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Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity

Article in Convergence The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies · May 2019
DOI: 10.1177/1354856519847325

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Article

Convergence: The International

Journal of Research into
Digital detox: Media resistance New Media Technologies
1–15
and the promise of authenticity ª The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1354856519847325
journals.sagepub.com/home/con

Trine Syvertsen
University of Oslo, Norway

Gunn Enli
University of Oslo, Norway

Abstract
A fascination for the authentic is pervasive in contemporary culture. This article discusses
texts recommending digital detox and how these accentuate dilemmas of what it means to be
authentically human in the age of constant connectivity. Digital detox can be defined as a
periodic disconnection from social or online media, or strategies to reduce digital media
involvement. Digital detox stands in a long tradition of media resistance and resistance to
new communication technologies, and non-use of media, but advocates balance and aware-
ness more than permanent disconnection. Drawing on the analysis of 20 texts promoting
digital detox: self-help literature, memoirs and corporate websites, the article discusses how
problems with digital media are defined and recommended strategies to handle them. The
analysis is structured around three dominant themes emerging in the material: descriptions
of temporal overload and 24/7 connectivity, experiences of spatial intrusion and loss of
contact with ‘real life’ and descriptions of damage to body and mind. A second research topic
concerns how arguments for digital detox can be understood within a wider cultural and
political context. Here, we argue that digital detox texts illuminate the rise of a self-
regulation society, where individuals are expected to take personal responsibility for
balancing risks and pressures, as well as representing a form of commodification of authenticity
and nostalgia.

Keywords
Authenticity, constant connectivity, digital detox, digital life, digital media, disconnection, media
resistance, non-use, responsibilization, self-help, social media

Corresponding author:
Trine Syvertsen, Department of Media and Communication, P.O. Box 1093 Blindern, Oslo 0317, Norway.
Email: [email protected]
2 Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies XX(X)

Introduction
Dilemmas of authenticity and questions of what it means to be real and genuine are pervasive in
contemporary society. The promise of authenticity is manifest in tourism, politics, popular culture,
branding and advertising (Enli, 2015, 2017; Banet-Weiser, 2012; Cohen, 1988). Questions of
authenticity and truthfulness are not least discussed in relation to digital media and new ways of
communicating in time and space (Feenberg and Barney, 2004).
Digital detox is a phenomenon tapping into the promise of authenticity, as it offers ways to
counter experiences of inauthenticity in connection with online interactions, faceless communi-
cation and artificial intelligence. Digital detox describes efforts to take a break from online or
digital media for a longer or shorter period, as well as other efforts to restrict the use of smart-
phones and digital tools. In addition to describing a set of practices, digital detox appears in books,
blogs, websites and social media posts as a buzzword, representing certain understandings of the
role of digital media in everyday life. As noted by Mjøs et al. (2014), buzzwords in the media
domain are used to simplify complex relations, indicate newness and legitimate strategies and
actions. In contrast to many other media buzzwords, digital detox does not celebrate the oppor-
tunities of new media technologies but instead purvey nostalgia for a past where people had more
time on their hands, a more defined space and a less stressful lifestyle. In this sense, digital detox
parallels other forms of constructed authenticity and ways of commodifying nostalgia, for
example, in tourism and popular culture (Enli, 2015).
Digital detox stands in a tradition of media and technological resistance and resembles reactions
against the telephone (Kline, 2003), cinema (Grieveson, 2004), television (Krcmar, 2009) and
other communication technologies (for overview, see Syvertsen, 2017). Arguments for digital
detox encompass many of the same values and expressions as earlier forms of media resistance, but
there are also novelties. In contrast to political campaigns to restrict media content, for example,
the arguments for digital detox point more to individual responsibilization and self-optimization
(Madsen, 2015). Digital detox is also different from media fasts such as TV-free weeks, which
were common in the 1990s and early 2000. Abstaining from television was usually rooted in
negative evaluations of the medium, content and industrial product (Krcmar, 2009), as well as in
broader values such as morality, preservation of culture, enlightenment and democracy (Syvertsen,
2017). As a buzzword and business opportunity, arguments for digital detox rest more on a pre-
sumption of balance that is akin to mindfulness; temporary breaks are seen as a vehicle to heighten
consciousness and learn self-regulation in order to reduce stress and increase the presence here and
now (Glomb et al., 2011).
This article analyses descriptions of digital detox as they appear in 20 texts with a (more or less
explicit) commercial purpose: memoirs, self-help guides and websites. While some authors simply
aim to sell books, several of the texts aim to sell more elaborate products including retreats and
consultancy. The article seeks to investigate how digital detox texts describe problems with digital
media and which strategies they suggest to handle them. The analysis is structured around three
dominant themes emerging in the material: descriptions of temporal overload and 24/7 con-
nectivity, experiences of spatial intrusion and loss of contact with ‘real life’ and descriptions of
damage to body and mind. A second research topic concerns how arguments for digital detox can
be understood within a wider cultural and political context. Here, we argue that digital detox texts
illuminate the rise of a self-regulation society, where individuals are expected to take personal
responsibility for balancing risks and pressures, as well as representing a form of commodification
of authenticity and nostalgia.
Syvertsen and Enli 3

