Non-use as ambivalence: Conceptualizing smartphone resistance

In contemporary society media ubiquity and convergence have transformed the act of turning "off" from a routine unmarked moment into a conscious effort and a personal statement. Use and non-use of specific media are increasingly self-reflective and symbolically significant acts. In an ongoing research project we seek to gain insight into this cultural and technological moment by examining individuals and communities who make the effort to remain – to some extent and in relation to some media – "unplugged." We propose that media avoidance is specific to medium, time and place, is constantly negotiated, and needs therefore to be conceived in terms of media ambivalence; and that instead of an identity marker of exclusive ideological groups, media ambivalence is implicated in media ubiquity, technological convergence, and new-liberal ideas about choice. Analytically, we inverse Silverstone at al.'s notion of domestication and outline how de-domestication can highlight practices of resistance to smartphone adoption. Author