‘Our old pastor thinks the mobile phone is a source of evil.’ Capturing contested and conflicting insights on digital wellbeing and digital detoxing in an age of rapid mobile connectivity

Mutsvairo, Bruce, Ragnedda, Massimo and Mabvundwi, Kames (2023) ‘Our old pastor thinks the mobile phone is a source of evil.’ Capturing contested and conflicting insights on digital wellbeing and digital detoxing in an age of rapid mobile connectivity. Media international Australia, incorporating Culture & policy, 189 (1). pp. 89-103. ISSN 1329-878X

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x221090992

Abstract

While Africa has largely been considered a digitally-disconnected country, recent studies have shown that connectivity figures are on a rise. In this paper, we theorize digital wellbeing in a context characterized by a fast-growing number of mobile data users despite a historically low Internet penetration. It is focused on an ongoing ethnographic research on mobile users and digital inequalities in Africa, zooming in on results from an explorative study featuring 10 in-depth interviews with young adult heavy users (more than 4–5 hours a day) and seeking to understand strategies they use in attaining digital wellbeing. The findings show how the sampled young adults (18–30 years old) struggle with the daily realities of digital participation including addiction and generational conflict in technology use. Results also reveal ways through which electronic connectivity is perceived both be a tool of freedom as well as a subtle form of potential digital enslavering.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: detox, digital wellbeing Africa, global south, Zimbabwe
Subjects: G900 Others in Mathematical and Computing Sciences
W200 Design studies
Department: Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Arts
Depositing User: Rachel Branson
Date Deposited: 22 Apr 2022 09:22
Last Modified: 24 Oct 2023 10:00
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/48947

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