Digital detox – A new term

As a concept, digital detox is less than a decade old, but the use has rapidly increased. In 2013, the
concept was included in the Oxford dictionary defined as ‘A period of time during which a person
refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an oppor-
tunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world’ (accessed 18 February
2018). In self-help books (see e.g. Zahariades, 2016; Price, 2018), digital detox periods vary from
spending an hour or two without a mobile phone to detox holidays of several weeks. The media
aspect is also varying; while digital detox inevitably means to refrain from using online media and
games, it may also imply refraining from other media such as television and/or work-related tools
and programs.
Despite practical differences, a common premise in all descriptions of digital detox is that
current user patterns are dangerous and unhealthy. As such, the term stands in a long line of
metaphors related to health used by media critics and resisters (Syvertsen, 2017: 121ff). From early
on, popular media was likened to infections, trash, sewage and poison (Sutter, 2003), and bodily
metaphors continued with expressions such as ‘couch potato’ for describing TV-induced passivity,
and ‘a juggler’s brain’ for online-induced hyperactivity (Carr, 2010: 115). Etymologically,
detoxing implies a medical process to reduce dangerous substances, as in the programmes of
Alcoholics Anonymous and similar methods. In contrast to the recommended abstention to combat
substance abuse, however, digital detox is recommended more as a short time ‘cleansing’ – a
parallel to a juice fast or a colon cleanse – which remain popular and, like digital detox, often are
promoted by celebrities (Palermo, 2015).
As any cultural trend or counter-trend, digital detox draws on a variety of inspirations, and
motives for practicing digital detox vary. In one sense, digital detox fits within a tradition of
corporate self-optimization where individuals are encouraged to improve efficiency through
the use of technology and software, including software to reduce digital distractions (Gregg,
2015; Guyard and Kaun, 2018). Furthermore, as noted, digital detox draws on notions of
balance and mindfulness. From the early 2010s, holiday packages emerged with a digital detox
label as spin-offs from the healthy holiday market of yoga, spirituality and mindfulness
(Euromonitor, 2012). As noted by Glomb et al. (2011: 123), mindfulness-based practices are
no longer tied to their origins in Buddhist meditation practices but are widely taught to
improve self-regulation of thoughts, emotions and behaviours, as well as to improve resilience
among workers in the face of challenges. A parallel can be drawn between workplace use of
mindfulness to enhance workers performance, and digital detox as a method for achieving a
more balanced media life.
Digital detox connotates individual responsibility, yet arguments for and practices of digital
detox are also grounded in consumer activism and institutional resistance against potentially
negative media effects. For example, Adbusters, the anti-consumerist network of ‘culture
jammers’ have organized several digital detox weeks (Adbusters, 2015), while the British
Royal Society for Public Health organize an annual ‘Scroll-free September’ to promote public
health (RSPH, 2018). In Slow media, Rauch (2018) places digital detox in the context of
environmental sustainability and post-Luddism and sees it as a countercultural movement akin
to ‘Slow Food’. Whether digital detox is understood as a social moment or not depends on who
you talk to (Sutton, 2017). Organizers of activities and campaigns tend to see it as a movement,
while many texts and testimonies define it in individualistic terms (Syvertsen, 2017; Karlsen
and Syvertsen, 2016).
4 Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies XX(X)

