ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ambivalent psychosocial impacts of digital metrification, optimisation and comparison in living and working environments. The authors begin by examining research on digital transformations, focusing on breaches, continuities and new patterns of digital transparency. Empirical findings from the research project “The Measured Life” cast light on measurement and comparison practices in the areas of body and self-tracking and social-media tracking as well as in the context of work. The authors show how self-tracking can intensify behaviours regulated by external norms, while social-media tracking may fuel constant self-presentation and comparison with others. In work contexts, numbers and parameters can perform a guiding function, but often lead to performance pressure and alienation when exceeding measurement figures becomes an end in itself. The analysis highlights how individuals cope with insecurities by increasing orientation towards external metrics, which in turn creates new instabilities. The chapter concludes that despite the dominant logic of quantification, the search for meaning remains crucial in living as well as in working environments. Furthermore, good work requires more than mere optimisation. It thrives on qualitative aspects and meaningful interaction with others.
