DIS/CONNECT: individuals’ digital disconnection

Against the backdrop of a growing backlash on digital media, around their ‘addictiveness’, concentration of economic power and misfeasance in political processes, users make situated combinations of use and non-use, with different motivations and means. This proposal aims to conduct comparative research on disconnection from digital technologies, focusing on qualitative studies with individuals who disconnect, through interviews in their contexts. For such end, we seek to replicate in Portugal a two-part study conducted in Norway: (1) on participants in organized detox activities (‘no wifi’ touristic venues and programmes), with participant observation to 60 participants and 20 interviews; (2) to young people, of high school age, on their digital media use and disconnection experiences in relation to their social background, with 20 interviews.