Big Data Discourses| Data Feelings: Everyday Affects and Sensory Dimensions of Personal Digital Data

Abstract

People’s everyday encounters with digital technologies now create continuous flows of data, leaving digital traces that are algorithmically processed for several purposes. This article presents findings from a study exploring “data feelings”: the corporeal and affective entanglements people have with their personal digital data and the technologies that generate and process them. In online workshops, participants reflected on, defined, and discussed “data” and “personal data.” They then engaged in a writing activity that invited them to think creatively about their understandings, practices, and feelings related to datafied life. Analysis of participants’ responses and group discussions illuminates what matters to people about everyday datafication. This article focuses on the materiality, affects, sense-making, and impressions of personal data in participants’ understandings and speculative imaginaries. The conclusion reviews the spectrum of tangible and ephemeral data feelings that surfaced in the workshops and reflects on what our creative approach offers to critical data studies.