Current Projects
Data Donation Lab: Data Donation in Academic Research
The Data Donation Lab offers on the one hand a platform for transdisciplinary exchange among researchers on the data donation approach and on the other hand a technical infrastructure for the collection of digital data donations for research purposes.
Digital Meal Panel Study
The Digital Meal Panel Study examines how young people use digital media and AI applications and how this use relates to key aspects of their health. Based on a panel survey of school students, the project analyzes developmental trajectories in adolescence and the influence of digital environments on health-related attitudes and behaviors.
Digital Meal Education
The Digital Meal project, supported by the Participatory Science Academy, builds on the infrastructure of the Data Donation Lab at the University of Zurich and develops an interactive learning module for young people in vocational schools, baccalaureate schools and secondary schools.
Fitspiration on Visual Social Media
The project focuses on fitness content with a motivating component on various visual social media platforms—such as Instagram or TikTok. We consider a range of different variables, from exercise behaviour to the use of filters in relation to this content.
Athletes’ Health Tracking and Sharing on Social Media
This projects focuses on a cohort of athletes and their particular use of health tracking (e.g., sleep, nutrition, training, heart-rate) and the sharing of this data on general social media platforms (i.e., Instagram) or on sport-specific platforms (i.e., Strava). The goal is to explore their tracking and sharing motives, and relationships with their body image and well-being.
Collaboration: Prof. Dr. Nicole Bender, Head Clinical Evolutionary Medicine Group, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine
Digital Health Tracking and Sharing on Social Media
The quantification of health through digital tracking technologies such as smartwatches, health apps, and wearable sensors has become a central feature of contemporary health practices. These technologies transform subjective bodily experiences into measurable data and embed them in digital communication environments. When health data are shared on social media or specialized platforms, they become part of social interaction, enabling visibility, comparison, evaluation, and feedback.
From a communication science perspective, digital health tracking is therefore not only a form of self-monitoring, but also a communicative practice in which health is produced, displayed, interpreted, and negotiated in social contexts. This project investigates how health data are tracked, communicated, and socially processed, and which psychological and social effects emerge from sharing, liking, and commenting on quantified health information.
Digital Religion(s) II: Self-optimization
This project investigates how adolescents and young adults engage with self-optimization in their everyday (digital) lives. By combining survey data with real media content donated by participants, it examines how beliefs about «living well» shape emotional and motivational experiences and well-being.
