‘Our old pastor thinks the mobile phone is a source of evil.’ Capturing contested and conflicting insights on digital wellbeing and digital detoxing in an age of rapid mobile connectivity

Bruce Mutsvairo*, Massimo Ragnedda, Kames Mabvundwi

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)
    25 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    While Africa has largely been considered a digitally-disconnected country, recent studies have shown that connectivity figures are on a rise. In this paper, we theorize digital wellbeing in a context characterized by a fast-growing number of mobile data users despite a historically low Internet penetration. It is focused on an ongoing ethnographic research on mobile users and digital inequalities in Africa, zooming in on results from an explorative study featuring 10 in-depth interviews with young adult heavy users (more than 4–5 hours a day) and seeking to understand strategies they use in attaining digital wellbeing. The findings show how the sampled young adults (18–30 years old) struggle with the daily realities of digital participation including addiction and generational conflict in technology use. Results also reveal ways through which electronic connectivity is perceived both be a tool of freedom as well as a subtle form of potential digital enslavering.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number1329878X221090992
    Pages (from-to)89-103
    Number of pages15
    JournalMedia International Australia
    Volume189
    Issue number1
    Early online date11 Apr 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2023

    Keywords

    • detox
    • digital wellbeing Africa
    • global south
    • Zimbabwe

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