Affiliation:
1. George Mason University, Manassas, USA
Abstract
Wearable technologies' popularity in sporting practices continues to grow. Runners use GPS watches and activity trackers to track steps, log miles, map courses, and monitor heart rates. Likewise, wearables are integrated into long distance running events, with race officials relying on technologies to effectively execute events. However, technologies can also enable and monitor cheating. Many studies focusing on the individual explore why cheaters make unethical decisions. Actor-Network Theory shifts cheating's focus from the individual and moral failings to an assemblage that includes not only the runner, but nonhumans, such as technology, as well. A 2015 Canadian Ironman cheating incident case study illuminates intricate relationships and networks between humans and nonhumans. By examining the intersections of cheating and technology in running sports, the authors see where and how technology works as intended or is repurposed. Whereas a human-centered approach to sport and cheating dismisses wearables' agency, Actor-Network Theory reveals their underexamined, sociotechnical complexities.
Reference32 articles.
1. A girl has no name. (2017, July 12). These 10,000 steps aren’t going to walk themselves. Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/TheyCallMeKate/status/885275262790889472
2. Brianspisiak. (2016, April 18). The clock doesn’t lie: Gaming, cheating, and the case of Julie Miller. Ethicsforadversaries. Retrieved from https://ethicsforadversaries.com/2016/04/18/the-clock-doesnt-lie-gaming-cheating-and-the-case-of-julie-miller/
3. What is Your Fitness Tracker Communicating?: Exploring Messages and Effects of Wearable Fitness Devices
4. Empfield, D. (2016, April 29). Sarah Lyall on Miller story. Slowtwitch. Retrieved from http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Sarah_Lyall_on_Miller_Story_5741.html