a group of which we are a part, and with which we locate ICNOVA”.
WellApp: One project, two different studies
Starting in March 2023, the WellApp project will run for one year. However, the researchers hope that this is just a starting point for other projects and activities that could explore the topic of well-being in the context of digital applications.
The two lines (Instagram and the App Stores) divide the project into two distinct studies: #instawellness: communication mediated by healthy representation on Instagram that it Framing Wellness: Responses from Digital Stores. Each of these will lead to a scholarly publication.
In both studies, the aim was to combine “the use of digital methodologies, allowing data to be contextualized according to the specifics of the medium – Instagram, digital app stores – – and thematic analysis, allowing to identify patterns and trends, identify areas of well-being and how they are represented”, explains Rita Sepúlveda .
The end of the project will be marked by a closing conference, a stage to present the results of WellApp, but also to promote knowledge exchange for other researchers on the topic of wellbeing.
In parallel, free resources will be created in an educational format (“how-to”) for educators, as well as short online videos for the general public on topics related to well-being and digital platforms. “Myths and facts about wellness apps,” “How to use apps safely,” or “Recommendations for practices” are some of the topics of the videos that the researchers have already pointed out.
# lips: Why study wellness on Instagram?
Instagram is the focus of one of the studies to be developed in the project. For WellApp Facilitators, there are several reasons to be interested in this app as a medium in which representations associated with well-being are created:
- the popularity of the platform (per month, 1 billion socially active users interact on Instagram);
- the ability to share information faster and to a greater extent (to friends, family or acquaintances) than in face-to-face interaction;
- Diversity of formats to highlight luxury: photos or videos, but also hashtags specific;
- the visual nature of mobile and the unique culture of Instagram as an additional information layer for healthy communication;
- The influence each user can have on Instagram in terms of the image they want to present to their followers (content curation).
Digital app stores: What apps are there? and for whom?
For the other side of the study – digital app stores – what are the risks?
“Shops Gatekeepers In terms of mobile app distribution, so it’s important to understand what these services refer to when we’re looking for “luxury,” notes Rita Sepúlveda. Therefore, the project will make it possible to understand the applications offered by stores and to classify the offer according to the different dimensions of well-being.
As the researcher points out, “Exploring analysis indicated that we will find applications in terms of physical health – fitness applications – and mental well-being – meditation applications – but what else will emerge?”. Narrowing the focus, the apps with the highest number of users will then be analyzed in detail.
The WellApp ecosystem: researchers, students, users, caregivers, and businesses
Researchers invite students, researchers, and other interested parties to join WellApp and reflect on the topic of wellbeing and mobile applications.
The project is open to students who want to collaborate as part of a team, have an interest in the topics covered and/or in producing communication pieces (videos, infographics, publications, …) in innovative formats.
Contributions are also welcome from researchers who wish to go deeper into specific areas of the project’s topics or combine their own research approaches with those adopted in WellApp. We do not confine these contributions to the field of communication. If, for example, researchers from the fields of psychology or health care want to unite, it would be a great advantage from an interdisciplinary perspective,” refer Rita Sepúlveda and Ana Marta Flores.
Those responsible for the project are also interested in hearing about the experience of healthcare providers, users and former users of well-being-related mobile applications, as well as the companies or individuals who have developed this type of application.
More information about the project can be found at iNOVA Media Lab website Or through direct contact with the researchers:
Rita Sepúlveda | [email protected]
Ana Marta M Flores | [email protected]
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