Reckoning with Social Media

Aleena Chia is assistant professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. Her research on gaming and digital cultures has been published in journals such as Television & New Media, American Behavioral Scientist, and the Journal of Fandom Studies. Her previous research positions include postdoctoral researcher at the Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and Ph.D. Intern at Microsoft Research New England. Her work has been supported by a fieldwork grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, training from Cornell University’s School of Criticism and Theory, and an invitation to the Social Science FOO Camp at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park. Ana Jorge is guest assistant professor of communication at the Catholic University of Portugal, University NOVA of Lisbon, and Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, in Portugal. She researches on children, youth, families and media, audiences, celebrity and microcelebrity, and digital disconnection. Under these areas, Ana explores how media technologies are appropriated and negotiated in specific cultural contexts. Her research has been published in journals of Media and Communications, and Cultural Studies areas, such as Social Media + Society, Journal of Children and Media, Celebrity Studies, Cyberpsychology and Communications; in collections Childhood & Celebrity, Celebrity and Youth, and Internet of Toys. Ana has co-edited a volume, Digital Parenting , with Mascheroni and Ponte, and special issues in Portuguese and Spanish journals (including in English) Mediterranean Journal of Communication, Observatorio(OBS*) and Media & Jornalismo. She serves as vicechair of ECREA’s Digital Culture and Communication section (2016-20). Tero Karppi is assistant professor at the University of Toronto. He teaches at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology and the Faculty of Information. He is the author of Disconnect: Facebook’s Affective Bonds and his research has been published in journals such as Theory, Culture & Society, Social Media + Society, and International Journal of Cultural Studies.

Introduction: Reckoning with Social Media in the Pandemic Denouement
Aleena Chia, Ana Jorge, and Tero Karppi

Defining Disconnection



Why Disconnecting Matters? Towards a Critical Research Agenda on Online Disconnection

Magdalena Kania-Lundholm



The Ontological Insecurity of Disconnecting: A Theory of Echolocation and the Self
Annette N. Markham

Desiring Disconnection



‘Hey! I’m back after a 24h #DigitalDetox!’: Influencers posing disconnection

Ana Jorge and Marco Pedroni



Privacy, energy, time and moments stolen: Social media experiences pushing towards disconnection
Trine Syvertsen and Brita Ytre-Arne



Quitting Digital Culture: Rethinking Agency in a Beyond-Choice Ontology

Zeena Feldman

Designing Disconnection



Ethics and Experimentation in The Light Phone and Google Digital Wellbeing

Aleena Chia and Alex Beattie



From digital detox to 24/365 disconnection: between dependency tactics and resistance strategies in Brazil

Marianna Ferreira Jorge and Julia Salgado

Delaying Disconnection



Overcoming Forced Disconnection: Disentangling the Professional and the Personal in Pandemic Times

Christoffer Bagger and Stine Lomborg



Disconnecting on Two Wheels: Bike touring, leisure and reimagining networks

Pedro Ferreira and Airi Lampinen



Analogue Nostalgia: Examining Critiques of Social Media
Clara Wieghorst