Authors
Dave Harley, Julie Morgan, Hannah Frith, Dave Harley, Julie Morgan, Hannah Frith
Publication date
2018
Journal
Cyberpsychology as everyday digital experience across the lifespan
Pages
153-173
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Description
Digital technologies can be used to avoid ‘feeling alone’, but they can also be used to distance ourselves from others and provide a means of ‘being alone’. This chapter begins by examining whether excessive use of technologies isolates us from ‘real’-world social interactions, and increases experiences of loneliness, or whether it provides greater opportunity for belonging and companionship, helping people to overcome experiences of social isolation. Through exploring the conceptualisation of problematic Internet use (PIU), this chapter argues for a better understanding of the contexts, purposes and motivations of internet use. This chapter further explores how technologies may be used as a means to spend time alone, to carve out a place of solitude, disengage from the social and create our own contemplative spaces.
Total citations
201820192020202111
Scholar articles
D Harley, J Morgan, H Frith, D Harley, J Morgan, H Frith - … as everyday digital experience across the lifespan, 2018