Viewing diaries in an age of new media: An exploratory analysis of mobile phone app diaries versus paper diaries

This exploratory study inquires into the validity and reliability of dedicated mobile phone diary applications. We developed Watchy, a dedicated mobile viewing diary application, and compared users’ compliance and usage patterns with those of users of the paper viewing diaries. Participants received paper diaries or installed mobile diary apps, with or without daily reminders, to document their viewings over a 4-day period. Documentation was more extensive in the smartphone app with reminder group compared to the paper diary group. Reminders increased documentation rates. Extent of documentation decreased as the experiment progressed for mobile app users. Findings suggest that mobile viewing diaries are an important tool for viewing studies, yet their use requires careful planning.