It may seem counterintuitive for a textbook focused on writing and digital media to take a critical look at digital media and the way it functions in our lives, but that’s what this section of the textbook does, beginning with this chapter that challenges the myth of the digital panacea. As discussed in the first chapter, the goal of the textbook as a whole is to foster personal awareness and purpose when it comes to the ways that you engage with digital texts. That means leveraging all of the tools at your disposal, coupled with a profound insight into the advantages and limitations of digital communication, so that you can communicate effectively in any context. Sometimes that will mean using digital platforms to send and receive information, and sometimes it won’t because the reality is that digital media isn’t a cure-all for the challenges we face. It doesn’t automatically make our message clearer or better received. In fact, there will always be instances where you can’t beat a face-to-face conversation or a handwritten letter. You have to think critically about the context at hand and all of the communications tools that are available to you.

The digital panacea is the opposite. It’s an uncritical way of using digital media with the underlying assumption that it is always automatically better. It’s a utopian viewpoint that considers digital technology to be a sign of social progress—as if that progress is inherent in the technology itself and not the way we use it. It’s a mindset that persists in almost every sector of society—health care, journalism, education, business. Some employers believe that digital technology will automatically improve productivity and customer satisfaction. Some viewers believe that the news media is automatically more credible because videos and commentary can be posted in real time. The digital panacea is especially prevalent in the education sector, where some school boards and administrators believe that the more technology that is available, the more children will be engaged, the more they will learn, and the more we can remediate deficiencies for those who have fallen behind. In fact, more young children than ever before have their own tablets and are spending increasing amounts of time in front of a screen every day (Kamenetz). This doesn’t automatically make them smarter or help with their development. In fact, it’s often a hindrance when you consider things like increased anxiety, addiction, disinhibitions, and declining reading scores—all things that are discussed more fully in this chapter.

Of course, on the other side of the utopian perspective is the dystopian viewpoint, promoted by people who tend to think that digital technology is inherently bad. They are the ones quick to point out the addictive qualities of digital media, the lack of in-person interaction, the ways we are increasingly distracted by our devices. From this perspective, digital media is responsible for the erosion of social values and personal freedoms. Similar to the utopian perspective, the people with a dystopian viewpoint focus on qualities they believe are inherent in digital technologies, often ignoring the influence of personal decisions about usage.

While both perspectives have valid points, they both miss the point about critical thinking and the power we have to make choices about how digital technology is used. This chapter examines both the positive and negative outcomes of digital media use and ends with a practical guide for how you can think critically about and engage meaningfully with digital technology. Though this chapter doesn’t focus exclusively on digital writing, the hope is that it will offer big-picture perspectives about digital media use in general, and that the theories and best practices offered here can be adapted and applied to specific situations, including those related to digital writing.

The Good: Benefits and Opportunities for Progress

Let’s start with the good. Without question, digital media has afforded opportunities for some amazing achievements, and in so many ways, it has had a tangible positive effect on our lives. Don’t mistake “critical” for “negative.” A critical look at digital media would absolutely recognize the opportunities it affords—those that have been actualized as well as those that (for now) have only been imagined. Indeed, a critical perspective would think realistically and creatively about the benefits of digital media, often evaluating traditional uses and communication strategies and also thinking outside of the box to forge new ways of thinking and doing (Anderson and Rainie). Let’s look at some examples.

Personal

Probably the most obvious benefits of digital media are the improvements to our personal lives—our personal relationships, our free time, our home projects and personal budgets. It might be hard to believe, but people used to sit down for extended periods of time in order to pay bills, write checks, and balance their checkbooks. They had to take the time to put checks in envelopes, write the address and return address on each one, lick the flap, place the stamp, and then physically take their checks out to the mailbox. It was a tedious and time-consuming process, and it’s just one example of how digital media has made our lives easier. Many people have autopay set up to automatically pay their monthly bills. In other instances, it’s quick to go to a vendor’s website and pay online. We can look at our bank apps anytime to see our current balance. Something that used to take hours now takes almost no time at all.