Resisting media and regaining authentic life

This article draws on studies of media resistance and non-use as well as studies of authenticity and
nostalgia to discuss texts promoting digital detox. The study of non-use and disconnection is
evolving as a branch of social and online media research. Studies explore ambivalence to and
withdrawal from services such as Facebook (Baumer et al., 2013; Portwood-Stacer, 2012), Twitter
(Schoenebeck, 2014), the dating app Grindr (Brubaker et al., 2016), online news (Woodstock,
2013) and social network sites more generally (Dremljuga, 2018; Light, 2015; Neves et al., 2015).
Studies of non-use show how online and social media is perceived to be superficial, narcissistic and
alienating (Lüders and Brandtzæg, 2014; Helsper and Reisdorf, 2013; van Deursen and Helsper,
2015), and how abstaining from cell phone use is perceived as a road to liberation and control
(Rosenberg and Vogelman-Natan, 2018). A key tension emerges in the literature between
impression management pressures and the desire to present an authentic self (Ellison et al., 2006:
414), while another binary opposition is constructed between mediated life and what is perceived
as more authentic forms of social interaction (Lüders and Brandtzæg, 2014).
The concept of authenticity has multiple meanings, of which three aspects are particularly
relevant to this study. First, authenticity is defined as the quality of being real, genuine and true, as
opposed to being fake, unreal and untrustworthy (Cambridge dictionary, accessed 20 February
2019). The real/fake distinction is central in debates about what it means to communicate
authentically in view of new media technologies; the rise of online socializing and social media has
caused concerns about cynical relations, emotional deception and fake personas (Ellison et al.,
2006; Ickes, 1993; Reingold, 1991; Turkle, 1995). Such concerns also emerge in digital detox
texts. A second definition of authenticity is as ‘being true to one’s inner self’ rather than adjusting
ones behaviour to social norms (Berman, 2009). This notion pinpoints the duality between per-
forming roles in everyday life, for example, in online self-presentations (Goffman, 1959; Rettberg,
2014) and being true to oneself in the world (Berman, 2009). In the age of constant connectivity, a
key question in media research is to what degree real and authentic communication is possible
online and to what degree only face-to-face interactions are to be considered as authentic. A key
argument in recent contributions is that digital communication should be conceived as authentic,
and just as meaningful as its offline versions (Baym, 2010; Lobinger and Brantner, 2015; Palfrey
and Gasser, 2008), but this notion is debated in digital detox texts. Third, authenticity is often used
as a synonym of originality, and nostalgia for a historic past before commercialization and mass-
production culture (Benjamin, 1969; Horkheimer and Adorno, 1997). Paradoxically, this yearning
for authenticity is in recent decades commodified and turned into a branding strategy, selling
products, politics and religion (Banet-Weiser, 2012). The analysis draws on these notions of
authenticity as a framework for exploring how the texts describe the problems with digital media
and strategies to handle them.

Sources and material

The thematic analysis is based on 20 sources of which 5 are corporate websites selling detox
services, 5 are book-length memoirs sold as vehicles for life change and 10 are self-help manuals
offering tools for rebalancing life. While the corporate websites are services with something to sell,
the last 15 are products in themselves, marketed and sold as vehicles of self-transformation. The
main point is not to elicit differences between the texts, as the analysis will show, the arguments
about detox and authenticity are constructed in broadly similar ways across genres. Instead, the
Syvertsen and Enli 5

Table 1. Overview of sources.

Five websites http://digitaldetox.org/; https://www.digitaldetoxcompany.com/; http://www.

digitaldetoxing.com/; https://www.thriveglobal.com/; http://digitaldetoxholidays.com
(all accessed 18 December 2018)
Five memoirs The Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept
with Her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale (Maushart,
2010); Operasjon sjølvdisiplin (Ravatn, 2014); Thrive. The Third Metric to Redefining
Success and Creating a Happier Life (Huffington, 2015); Logg av (Bratsberg and Moen,
2015); The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World (Crook, 2015).
10 Self-help books Unfriend Yourself: Three Days to Discern, Detox and Decide about Social Media (Tennant,
2012); A to Z of Digital Detoxing: A Practical Family Guide (Talks, 2013); Unplugged: The
Essential Digital Detox Plan (Fielding, 2014); Cellphone Addiction: Freedom from Social
Media, Texting and Online Video (Krupp, 2014); Digital Detox: 7 Steps to Find Your Inner
Balance (Formica, 2015); The Power of Off: The Mindful Way to Stay Sane in a Virtual World
(Colier, 2016); Digital Detox: Unplug to Reclaim Your Life (Zahariades, 2016); Off: Your
Digital Detox for a Better Life (Goodin, 2017); Log Off: How to Stay Connected after
Disconnecting (Snow, 2017); How to Break up With Your Phone: The 30-day Plan to Take
Back Your Life (Price, 2018)

Note: All translations from Ravatn and Bratsberg and Moen are our own. Several of the books are e-books without page
numbers.

sources are selected to get a manageable sample for qualitative analysis, with some diversity within
the sample (Table 1).
The selection of websites is based on Google searches for ‘digital detox’ and belongs to
businesses promoting holidays, coaching, consultancy and merchandise. All include images, texts
and descriptions of products and services. The two Norwegian memoirs were familiar from the
public debate, the three others were found on Amazon.com. The memoirs and self-help manuals
were found through systematic searches on Amazon.com, using keywords ‘digital detox’, ‘dis-
connection’ and ‘logoff’. The sample was composed to obtain diversity in terms of genre, length,
format, national origin of the author and year of publication (from 2010 to 2018). While the
memoirs include more distinct biographical elements, all sources include familiar characteristic of
the self-help genre such as personal experiences, inspirational quotes and advice for self-regulation
(McGee, 2005; Liang, 2015). Reflecting the international character of the phenomenon, texts are
written by authors based in United States, Australia, Europe and the Nordic region, yet, all soci-
eties with a high level of Internet usage.
It is important to note that there is nothing new in literature aiding users in handling new
technology; for example, at the advent of printing, there were discussions on how to cope with ‘the
multitude of books’ (Blair, 2003: 11), and with radio, advice proliferated on how to avoid mul-
titasking and listen carefully (Scannel and Cardiff, 1991). Yet, the self-help industry has evolved
tremendously and now encompasses a multitude of services including coaching, courses, events,
software, apps and holidays. As the analysis will show, there are in several cases links between the
types of sources. Several authors have financial interests in detox trips and events and advertise
their book on corporate websites and vice versa.
6 Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies XX(X)

