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The limits and boundaries of digital disconnection [Editorial]

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journal contribution
posted on 2020-04-20, 10:24 authored by Emiliano Treré, Simone NataleSimone Natale, Emily KeightleyEmily Keightley, Aswin Punathambekar
This editorial introduces a themed section aimed to spark further reflections on the limits and boundaries of disconnection as a form of critique, activism and response to the pervasiveness of digital devices, platforms, and infrastructures. We outline two key limits in current thinking about disconnection: first, the universalist discourse of disconnection, which contrasts with the reality of a profound inequality of access to both connection and disconnection across the globe; and second, the fact that connectivity not only involves digital media users but also those who are materially not connected to the network. This introduction also reflects on the changing meanings of being connected and disconnected to digital networks and platforms at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic forces many people around the world to remain physically separated from others due to lockdown and quarantine measures.

History

School

  • Social Sciences

Department

  • Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies

Published in

Media, Culture and Society

Volume

42

Issue

4

Pages

605 - 609

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Rights holder

© The Authors

Publisher statement

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Acceptance date

2020-04-07

Publication date

2020-05-04

Copyright date

2020

ISSN

0163-4437

eISSN

1460-3675

Language

  • en

Depositor

Dr Simone Natale. Deposit date: 10 April 2020

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