Towards understanding digital sharing practices in outdoor sports

Online social networks have made the sharing of personal experiences with others -- mostly in form of photos and comments -- a common activity. At the same time, an ever increasing number of dedicated sport tracking apps on our smartphones allow us to record statistical and biometric parameters from our workouts and, subsequently, share them with family, friends, and other followers. However, it is unclear if the available set of tracking parameters (such as an average speed, or calories burnt during a sports activity) is expressive enough when it comes to sharing in different sports. In our ongoing meta-study across three outdoor mountain sports, we have investigated whether those tracking apps meet the actual sharing requirements of amateur skiers, climbers, and trail runners. Ultimately, we aim to identify both universal and sport-specific needs for sharing. In this paper, we discuss our initial insights.