Vernacular narratives of well-being and the practice of photo-a-day

The impact of social media on psychological well-being is usually investigated through survey-based studies of the mass effects of its use. This paper offers an alternative perspective, by exploring individuals’ narratives of their own well-being, arising from interviews about one seemingly simple, mundane digital practice: photo-a-day. These stories showed how people saw that they could shape their own well-being gradually through the way that sharing a photo each day reconfigured routines, brought them to notice new things and connected to others in new ways. The effect was complex and largely unintended. This reflected their sophisticated understanding of well-being as an elusive, complex practical accomplishment. The paper reflects on how well-being can be understood as accomplished within social practices by the spreading of meaning.