Working Together to Be Left Alone: Situating Digital Disconnection as Collective and Connected Labor

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Recent years have seen an increased interest in the deliberate non-use of digital and networked media, the study of so-called digital disconnection (Bagger, 2023; Syvertsen, 2020). Here, a particular target of study – and of acts of disconnection have often been focused on the connective media which are often discussed as the backbones of social movements and upheaval (Baym et al., 2020; Shirky, 2008; Kaun & Uldam, 2018).

The purpose of this paper is to advance and specify the theoretical situating the study of disconnection within broader social trends and movements (Moe & Madsen, 2021; Kaun 2021). As this paper will argue, disconnection is not just dependent upon the broader zeitgeist of digital resistance (Karppi, 2018; Moe & Madsen, 2021; Portwood-Stacer, 2013), but on concrete personal and organization efforts and struggles. In this way, the paper will continue the critique of the highly individualized way digital disconnection is framed and discussed (Syvertsen & Enli, 2020). I argue that we should acknowledge - as much research on digital disconnection does - the work required on the part of the disconnecting individual (Karppi, 2018). However, this work should be seen alongside the work required or performed by the community and organiational surroundings of the disconnection individual, as well as of the work created for “strangers” by individuals seeking to disconnect. In this way, digital disconnection is always embedded within a broader context.

The paper thus presents a three-angle framework for analyzing who digital disconnection is “creating work” for, (1) selves, (2) surroundings or (3) strangers. Through strategically chosen examples from the existing literature, the paper will illustrate how these three angles can contribute to achieving or hindering digital disconnection. These angles will be situated among a broader discussion of the often invisible labor and work inherent in the digital economy (Fuchs, 2014; Gandini, 2021; Munn, 2022; Jarrett, 2022). As this paper will emphasize, it is not just the production of communication and content which is drenched in digital labor, but also the avoidance of communication.

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Original languageEnglish
Publication date8 May 2023
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 8 May 2023

ID: 335281878