https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820934032 new media & society 1–18 © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1461444820934032 journals.sagepub.com/home/nms Confessional data selfies and intimate digital traces Brady Robards , Ben Lyall and Claire Moran Monash University, Australia Abstract Data selfies are representations of self through personal quantitative data: from graphs of Tinder dating outcomes, through to the story of brain surgery told through daily step counts. In this article, we explore practices around what we call ‘confessional data selfies’ shared on the reddit forum r/DataIsBeautiful, where more than 14 million subscribers – predominantly straight men – share often complex and intimate quantitative self-representations of their lives. We draw on an analysis of the top 1000 posts on r/DataIsBeautiful, and a sub-sample of 59 data selfies, to identify patterns in confessional data selfie practices. We identify three themes: families and relationships, routine management, and body rhythms. We argue that these data selfies generate opportunities for self-reflection, connection, discussions of mental health, grief and other personal experiences. Significantly, this occurs largely between men, modulating processes of gendered impression management and expanding the conceptualisation of selfie work. Keywords Data, gender, Quantified Self, reddit, self-tracking, selfies, visualisations Data selfies are representations of one’s ‘self’, typically presented as a visualisation of quantitative data. For example, data gathered by self-tracking platforms, like Fitbit or Apple Health platforms, produce visualisations of activity: steps taken, hours slept, heart rate, calories burnt and so on. These are often in the form of graphs or ‘activity rings’ that trace activity over time. There are also manual data selfies, where one might record simi- lar activities and log the information in a graph or table. In this article, we explore practices around what we are calling ‘confessional data selfies’ as shared on the reddit Corresponding author: Brady Robards, Monash University, Wellingdton Road, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Email: brady.robards@monash.edu 934032NMS 0 0 10.1177/1461444820934032new media & societyRobards et al. research-article 2020 Article