Here’s another one for you: finding information used to be difficult. To research a topic meant that you had to physically go to the library and look for relevant information using a card catalog or by scrolling through microfilm. Let’s say you identify a book from the card catalog that seems worthwhile. You’d have to write down that call number, go look for the book in the stacks, and then actually read the book to get the information you wanted. Maybe there’d be an index with the specific information listed that you are looking for, so you could quickly flip to the page, but then again, maybe not. You might have to check out the book, bring it home so you could read through it more carefully, and then remember to return it to the library before its due date. It’s hard to believe that anybody went through all that time and trouble, isn’t it? With our handheld digital devices, nearly any type of information we might want to know is accessible instantly. In fact, we’re usually inundated with thousands of results for one simple search, but even then Google has made it easier to pinpoint the exact information we are looking for by highlighting snippets from relevant web pages. Or if even that is too much work, you can always just ask your question to Alexa, who will search the internet for you.

The examples are endless, but here are a few more ways digital media has enhanced our personal lives:

• Communication options. There is a spectrum of convenient communication platforms that allow us to maintain relationships and to communicate at varying attention levels. For instance, FaceTime requires our full attention, and it captures the rich details of facial expressions and vocal inflection that enhance a message and provide a greater sense of intimacy. On the other hand, texts, emails, and social media direct messaging require very little attention. We can quickly send a message without disrupting other tasks, and we can manage multiple conversations at a time.
• Social connection. Similar to the above example, social media platforms provide a sense of connection to friends, family, and acquaintances. It’s much easier to scroll through your feed in order to keep up with people’s lives than it is to make phone calls to everyone every day. Social media has significantly enlarged our social circle and made it easier to support one another through times of crisis and celebration.
• Documentation of key moments. Built-in cameras on our phones and other handheld devices make it easy to take still photos or videos of events both big and small. With phone storage, cloud-based storage, social media archives, and online photo books, we can retrieve and share these memorable moments. We are able to capture much more of our daily lives than ever before.
• DIY projects. YouTube and Pinterest have brought about the popularity of do-it-yourself projects, allowing people to explore new hobbies and do home renovations on their own.
• Dating. Social media and a host of dating apps make it much easier to meet people who align with your interests and get to know them casually and remotely before ever seeing them in person.
• Entertainment. Streaming services let us curate a list of music, podcasts, movies, and shows based on our interests and past selections. Similarly, we can access more books than ever with apps that allow us to purchase/download a digital copy.
• Banking. Mobile banking apps allow us to view our current balance, pay bills, and make immediate transactions.
• Transportation. Applications like Waze and Google Maps track our location to give up-to-the-minute directions to help us get where we want to go and to navigate around accidents, construction delays, and other challenges.
• News. We get news updates throughout the day so that we can keep up with the latest news from anywhere.
• Shopping. Ads are personalized to fit our interests, and online shopping makes it easy to shop for groceries, clothes, electronics, appliances, and other merchandise—literally anything—from the comfort of home. We can also track the progress of our packages in real time to find out when they will arrive.
• Remote access. As more smart appliances emerge, it’s increasingly common to control them from our handheld devices. This includes heating and cooling systems, security systems, overhead garage doors, and a host of other appliances that can be managed from a remote location.
• Health monitoring. Digital devices allow us to track the number of steps we take in a day along with other important information such as heart rate, blood pressure, and even posture. This gives people more access to their own health information and empowers them to make more positive choices. It’s also easy to share this information with a physician, who can offer medical care based on a more complete picture of a person’s health.

Educational

Another obvious sector of our lives that has been enhanced by digital media is education. As already discussed, this isn’t an uncritical celebration of all ed tech, nor is it an argument that digital technology can ever replace the personal care and skilled instruction of teachers. However, as we’ve seen in recent years, particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital media is a useful tool that can be extremely beneficial when used in conjunction with smart lesson planning and individualized instruction. Obviously, the experiences of both teachers and students varied tremendously during the pandemic. While some schools were already offering instruction either partially or fully online and had already worked out many of the kinks, others were forced to shift abruptly to a virtual learning format, and they struggled with things like stable Wi-Fi, student access to digital devices, Zoom fatigue, homework overload, confusion regarding class concepts or instructor feedback, and feelings of isolation.

