Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

Journal Title

International Journal of Communication

Volume Number

17

Issue Number

2023

First Page

1737

Last Page

1758

Version

Publisher PDF: the final published version of the article, with professional formatting and typesetting

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND License.

Disciplines

Communication

Abstract

Digital contact tracing has been claimed as imperative to controlling the spread of COVID19. However, the state-by-state approach in the United States led to divergences in contact tracing. This study analyzed contact-tracing apps as “boundary objects” through which each state worked toward the governance of the pandemic without having a formal consensus. Through media coverage and walkthrough analyses of three digital contacttracing apps in Alabama, California, and New York, we closely investigated both convergences and divergences of the apps. In the process, we located the implications of Google/Apple’s Bluetooth-based exposure notification system for digital contact tracing within and beyond state boundaries. Our findings suggest that the development of apps shared the notion of an ideal contact-tracing method—exposure notification—while each state was also situated in their local experiences of the pandemic as reflected in distinct app features. We further discuss the implications of techno-solutionist standardization of such digital contact-tracing apps.

Notes

JANG, Eugene; BAIK, Jeeyun (Sophia); FISCHER, Katrin. Contact-Tracing Apps as Boundary Objects of Pandemic Governance: The State-by-State Approach to Contain the Spread of COVID-19 in the United States. International Journal of Communication, [S.l.], v. 17, p. 22, feb. 2023. ISSN 1932-8036. Available at: <https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/19621>.

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