Confessions are essential in cyberlife (Bauman, 2007) and a key authenticity marker (Enli,
2015: 91), and here they lend authority to the texts. The tech entrepreneur Arianna Huffington, for
example, set up the health and wellness platform Thrive global in 2016 after a dramatic personal
burnout, and the first sentence of her bestseller Thrive (2015) reads: ‘On the morning of April 6,
2007, I was lying on the floor in my home office in a pool of blood’. The co-founder of the site
digitaldetox.org describes how he was ‘enthralled with the Internet’ at the age of 24, but health
concerns led him to leave his job at a successful start-up ‘to take a sabbatical from his “always-on,”
constantly tethered, digitally enthralled reality’ (digitaldetox.org/about/). The digital detox-authors’
main authority is based on their own experiences as heavy users, as professionals working in the tech
industry, or as therapists and consultants. Many authors also refer to research, statistics and scientific
studies, but there are variations as to how precisely they are discussed and referenced.
The analysis is explorative and bottom-up: We look for statements describing how problems are
constructed, as well as suggested strategies. Key to the analysis is the notion that a more authentic
life is attainable through taking a break from digital technology, and that lives will improve with a
more balanced digital diet. Under each heading pertaining to time, space and body/mind we first
elicit descriptions of the problem as they appear in the texts, then discuss practical as well as more
existentialist advice offered to readers.

Temporal overload: No sense of time

Digital detox texts are based on presumptions of temporal overload; digital tools and media occupy
too much time and distract us from what is valuable and essential for a good life. The descriptions of
online time waste flourish, such as ‘You’re probably wasting at least a few hours every day’
(Zahariades, 2016), ‘Our time is precious and limited, and yet we’re wasting so much of it every day’
(Goodin, 2017), ‘despite our wide use of digital tools, we are grasping for more time now than ever
before’ (Formica, 2015), and ‘We’re living a life of time famine’ (Huffington, 2015). Typically, the
texts assume that you have more valuable things to do, such as Krupp (2014) inferring that you are on
social media ‘instead of spending more time with your friends and family’.
Digital media disrupts our perception of time, our very ‘sense of time’, according to the self-
help literature: ‘The addict experiences this loss of time on a regular basis. Because she spends so
much time in isolation staring at her phone, tablet, or computer screen, she often has no idea what
time it is’ (Zahariades, 2016), and ‘I often picked up my phone “just to check,” only to resurface an
hour later wondering where the time had gone’ (Price, 2018). Some texts describe an over-
whelming sensation of being constantly connected, all days and all hours, such as the website of
digitaldetoxcompany.com:
We are drowning under an electronic avalanche of incoming emails, texts and instant messaging. We
are struggling with the effects of this continuous deluge of digital data and are becoming aware of the
impact that being ‘on’ 24/7 is having on every aspect of our lives. . . . However, that same technology
that enables us to be connected digitally may actually be responsible for disconnecting us from our real
lives. (Authors’ emphasis)

Detox-promoting texts describe conditions ranging from serious addiction to mild invasion – but
in all cases the problem is related to time pressures. Some texts, most notably the two memoirs in our
sample that have higher literary ambitions, distance themselves from nostalgia (Maushart, 2010: 8)
or retain ironic distance (Ravatn, 2014), but most texts reveal a longing for a less complicated time,
when people lived authentically in the moment:
Syvertsen and Enli 7

Thirty years ago, information came to us in the form of a stream. We had newspapers, magazines, and a
handful of television programs. We visited the library if we needed to research something. It was
manageable. Today, information comes to at us in the form of a flood. . . . We are drowning in infor-
mation. We’re being overwhelmed by a continuous torrent of content. (Zahariades, 2016)

