Challenging but satisfying: an exploration of the practices and affective aspects of personal photograph deletion

Purpose With the pervasive use of smartphone cameras, individuals accumulate increasingly large personal photograph collections which could have a negative impact on individuals and the environment. One way to address collection growth is by deleting, but how people delete is not well understood and thus how to best support them in that action is not clear. Further, prior work suggests such deletion is associated with negative emotions and a lack of enjoyment. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study used interviews and guided tours with twelve participants to examine deletion practices with personal photographs and the accompanying affective aspects. Findings Deleting, instead of being reduced to the action of placing a photograph into the trash, was characterised as a process over time, requiring a set of interconnected activities. Nine affective aspects were found to play central roles in the deletion of personal photographs but, surprisingly, participants experienced more positive affective aspects, especially after deleting. Originality/value The results provide a novel characterisation of deleting as a process and explore the temporal dimension of its affective aspects. Recommendations are identified for individuals, information professionals and system designers to encourage and improve the deletion of personal photographs, aiming to create more sustainable information practices and improve digital well-being.