However, at the end of the 2020 school year, following the shift to virtual learning, many students expressed mostly positive feelings about their online experiences. For instance, this article from Inside Higher Ed reports that when asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement “I could learn at least as much as I did in face-to-face meetings,” the average response on a seven-point scale was 4.89, indicating that they agreed that online education was effective, but there were some things that could be improved (Lederman). Similarly, this study out of Hong Kong points to several educational advantages of virtual learning, including safety, convenience, flexibility, and greater access to resources (Dung).

Because of the pandemic, our reliance on education technology has grown tremendously. In March 2020, UNESCO reported that 1.3 billion students (80% of students worldwide) were affected by school closures during the pandemic and that “all countries are scaling up distance education modalities based on different mixes of technologies” (Chang & Yano). Even as schools have reopened to once again allow face-to-face learning, education technology has continued to expand (“Ed Tech”), and more instructors are utilizing a hybrid approach that leverages the benefits of digital media (Seeley). Though not all populations have benefited equally from the advances in education technology (see “The Bad and the Ugly” below), there have been some positive effects on student learning as a result of digital media:

• Remote coursework. Courses can be completely or partially online. In fact, entire degree programs are built around online courses that are designed to give students flexibility, so they can make progress toward their diploma or degree while also working or taking care of their families. Students can take courses from universities hundreds of miles away. They can travel while keeping up with coursework. Or they can stay home to recover from illness without falling behind.
• Independent and flexible learning. Online learning management systems like Canvas and Moodle provide a space where professors can communicate with students about assignments, provide additional resources, and post grades. So students have a way to access information and take more control of their own learning. There are also platforms like Coursera or Skillshare that allow subscribers to learn a variety of topics completely online and at their own pace.
• Access to resources. Teachers can put important course resources—syllabi, rubrics, assignment sheets, study guides, instructional videos—online for students to access on their own time. This helps students take ownership of their own learning and review important materials that will help them be successful in class.
• Enhanced participation. Many online learning platforms also have discussion boards, which give every student an equal opportunity to participate in course discussions. This can be useful for remote learning as well as in-class discussions, where some students are less likely to speak up.
• Collaboration. With digital platforms like Google Workspace, students can collaborate in real time on the same document. They can also teleconference while they work on the document together, or they can leave comments for one another to be addressed later. Many teleconferencing tools, such as Zoom or Kaltura, allow students to be put into breakout groups so they can work together during class time.
• Organization. Another benefit of cloud-based platforms is that documents are continuously saved—so students can’t “lose” a document they were working on, and they can always revert back to a previous version. The capability to create folders and subfolders is also an important advantage of digital media that helps with organization and overall workflow.
• Engagement. So many of the digital tools and applications that teachers use as part of their lessons or as part of student homework are meant to engage their interest (Hesse). Videos, slides, games, and other interactive tools make it easier to present information in a way that will fit different learning styles, capture students’ attention, and provide opportunities for students to practice important skills and concepts.
• Online tutoring. Students who need additional help outside of the classroom can send and receive emails, post a comment on Canvas, or teleconference with their instructor or a tutor.
• Job training. More recently, digital technology has evolved to allow instructors to provide remote labs for students in nursing, engineering, and other STEM courses (Pegasus Innovation Lab). From the convenience of home, students can access industry-grade equipment to perform experiments and measurements. Virtual reality tools have also been used to help train doctors and surgeons in a low-stakes environment. A recent study indicates that surgeons who are trained with VR software perform better than surgeons trained using more traditional methods (Blumstein).

Professional

Digital media has also had a significant impact on people’s professional lives as well as the ways in which professional organizations conduct business. Many of the personal and educational benefits we’ve already listed also apply to the professional realm. For instance, just as students have access to remote learning options, the advancements in digital technology have provided more opportunities for professionals to work remotely. In fact, following the pandemic, when so many businesses had to switch to a remote model in order to survive, many have continued to offer fully or partially remote positions because they provide flexibility that is conducive to a healthier work-life balance and facilitate higher levels of productivity (New Jersey Institute of Technology). Similarly, digital tools have provided more opportunities for collaboration and communication, often streamlining workflow and allowing for more participation from colleagues and clients. Another similarity is the way that digital media has expanded the job market. Though many positions are still fully in-person, requiring employees to live nearby, remote positions allow employees to work for a company from anywhere in the world, which means they have more job options and more control over their preferred work environment.