Media and cultural history offer ample documentation that ours is not the first era where
overload is raised as an issue. If anything, leisure time has increased, yet, the ‘iconic image that
abounds is that of the frenetic, technologically tethered, iPhone-or-iPad-addicted citizen’, Wajc-
man (2015: 2) comments. In the 16th century, ‘the multitude of books’ prompted warnings that
literary overload could lead to a ‘barbarous’ future unless effective reading strategies were adopted
to manage the overwhelming influx of material (Blair, 2003: 11). If we look back 30 years, a time
described as peaceful and manageable in the above quote, the influx of satellite television in fact
prompted use of the same metaphors: ‘tide, ‘flood’ and ‘storm’ (Syvertsen, 1992: 217). What is
new in the current era, however, is that non-mediated periods and spaces are rapidly disappearing,
as epitomized in notions of ‘on-life’ and 24/7 connectivity. As Lomborg (2015: 36) notes, the
combination of smartphones and mobile Internet means that ‘the internet becomes accessible
anytime, anywhere’ and increasingly interwoven with daily life. Hence, it is no surprise that those
who feel invaded long for an era where ‘off-life’ was more readily available.
Digital detox texts offer numerous tips on how to handle temporal overload. Practical advice
include wearing a wristwatch and purchasing an old-fashioned alarm clock, rather than using the
mobile phone (Goodin, 2017; Zahariades, 2016), hiding your smartphone (Bratsberg and Moen,
2015; Goodin, 2017; Ravatn, 2014), screen free time zones (Goodin, 2017; Price, 2018) or
installing apps such as ‘Moment’ to restrict interruptions (Talks, 2013; Formica, 2015). Several
authors recommend detox periods, for example, characterized as ‘digital sabbath’ (Price, 2018) or
‘digital fasting’ (Goodin, 2017), and some invite readers to meet them ‘for real’ by participating in
a digital detox event organized by their company (Goodin, 2017; Talks, 2013). Detox retreats
typically help customers to regain control over time by confiscating intrusive digital devices, and
some, such as digitaldetox.org/retreats, have a rule against watches and clocks to increase crea-
tivity and spontaneity.
The second type of advice is more existentialist, such as reflecting on the meaninglessness of
trivial online activities in a life–death perspective (Ravatn, 2014: 74), striving to experience the
moment by watching the sunset or connecting with strangers (Zahariades, 2016) and being more
present in everyday life: ‘Don’t miss the moment!’ (Huffington, 2015). The point is to anchor the
digital detox more deeply in personal values: ‘if you do not know your purpose, time management
tips and tools will not be effective because you could be engaged in activities that are not in
alignment with what you truly want’ (Formica, 2015). As digitaldetox.org/retreats puts it, ‘during
our retreats, we treat each moment as an opportunity to (re)connect’. Accordingly, the strategies to
regain control over time through digital detox presume that we all have an inner compass and
should follow it to live a more authentic life where time use is prioritized according to genuine
needs rather than external expectations.

Spatial overload: No sense of place

In addition to loss of control over time, texts promoting detox present dire descriptions of spatial
overload, and digital hybrid living, where individuals are trapped in between the ‘real’ and the
‘virtual’. Meyrowitch (1985) term ‘no sense of place’ describes how TV ‘decreased the
8 Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies XX(X)

significance of physical presence in the experience of people and events. One can now be an
audience to a social phenomenon without being physically present; one can communicate directly
with others without meeting in the same place’ (p. vii).
Digital technologies accelerate a radical dislocation of our experience of both space and time
(Barney, 2004: 33). The self-help literature diagnoses the problem as a devaluation of our real-life
encounters and face-to-face meetings, because almost everyone is distracted by activities in online
environments: ‘People are more concerned with what’s happening online than what is happening
right in front of them’ (Snow, 2017). Typically, the digital detox texts provide metaphors to
describe how digital hybrid living harms your offline relationships: ‘screen wall’ and ‘screen
jealousy’ are concepts that describe feelings of being shut out or put on hold because your partner
or friend is being too preoccupied with a screen (Bratsberg and Moen, 2015: 65ff). Online spaces
are seen as inauthentic, for example, in Tennant’s (2012) description of Facebook as ‘a social and
intellectual environment that encourages false intimacy and feigned friendships’.
The dilemma of being authentically and genuinely present in real life versus being distracted by
online devices is further noticeable in testimonials of dramatic awakenings. For example, Moen
describes a pivotal moment of recognition when he missed his child’s goal at a soccer match
because he was busy surfing the net on his smartphone: ‘The next day I went to the store and
bought a dumb phone instead’ (p. 12). Likewise, Maushart (2010: vi–vii) initiated a detox after
being worried about how the media ‘began to function as a force field separating my children from
what my son, only half ironically, called RL (Real Life)’. In line with the notion of being ‘alone
together’, as coined by (Turkle, 2011), the author describes a longing for more authentic con-
nection with her family, in what she defined as ‘a real space and time’:
[W]e had ceased to function as a family. We were just a collection of individuals who were very
connected outwards – to friends, business, school and sources of entertainment and information. But
we simply weren’t connecting with one another in real space and time in any sort of authentic way.
(McClements, 2011)

The suggested strategies for handling spatial overload and digital hybrid living can be divided
into practical and existentialist. The practical strategies are about what the texts describe as
authentic connections, either with nature or other humans. Being in nature and spending time
outdoors are recommended to reduce stress and enhance harmony, such as ‘Spend more time in
nature, take a walk in the park or go hiking in the forest. Fresh air and wonderful Norwegian
nature are good medicine’ (Bratsberg and Moen, 2015: 182). Some texts go even further,
suggesting direct physical contact with nature, as a strategy to escape the stressful duality of
modern hybrid living:
The disconnect that we experience now from nature is likely to have significant and unprecedented
consequences on our inner balance . . . . Recently, is has been scientifically demonstrated that having a
direct contact with the earth has healing power. . . . It is particularly important to be in direct contact
with dirt, grass, or any type of soil, daily. (Formica, 2015)
Sit right down on the grass, not on a rock or a bench or a chair. Feel the grass under your hands and
feet. (Goodin, 2017)

