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The Use of Distraction: Doomscrolling, Losing Time, and Digital Well-Being in Pandemic Space-Times

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The Use of Distraction: Doomscrolling, Losing Time, and Digital Well-Being in Pandemic Space-Times University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Geography Geography 2021 THE USE OF DISTRACTION: DOOMSCROLLING, LOSING TIME, AND DIGITAL WELL-BEING IN PANDEMIC SPACE-TIMES Jacob Saindon University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3808-9704 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2021.149 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Saindon, Jacob, "THE USE OF DISTRACTION: DOOMSCROLLING, LOSING TIME, AND DIGITAL WELL- BEING IN PANDEMIC SPACE-TIMES" (2021). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 73. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/73 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Geography by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Jacob Saindon, Student Dr. Matthew W. Wilson, Major Professor Dr. Matthew Zook, Director of Graduate Studies THE USE OF DISTRACTION: DOOMSCROLLING, LOSING TIME, AND DIGITAL WELL-BEING IN PANDEMIC SPACE-TIMES _____________________________________ THESIS ________________________________________ A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Jacob Saindon Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Matthew W. Wilson, Associate Professor of Geography Lexington, Kentucky 2021 Copyright © Jacob Saindon, 2021 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3808-9704 ABSTRACT OF THESIS THE USE OF DISTRACTION: DOOMSCROLLING, LOSING TIME, AND DIGITAL WELL-BEING IN PANDEMIC SPACE-TIMES In the space-times of the COVID-19 global health crisis, how have our relationships with smartphones changed? How do popular discourses designate mundane engagements with digital technologies as healthy or unhealthy, and how are these notions of wellness practiced? This thesis draws upon an online survey of smartphone users residing in Kentucky, and a review of marketing, journalistic, and academic literature to establish current understandings of ‘digital well-being’. The paper then analyzes interviews with Kentucky smartphone users who were asked to track their screen time for a one-week period. This project reveals normative conceptions of well-being and the role of smartphone and screen time metrics in producing ideas of digital wellness. The thesis draws upon health geographies, disability studies, media studies, and STS to argue that the common heuristics of digital wellness are insufficient to either understand or improve subjective well-being, and that a relational and ecological analysis of ‘digital well-being’ allows us to re-evaluate normative prescriptions of care. Mobilizing theories of attention and neoliberal biopolitics, the paper connects normative notions of attentiveness and wellness to demonstrate a specific assemblage of ‘digital well-being,’ and theorizes distraction as a set of ambivalent, unruly practices which might disrupt it. KEYWORDS: Digital Well-being, Distraction, COVID-19, Relational Ontology, Affect, Care Jacob Saindon (Name of Student) 04/24/2021 Date THE USE OF DISTRACTION: DOOMSCROLLING, LOSING TIME, AND DIGITAL WELL-BEING IN PANDEMIC SPACE-TIMES By Jacob Saindon Matthew W. Wilson Director of Thesis Matthew Zook Director of Graduate Studies 04/24/2021 Date TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION: DIGITAL WELL-BEING .............................................................. 1 NOTES ON ‘DIGITAL WELL-BEING’ .............................................................................. 2 METHODS & ANALYSIS .............................................................................................. 2 ARGUMENTS & STRUCTURE ....................................................................................... 6 2. LITERATURE REVIEW & CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ..................................... 8 ASSEMBLAGES OF ATTENTION AND WELL-BEING ........................................................ 8 NEOLIBERAL BIOPOLITICS AND TECHNOLOGIES OF THE SELF ................................... 15 CARE-FUL ASSEMBLAGES OF DIGITAL WELL-BEING .................................................. 22 3. SCREEN TIME AND DIGITAL WELL-BEING: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW ......... 23 MEDIA USE AND DIGITAL WELL-BEING SCHOLARSHIP .............................................. 23 SCREEN TIME IN THE NEWS ..................................................................................... 27 CORPORATE SCREEN TIME AND DIGITAL WELLBEING ............................................... 31 DIGITAL WELL-BEING FOR KENTUCKIANS DURING COVID-19 ................................. 35 4. PANDEMIC SPACES, ROUTINES AND THE USE OF DISTRACTION ............... 40 REMOTE WORK ....................................................................................................... 41 REMOTE LIFE .......................................................................................................... 48 5. DOOMSCROLLING, SCREEN TIME TRACKING, AND NEOLIBERAL BIOPOLITICS .................................................................................................................. 56 DOOMSCROLLING, LOSING TIME, MINDFULNESS, AND THE BODYMIND ....................... 57 SELF-TRACKING, SELF-KNOWLEDGE, AND SELF-CONTROL ......................................... 64 6. CONCLUSION: ATTENTION OTHERWISE ............................................................ 73 CARE IN RELATIONAL ASSEMBLAGES ........................................................................ 74 DISTRACTION AND FEMINIST DIGITAL CARE ............................................................. 77 APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................... 83 SCREEN TIME TRACKING APPLICATIONS (STTAS) ..................................................... 83 SURVEY QUESTIONS ................................................................................................ 85 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ............................................................................................ 86 INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS ............................................................... 89 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 90 VITA ................................................................................................................................. 96 iii 1. INTRODUCTION: DIGITAL WELL-BEING When I started thinking about digital well-being in late 2019, I was curious about the co- constitution of attention and health produced by screen time tracking applications such as Apple’s Screen Time and Android’s Digital Wellbeing. I could not have anticipated the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which would sweep over the United States beginning in early 2020, nor the kind of pressures that ‘lockdown’ conditions would put on Americans’ relationships with our digital devices. For many, digital devices became the primary point of access to friends, family, work, and entertainment. During the height of the ‘lockdowns’ and pandemic safety precautions, many Americans were only leaving their homes to re-stock on necessities. Alongside these lockdowns and ‘social distancing’ emerged a constant stream of pandemic-related news: new outbreaks in nursing homes, climbing death counts, anti- mask protests, the callous negligence of the federal government. Concomitant with these disheartening updates came reports of the physical and mental strains of lockdown life. Chief among these was an explosion in reports of ‘doomscrolling’1, 2: the compulsive seeking-out of bad news, which leads to feelings of despair. Pandemic-related doomscrolling was compounded on May 25 by the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. His egregious murder set off a massive wave of uprisings in the U.S. and beyond, re-igniting public discourses
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