Regulating Digital Distance: Interference and Anticipated Wellbeing in Youth Disconnection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2025.28.4.5Keywords:
Digital disconnection, digital distance adjustment, digital detox, cyclic disconnection, hyperconnectivity, media quiteracyAbstract
The literature defines digital disconnection as the active non-use of digital media and devices. This emerging field of study focuses on people’s relationships with these media, encompassing devices, applications, functions, and messages. Previous studies have explored this phenomenon by focusing on contexts of the Global North; therefore, the experiences of users in other cultural settings have not been addressed. This study examined the experiences, motivations, and challenges of digital disconnection among young people in Latin America. A qualitative template analysis was conducted using data from focus groups with participants who had experienced deliberate disconnection. The findings show that disconnection takes the form of adjusting the distance regarding specific aspects of their digital environment, organized around the interferences they perceive and their anticipated wellbeing. On this basis, the results allow us to theorize disconnection as a cyclical process within the continuum of connectivity. Among the participants, the family environment emerged as a mediator in disconnection decisions. While the literature has identified family rules linked to device disconnection, it has not addressed the family as a social variable influencing disconnection beyond the domestic sphere. Future research could examine how interferences and anticipated well-being are shaped in different user profiles and contexts, as well as analyze the decision-making processes and timing of connectivity cycles in a digital environment.
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