1. Drug, demon, or donut? Theorizing the relationship between social media use, digital well-being and digital disconnection
- Author
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Vanden Abeele, Mariek M.P., Halfmann, Annabell, Lee, Edmund W.J., and Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
- Subjects
Balance ,Digital ill-being ,Social Sciences ,Addiction ,STUDENTS ,Communication [Social sciences] ,SELF-CONTROL ,Diet ,TOO ,Digital Wellbeing ,Digital harm ,Digital well-being ,Overuse ,Metaphor ,FACEBOOK ,Humans ,Attention economy ,NETWORK ,Drug ,PREDICTORS ,Social Media ,General Psychology - Abstract
Social media overuse is a central concern in discussions over digital well-being. Digital disconnection is often presented as a solution to this problem, but mixed evidence on its effectiveness suggests we lack understanding of why, how and when disconnection works. Drawing from three recurrent social media metaphors - the drug, demon and donut metaphor - this article aims to advance understanding of social media disconnection by developing a classification of disconnective mechanisms in accordance with three conceptual approaches to social media overuse. This classification provides theory-driven support for differing social media disconnection mechanisms. We discuss its implications for practice and future research. Mariek (Maria M. P.) Vanden Abeele is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the European Research Council Starting Grant agreement 'DISCONNECT' No. 950635.
- Published
- 2022