Offering a space dedicated to connecting with nature and disconnecting from online media is
the business model of companies offering digital detox vacations. The locations for detox retreats
tend to be tropical, or in mountains or forests, and the accommodations range from luxury rooms to
a hut in the jungle. Detox as a business idea has also been picked up traditional hotels, of which
Syvertsen and Enli 9

some confiscate digital devices, and in return offer ‘a detox survival kit’, containing ‘a board game,
a walking map, a tree-planting kit, and other reminders that life exists beyond the confines of an
iPad’ (Carrington, 2012: see also digitaldetoxholidays.com).
Next after nature, the most frequent recommendation to regain a sense of place is authentic
interactions; physical co-presence is seen as a precondition for authentic relations:
Relations are based on interpersonal values and feelings. They must be experienced in real life. No
emoticon in the world can replace a face. A face you see right in front of you. You notice every little
detail. . . . Real relations happen in real life. (Bratsberg and Moen, 2015: 143–144)

In particular, the point about face-to-face dialogue and eye contact is often pinpointed in the
self-help texts: ‘If you’re going to make meaningful connections with people, you must look at
them and the life in front of us in the eye’ (Snow, 2017); ‘The more face to face contact we have,
the less lonely we are’ (Colier, 2016); ‘The more direct the communication, the more intimate and
meaningful it feels’ (Crook, 2015). Being present in the same space, rather than being distracted by
online media and digital communication was one of the key rewards from the digital detox
experience reported on by Maushart (2010): After the six-month media pause, she and her family
‘found – among other things – each other’ (322): ‘We invaded each other’s space. Whereas before
we’d scurry to our separate corners, we now found excuses to bond together and stay there’.
The second type of advice is on a more existentialist level. Arguments abound that presence in
the physical world will not only provide relaxation and contentment, but also a strong sense of
belonging in the world: ‘Feel the sensation of your own presence’ and ‘Sense “hereness.” Fell the
vibration of just being’ (Crook, 2015). A key argument is that being ‘just one place at a time’ and
‘present in the physical world’ without distractions from digital media makes it possible to ‘notice
the other people in which whom we share our space and our planet’ (Colier, 2016). By limiting our
online use, we could become ‘a people who remember what it is to live in the flesh, to dwell face to
face to face with each other’ (Tennant, 2012). The reward for regaining a sense of place is
to achieve ‘freedom, instead of being elsewhere in thought’ (Snow, 2017), ‘a space that allows you to
be’ (Fielding, 2014), and a ‘social collective and connected social space’ (Colier, 2016). In general,
the notion of ‘space’ in the detox texts is related to an ideal of authenticity which requires an
existence in only one physical space, and nostalgic references to a time before 27/7 connectivity.

Body and mind: No sense of self

A third major topic in the digital detox texts is concern for physical and mental ailments. The
physical symptoms described include lack of exercise, weight gain, unhealthy eating and
muscular pain due to high use of digital media. Digital detox books typically offer diagnoses and
describe conditions such as ‘text claw’, ‘smartphone elbow’, ‘text neck’ and ‘computer vision
syndrome’ (Bratsberg and Moen, 2015; Formica, 2015; Huffington, 2015; Price, 2018). Krupp
(2014) adds to the list by warning that cell phones are put in places where they ‘can easily acquire
germs and bacteria’.
Furthermore, the detox texts describe mental symptoms such as depression, fear, anxiety,
stress and loneliness (Formica, 2015; Goodin, 2017; Price, 2018; Zahariades, 2016). Social
media is particularly argued to cause negative self-image because users are comparing them-
selves to others: ‘feelings of inadequacy are stirred up by witnessing our friends “perfect” lives
online’ (Goodin, 2017), ‘The grass is always greener through a filter’ (Colier, 2016) and
‘Exposure to carefully curated images from others’ lives leads to negative self-comparison’
10 Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies XX(X)

