Advancing Digital Disconnection Research

ECREA Pre-conference, online, September 6, 2021.

Digital disconnection is a relatively new topic, but the number of studies is growing. This pre-conference sets out to assess and advance the field. Presenters are selected and a detailed programme will appear soon.  The conference will run on CEST time (Brussels time, same as ECRA). 

The preconference will be held online in connection with the postponed ECREA conference. It will be open to all at no charge. Please contact trine.syvertsen@media.uio.no to register and obtain the link. 

Key ideas 

Over the past years, digital disconnection has emerged as a research topic attracting interest across media and communication studies. The idea of “digital disconnection” as well as related concepts such as non-use, abstention, resistance, avoidance and detox are discussed in a growing number of publications, with new research endeavours emerging in various subfields. However, questions are also raised about what disconnection really means and how we can study it, about paradoxes and inherent dilemmas that affect research on disconnection as well as the phenomenon itself. The time has come to critically consider the contributions, challenges and promises of digital disconnection research.

Confirmed speakers/papers include (detailed programme here, subject to changes): 

  • The Manufacture of Disconnection​. Alex Beattie.

  • From Digital Disconnection to Post-Digital Territoriality. André Jansson, Paul C. Adams

  • Media resistance throughout timeRita Figueiras, Maria José Brites, Kim Schrøder.

  • “I can’t live with or without you”. Renegotiating social practices and media ideologies: a focus on Italian and Israeli adolescents involved in a smartphone deprivation experience. Francesca leracitano, Hananel Rosenberg, Menahem Blondheim, Francesca Comunello, Chiara Modugno and Chen Sabag.
  • Disconnect to Reconnect? Why and How Young Adults Disconnect from Social Media. Hao Nguyen
  • Digital detox for whom; a qualitative study of Norwegian adolescents. Mehri Agai
  • The logic of disconnective action in a time of pandemic: Covid-19 as a trigger for social categorization and “networked volatility". Gregory Asmolov and Pavel Lebedev
  • Media Ecologies of Dis/Connection during the Covid-19 Emergency: Towards a North-South Conversation. Emiliano Treré.
  • Imaginaries of Disconnection. Clara Wieghorst.

  • Connectivity saturation and disconnection in uncertain times. Minna Saariketo and Seija Ridell.
  • ‘Hey! I’m back after a 24h #DigitalDetox!’ Influencers posing disconnectionAna Jorge and Marco Pedroni.
  • Disconnection work: Digital reflexivity as post-digital labour. Karin Fast. 
  • Media non-users: Voluntary abandonment of social media networks. Karoliina Talvitie-Lamberg 

  • Conceptualizing Digital Wellbeing Interventions in a Dynamic Digital Wellbeing Model: Can Digital Wellbeing Interventions Cause a System Disrupt? Mariek Vanden Abeele

Practical information

The preconference will take place on Monday September 6, 2021, 0900-1600 (on CEST time, same as Brussels/ECREA) and will close before the opening of the main ECREA conference that afternoon.

There will be no fee, but you need to register to get the zoom link. Contact trine.syvertsen@media.uio.no to register.

Published Nov. 28, 2019 5:16 PM - Last modified Aug. 8, 2022 2:01 PM