Through Rose-Tinted Smart Glasses: Tech Myths and the Normalisation of Wearable Harms

<p>Smart glasses are marketed as lifestyle devices that enhance productivity, creativity, and social connection. However, a growing body of evidence suggests these devices are facilitating new harms relating to privacy, bystander consent, and human agency. This paper examines how branded social media content contributes to the normalisation of smart glasses usage while obscuring their associated risks. Focusing on Instagram as a key promotional environment, this study conducts a quantitative content analysis of 768 branded posts featuring Meta’s market leading Ray-Ban glasses alongside emerging competitors Xiaomi, Rokid, Even Realities, and XReal. We analyse how smart-glasses practices are visually and narratively represented and evaluate how recording visibility is addressed and how potential harms are downplayed or obscured. Results suggest that even within highly commercial advertising environments, social and ethical harms remain embedded in the representation of the technology itself. Branded content therefore plays a critical role in legitimising these devices through the construction of powerful technological myths.</p>