(Snow, 2017: 33). The self-help books moreover pinpoint that we seek solace in technology
‘because we are unwilling or uncomfortable confronting our own feelings’ (Snow, 2017: 61), yet
only resulting in reinforced: ‘feelings of low self-worth’ (Zahariades, 2016). Tennant (2012)
describes how he used Facebook ‘as a kind of narcotic to numb my aching soul’, but social media
turned out to be ‘a false balm’ for its pains.
Digital detox texts often describe the problem of digital overload as addiction, both in a
pathological and vernacular sense. A point raised in many self-help books is that the dopamine is
the reason for addiction: ‘Dopamine makes us feel excited, and we like feeling excited’ (Price,
2018), and some compare the ‘dopamine loop’ created by digital media to drug addiction: ‘it leads
to compulsory disorders similar to those who are addicted to chemical stimulants and depressants
such as cocaine, caffeine, methamphetamines, nicotine and alcohol’ (Snow, 2017), and ‘heavy
users of the Internet can suffer brain damage similar to those suffered by people who are addicted
to drugs’ (Talks, 2013: 43). Addiction is seen to be caused by Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO): ‘a
permeating concern or worry related to not being present while others have pleasant or rewarding
experiences’ (Formica, 2015). In turn, the self-help books and websites explain that FOMO causes
loss of sleep and insomnia with reference to how LCD lights of tablets and smartphones stimulates
you to stay awake (Formica, 2015; Krupp, 2014; Price, 2018).
Digital detox books and websites suggest strategies for reducing damage on body and mind,
and again, strategies are both practical and existential. Practical advice pertains to nutritious
food, sleep and exercise: ‘If it grows, eat it, if it does not grow, do not eat it’ (Formica, 2015),
‘Eat healthy, and often, and get enough sleep’ (Ravatn, 2014: 102) and ‘a healthy diet, exercise,
and sleep can help you find the right balance in the use of technology’ (Bratsberg and Moen,
2015: 132). In terms of exercise, the most mentioned activities are walking (without your phone)
and yoga (Goodin, 2017; Price, 2018; Zahariades, 2016). Other guidelines are avoiding multi-
tasking, deleting unrewarding Facebook ‘friends’ and self-discipline (Bratsberg and Moen,
2015; Ravatn, 2014; Zahariades, 2016). As a replacement for digital media, a variety of analogue
activities are recommended, including knitting, sawing, colouring, cooking (old recipe), hand-
writing and gardening (Goodin, 2017; Price, 2018; Talks, 2013). While some advice points to
general remedies: ‘Gardening is good for the mind, body and soul’ (Talks, 2013), others are
specific solutions to a problem ‘Reading before bedtime will improve your sleep’ (Goodin,
2017). A healthy sleep hygiene is described as one of the key rewards of abstention from digital
media use for a defined period (Maushart, 2010: 325).
Strategies to handle more existentialist challenges, including low self-esteem, loneliness and
addiction are widely offered in the self-help books and websites. Key recommendations are to
ignore external pressure and to nurture our authentic self: ‘Disconnect from our always-connected
lives, and reconnect with ourselves’ (Huffington, 2015), ‘To be able to share our authentic selves
requires more than sharing of digital images and messaging’ (Fielding, 2014: 10), ‘allow you to
“be” and listen to your inner voice and rediscover your authentic self’ (p. 125).
Key to become ‘your authentic self’, according to our sources, is a period of self-organized
abstention or a digital detox vacation. The company digitaldetox.org typically offers ‘a mind-
fulness based and psychological driven program with a handful of journals, yoga mats, arts and
crafts, typewriters, and one agenda; disconnect to reconnect’. On digitaldetoxholidays.com you
can choose from destinations all over the world including ‘(e)xceptionally remote places where
you can live the last paradise experience’. The benefits of a digital detox trip are compared to a
self-growth seminar, which will help you ‘reconnect with your inner self’: ‘The purpose is to create
more awareness of what is going on in our mind and to interrupt our identification with thoughts’
Syvertsen and Enli 11

(Formica, 2015). Detox is ‘an important step towards changing the way you see yourself’
(Zahariades, 2016). Again, the desired prize is a more authentic life according to digitaldetox.org:
‘By disconnecting from our devices we reconnect with: ourselves, each other, our communities,
and the world around us . . . becoming more present, authentic, compassionate and understanding’.
A key argument is that an authentic identity is distinct from constructing online personas to get
confirmation from others (Colier, 2016). Among the explicit promises are ‘inner peace’ and
‘relations in real life’ (Bratsberg and Moen, 2015: 144), and being more ‘in touch with our inner
selves’ (Goodin, 2017). On an existentialist level, these promises are related to notions of an
authentic self and authentic connections. A central argument is that online interaction is less real
than offline communication, because the performative aspect of ‘online selves’ makes them
constructed and separated from the ‘IRL selves’.

