Ytre-Arne & Moe in new research project assigned FRIPRO-funds

FRIPRO-funds are assigned the research project "Intrusive media, ambivalent users and digital detox", led by Trine Syvertsen at the department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo. Associate Professor Brita Ytre-Arne and Professor Hallvard Moe is a part of the project, that asks important questions on how the pressure from digital media is experienced in society. The project studies norms, policies, the industry and user experiences, and is an extention of the research group for media use and audience studies' MeCIn-project, and a RAM-project with the same research group at UiO. 

The Project will analyse ambivalence, resistance and attempts at withdrawal and disconnection. A key thesis is that current features of digital media produce conflicts and tensions both in the lives of individuals and in the public sphere, and the project will hence study how problems with intense digital media engagement are conceptualised historically, among users, on the level of policy, and in industry. While the project is transnational in scope, investigating the impact of global media and platform, it also discusses Norwegian media and digital politics, industry responsibility and user norms. With its high level of online use, ambitious information and communication technology and media policies, Norway is seen as a critical case for studying digital ambivalence, resistance and detox. The project employs a mixed method approach, using methods such as interviews, textual analysis, observation and user experiments. 

Ytre-Arne will lead the part studying user perspectives, where interviews with people that has implemented different forms of "digital detox" will be conducted, along with field work on arenas where there are expectations to refrain from using digital media.