Tracking one's personal information is not a new concept. Diarist Samuel Pepys recorded details of his daily life for ten years. Samuel Johnson and Benjamin Franklin were both compulsive self-trackers: Franklin kept a chart chronicling his daily adherence to thirteen self-identified virtues such as frugality, chastity, and humility. Keeping a diary, even a very detailed one, is a fairly common practice today. Former Senator Bob Graham, for instance, keeps color-coded daily logs of his activities that are so meticulous that they were admissible as evidence in government investigations. And tracking food and exercise, or simply counting calories, is a common precept of weight-loss programs. What makes the lifestream different from its paper predecessors is that lifestreamers use the internet to make this information widely readable.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 545