Self-optimization, responsibilization and commodification

This article examines the construction of digital detox as a practice and buzzword in texts with a
(more or less explicit) commercial purpose. The analysis places recommendations for digital detox
within a discourse of self-optimization; the underlying morality being that individuals are
encouraged to solve problems through measures of self-improvement (Madsen, 2015). Digital
detox is related to other forms of self-optimization such as healthy eating, exercise, mindfulness
and productivity improvement and often includes a description of a personal conversion as a
generic feature (Gregg, 2015). Typically, authors confess to having been bad role models,
describing themselves as a former ‘tech addict’ (Formica, 2015), ‘digiholic’ (Talks, 2013) or
‘wired geek’ (Snow, 2017), or describing how they recovered from ‘nomophobia’, the fear of being
without your phone (Goodin, 2017), procrastination and web-induced lack of concentration
(Ravatn, 2014) and health-damaging burnout (Huffington, 2015). Confessions based on first-hand
experiences of self-optimization strengthen the credibility of authors and founders as inspirational
characters in the market for authentic lifestyles.
The recommendation to do digital detox can further be understood within the context of
responsibilization. Responsibilization is a term from the literature of governmentality, referring to
‘the process whereby subjects are rendered individually responsible for a task which previously
would have been the duty of another – usually a state agency – or would not have been recognized
as a responsibility at all’ (Wakefield and Fleming, 2009: 277). Responsibilization is associated
with neo-liberal policies and the shift onto individuals for managing risks related to health and
safety; if they don’t take precautions, they become in some sense responsible (Gray, 2009). Texts
promoting digital detox often constitute themselves as social movements: corporate detox firms
often have a ‘manifesto’, their charismatic leaders engage in public speaking, publish books and
organise ‘inspirational’ events. Yet, the typical aim of the texts analysed for this article is not to
build grass-root movements or achieve political or industrial change but to encourage personal
conversion and sell books and services. Responsibilization implies that potential problems with
digital media are laid on the users’ shoulders: ‘In reality, the problem lies in us, rather than
technology’ (Talks, 2013: 82) and ‘the problem isn’t smartphones themselves, but the problem is
our relationship with them’ (Price, 2018: 2).
These aspects also point firmly to commodification, as a third societal force illuminating digital
detox. Digital detox is not only interesting as a practice and buzzword, it is also a sphere of
business opportunity. As demonstrated in tourism studies, constructed authenticity has a com-
mercial appeal because it promises originality and realness (Cohen, 1988). The nostalgia for
12 Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies XX(X)

authenticity is also found in communities where media technologies are perceived as interruptions
of collective spaces (Ribak and Rosenthal, 2006). As a commodity, the idea of authenticity is
closely connected with nostalgia for a past without the stressfulness of modern life. In this article,
we have argued that digital detox can be seen as yet another example of commodified authenticity.
Digital detox is used as a trademark, and the promise of authenticity lays the ground for a bur-
geoning market of self-help literature, retreats and events. While online and social media platforms
design solutions to get you online, digital detox business applications and self-help literature
design solutions to get you offline with a promise of a more authentic life.

Conclusion
Based on analyses of 20 texts, this article has explored similarities in how digital detox is con-
structed. The analysis finds great similarities across texts and genres, in each case problems are
described, strategies are recommended, and promises are made. Theoretically, the analysis rests on
three notions of authenticity, each suggesting ways that humans can improve life by reducing
digital media use. In conclusion we summarize how these notions are present across the three
analysed themes of time, space and body/mind.
First, there is the notion of authenticity as being real, genuine and true, as opposed to being fake,
unreal and untrustworthy. This notion is visible in all three thematic areas, but particularly pre-
valent in discussions of spatial dislocation and body/mind problems. In the digital detox texts, a
strong premise comes across that online communication is less true than offline communication,
and that co-presence in physical space is necessary for genuine and trustworthy communication.
There is also the notion that online communication pollutes your mind and gives you a less than
healthy body image. Hence, recommendations flourish to reduce the amount of online and social
media communication and instead build trust and engage in truthful and trustworthy relations with
people around you.
The second notion of authenticity, as being true to one’s inner values, comes across strongly in
all three thematic areas. The texts idolize an authentic ‘sense of time’ where your own values and
priorities decide what you do and an authentic ‘sense of space’ where you are grounded in a sense
of ‘hereness’ and belonging. To gain a truer sense of yourself and reduce the health damage
allegedly caused by online stress, the texts and retreats recommend mindfulness, yoga and
similar measures. The aim is to ‘reconnect’ in the sense of getting more internal guiding as to
how to live your life.
The third notion of authenticity is about a longing for a better yesterday, a more authentic era.
Although it varies how specific the dating of this era is, the characteristics that emerge are similar
across texts and genres. This is described as a less complicated time where life was slower and
more down-to-earth, with fewer media temptations, and more direct contact with physical (rural)
spaces. This life is described as much better for body and soul. It is worth noting that several texts
warn against nostalgia, and stress that balance – rather than disconnection – is the dominant aim.
Yet, the texts commonly suggest analogue and older media forms – such as switching to an old
Nokia, reading a printed book or playing a board game – as measures to ‘reconnect’ with more
authentic values and lifestyles.

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Author biographies
Trine Syvertsen is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Oslo, and specializes in media policy,
media history, television and digital media. Recent books include The Media Welfare State: Nordic Media in
the Digital Era (2014) and Media Resistance; Protest, Dislike, Abstention (2017). She is chair of the project
Intrusive Media, Ambivalent Users and Digital Detox (Digitox) 2019-2023.

Gunn Enli is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway and specializes in media policy,
political communication, and social media. Enli’s recent books are The Media Welfare State: Nordic Media in
the Digital Era (2014), Mediated Authenticity (2015) and Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics
(2016). She participates in the project Intrusive Media, Ambivalent Users and Digital Detox (Digitox) 2019-
2023.

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