2019 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm)
Intentional Non-Use of the Internet in a Digital
World: A Textual Analysis of Disconnection
Narratives
James Melton
Central Michigan University
melto1jh@cmich.edu
Vishal Shah
Central Michigan University
shah3v@cmich.edu
Abstract - The intentional non-use of technology has
become an increasingly popular practice, yet the
scholarly literature on this topic is limited, being largely
been framed as the lack of something rather than a
phenomenon in itself. This paper reports on the analysis
of over 300 disconnection narratives, the texts of which
were analyzed by means of R software. Expected terms
associated with phones and social media were identified,
but descriptions of the assumed benefits of disconnecting,
such as higher quality relationships, more productive
work, and better sleep, were not found. However, overall
sentiment was positive. This study will ground further
research on a large scale, using big data sets drawn from
social media platforms.
Index Terms – Culture of connectivity, disconnectivity,
digital detox, Internet, social media, technology non-use.
The intentional non-use of technology, variously known
as Internet Sabbaths, fasting, detox unplugging, and
disconnecting, has become a popular topic in the popular
press. For example, after 15 years of successful blogging,
the journalist Andrew Sullivan quit the online world
completely for over a year, saying of his previous online
engagement, “It was killing me.” He entered a “meditation
retreat center,” describing the experience as a “detox,” and
eventually returned to the Internet in a less intense way,
with Saturdays now being completely offline for him [1].
Likewise, John Green, author of the novel The Fault in Our
Stars, recently announced in a Washington Post column
that he would be spending a full year away from the
Internet. Other celebrities have taken shorter hiatuses.
At the same time, non-profit and governmental
organizations have attempted to facilitate the intentional
2158-1002/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/ProComm.2019.00016
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Gustav Verhulsdonck
Central Michigan University
verhu1g@cmich.edu
Paul Dunn
Central Michigan University
dunn1pt@cmich.edu
non-use of technology. The Royal Society for Public
Health, a United-Kingdom-based health education charity,
promoted a “scroll free September,” with an endorsement
from the National Health Service, among others, arguing
that social media use can be detrimental to individuals’
health. More than 300,000 people had signed on before the
campaign began, choosing options ranging from “Cold
Turkey” (complete disengagement) to “Night Owl” (taking
a break from social media after 6pm) [2]. Another
campaigns is the “National Day of Unplugging,” in early
March, in the United States [3], which is itself drawn from
the creative project The Sabbath Manifesto. Researchers in
the field of cyberpsychology have begun to study this
phenomenon [4].
Given such trends, one would expect professional
communication scholarship to provide perspective on this
topic. And, to a certain extent, it has. For example,
recognizing that much technical communication operates
through non-official, decentralized channels, Kimball
advocates the use of “tactical technical communication” to
help users navigate currents that include both authorized
institutional actors and informal networks, noting that
“technical communication is a deeper river than most
people think” and concluding that “We need to understand
it from its surface to its depths” [5].
Yet, most of the professional communication literature
relates to the instrumentality of social media, pro and con,
in the professional communication process, while users’
framing, motivations, and perspectives have remained
largely untouched. The intentional non-use of technology
has, as Hesselberth argues, largely been approached as the
lack of something rather than a phenomenon in itself,
hampering exploration and analysis [6]. It would be
valuable for professional communication scholars to study
65
how, when, and why users choose to disconnect. These
efforts can inform the endeavors of both scholars and
practitioners. A promising initial approach is to analyze the
disconnection narratives of individuals. A preferable
source of data would be the disconnection narratives of
everyday users.
This paper reports on a study of over 300 disconnection
narratives drawn from students in social media classes that
have been taught by one of the authors for six years. The
assignment was completed in a three-part sequence: 1)
keeping a log of one’s media and screen use; 2) conducting
a self-experiment with disconnecting; and 3) reflection
through blogging. While disconnection in this case was
temporary and assigned, it did allow individuals to
experiment with disconnection from the Internet.
The texts of these blogs were collected and were then
analyzed by means of R software. Stop-words such as “the”
and “I” were removed, and then unigrams, bi-grams, and
tri-grams were delineated, the most common of which were
identified. Sentiment analysis was performed through the
application of established dictionaries, both to discover
positive and negative sentiment, along with a range of
emotions. These analyses were performed for the
aggregate, as well as being applied by year and by gender.
An association map of unigrams, bi-grams, and tri-grams
was also created.
Not surprisingly, the most common unigrams, bi-grams,
and tri-grams revealed terms that would be expected in
narratives about disconnection, such as “social media,”
“phone,” and “screen time.” However, what was
unexpected was the lack of concepts that are often touted
as benefits of disconnection—such as more time with
family, better quality relationships, more productive work,
better sleep, and more fulfilling recreation. That being said,
sentiment about disconnection was overall positive,
although somewhat less so for females than for males.
Major changes in word choice or in sentiment did not seem
to occur over the five-year time period covered by the
blogs. While the word association map mainly showed
connections between many mundane terms, it also revealed
some tension in the central concepts of “time” and “social,”
running along the fault line of choices about what is done
with technology.
Future research will apply these methods to explore
disconnection narratives on a much larger scale. Data will
be drawn from Twitter or other large-scale platforms to
discover how people describe their experiences of
intentional non-use of the Internet, social media platforms,
or other associated technologies.
REFERENCES
[1] A. Sullivan, “I Used to Be a Human Being,” New York
Magazine. Sept. 19, 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/09/andrew-sullivan-my-
distraction-sickness-and-yours.html
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[2] “Scroll-free September,” Royal Society for Public Health:
[Online]. Available: https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-
work/campaigns/scroll-free-september.html
[3] National Day of Unplugging. [Online]. Available:
https://www.nationaldayofunplugging.com/
[4] S. Stieger and D. Lewetz, “A week without using social
media: Results from an ecological momentary intervention study
using smartphones,” Cyberpsychol., Behav., and Social Netw.,
vol. 21, no. 10, pp. 618–624
[5] M. Kimball, “Tactical Technical Communication,” Tech.
Commun. Quart., vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 1–7, 2017.
[6] P. Hesselberth, “Discourses on disconnectivity and the right
to disconnect,” New Media & Soc., vol. 20, no. 5, 2018.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
James Melton is a professor in the Business Information
Systems Department at Central Michigan University,
where he teaches courses in social media, intercultural
communication, and business communication. His
research focuses on human engagement with information
and communication technologies.
Gustav Verhulsdonck is an assistant professor in the
Business Information Systems Department at Central
Michigan University. He has worked as a technical
communicator for International Business Machines, and
for clients such as NASA and the US Army. His research
focuses on how social networks, mobility, and global
contexts impact user experience design and
communication.
Vishal Shah is an assistant professor in the Business
Information Systems Department at Central Michigan
University. His research interests include IS pedagogy,
social media, IT and learning, game-based learning, and
telemedicine. He has published in IS journals and leading
conferences such as JISE, IJTA, AIS-TRR, AMCIS,
IACIS, and DSI
Paul Dunn is a lecturer in Information Systems at Central
Michigan University. He received his Master’s in
Information Resource Management from Central Michigan
University. He has over 20 years of experience in
client/server programming, database design and
administration, and system administration. His research
interests are big data, NoSQL, and data analytics.