Digital disconnection and identity among young people
Phd-candidate Mehri Agai publishes an article on Digital disconnection and identity in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Hovedinnhold
In connection with her Phd-project on social inequality and digital disconnection among young people, Mehri Agai has published the article "Disconnectivity synced with identity cultivation: adolescent narratives of digital disconnection" in the journal Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
The article illuminates youth digital disconnection through the lens of narrative identity development to answer the research question: "How do experiences of youth disconnection play into ongoing identity development processes?" The study is based on qualitative interviews with 17 Norwegian young people.
In the study, Agai finds that some young people "log off" spontaneously to recover from the emotional distress triggered by social media, while others try to reduce screen time in favor of personal growth. These differences seem to synchronize with the question "Who am I really?" Young people with a sense of identity can better resist peer pressure to stay online, and choose to disconnect or connect on their own, regardless of what friends or others around them are doing.
The findings indicate that young people are ambivalent towards social networking sites, which have ripple effects on their motivation and disconnection practices.
Read the article "Disconnectivity synced with identity cultivation: adolescent narratives of digital disconnection" here
Digital Detox
Mehri Agai's work is part of the Digitox project led by Trine Syvertsen for the University of Oslo.
Read more about the project here
