StatCounter: A Longitudinal Study of a Portable Scholarly Metric Display
Jonas Oppenlaender

TL;DR
This longitudinal study investigates how a portable e-ink device displaying Google Scholar metrics affects academic motivation, reflection, and identity by integrating scholarly data into daily life and examining emotional and behavioral responses.
Contribution
It introduces a novel handheld device for continuous access to scholarly metrics and explores its impact on academic identity and reflective practices through auto-ethnographic analysis.
Findings
Frequent micro-checks and reflections influenced motivation and attention.
The device fostered new narratives about academic identity and companionship.
Metrics became an ambient background in scholarly life.
Abstract
This study explores a handheld, battery-operated e-ink device displaying Google Scholar citation statistics. The StatCounter places academic metrics into the flow of daily life rather than a desktop context. The work draws on a first-person, longitudinal auto-ethnographic inquiry examining how constant access to scholarly metrics influences motivation, attention, reflection, and emotional responses across work and non-work settings. The ambient proximity and pervasive availability of scholarly metrics invites frequent micro-checks, short reflective pauses, but also introduces moments of second-guessing when numbers drop or stagnate. Carrying the device prompts new narratives about academic identity, including a sense of companionship during travel and periods away from the office. Over time, the presence of the device turns metrics from an occasional reference into an ambient background…
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Taxonomy
TopicsPersonal Information Management and User Behavior · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