Let’s focus on the benefits of digital technology that are specific to the professional realm:

• Job hunting. People don’t look at the want ads in the newspaper anymore. It’s much easier to find a variety of relevant job postings on company websites, social media, and employment websites like Indeed or Zip Recruiter. With these specialized services, you can put in the type of job you are looking for in addition to other search parameters and then scroll through a long list of results. Often, these services will send email alerts when new relevant jobs have been posted. And they make it easy to upload your résumé and/or fill out an application for the job(s) of your choice. It’s a win-win for both employees and employers, who can connect with more people and increase their chances of finding the right fit. The use of digital media to search for prospective jobs has also increased the odds of an employee leaving their employer for one that seems more beneficial (Bizzi).
• Networking. With professional networking apps like LinkedIn as well as online webinars, certifications, and conferences, individuals can quickly grow their professional network of acquaintances throughout an industry, which helps them acquire resources, expert advice, job recommendations, and more. It’s also easier to develop your résumé through some of these online experiences and to leverage online resources (such as LinkedIn or your own professional website) to enhance your own visibility to other professionals and potential employers in your field.
• Training. In addition to online certifications and videos sponsored by experts in your industry, job training has also expanded to include online training manuals, short email updates, videos, and even interactive tools that streamline the process, engage employees, and increase employee understanding and follow-through.
• Communication. It’s obviously easier to send your coworker a quick text than it is to walk to her office down the hall. It’s also much faster to send the president of your company a well-worded email with progress updates, questions, or concerns than it is to call his or her secretary and try to schedule an appointment. Digital media has streamlined the communication process and in many ways has helped flatten hierarchies that used to make collaboration and communication more difficult.
• Organization. Not only can you send emails, participate in instant message chats, or teleconference with your colleagues and clients in order to get work done and foster stronger social connections, but digital media has also made it possible to access things like health insurance information, time sheets, pay stubs, time-off request forms, company policies, and so on. In fact, many organizations have their own mobile app where these resources and more can be easily organized and accessed.
• Marketing. As discussed in the first chapter about commercialization, digital media has had a significant impact on a company’s ability to market directly to target audiences and to identify new markets where they might expand. Though there is more competition, it’s also more effective and often cheaper to advertise on social media or to cultivate an email list of potential customers who have expressed an interest in a particular product or service. Also, while the role of marketing experts and content strategists is more important than ever, it’s also more common for other employees throughout an organization to participate in branding and social media marketing.
• Market expansion. Finally, digital technology has provided more opportunity for market growth as companies use digital platforms to reach potential customers in other areas. With the right infrastructure in place, they can also use digital platforms to provide enhanced customer service, facilitate online ordering, track package shipments, and store customers’ buying histories and preferences for future marketing.

Civic

One final—but maybe the most important—area to consider when it comes to the benefits of digital media relates to civic engagement. Lots of recent examples come to mind in which relief organizations were able to rally immediate and substantive support for people in the midst of crisis. For instance, at the time of this writing, CARE.org is actively raising money for humanitarian crises in Ukraine, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Yemen; for earthquake victims in Haiti; for Hurricane Ida victims in the U.S.; for Syrian and Burmese refugees; for people in Somalia suffering from food insecurity; and more. With a few clicks, people can read updates about these tragedies, build empathy for people who are suffering, and donate money to aid in relief efforts. Similar organizations include TechSoup, Idealist.org, and Kiva.org.

Obviously, as we will explore later in this chapter, there is an “ugly” side to civic engagement, and it usually revolves around political division. However, at its core, politics isn’t really about taking sides. It’s about communication, cooperation, and problem-solving in order to function as a community—whether at the local, state, national, or global level. It means being open to understanding the needs of other people in your community and taking on a participatory role to help meet those needs. In that case, digital media has become an essential part of the process to facilitate public awareness and support for a variety of important issues we wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

Clay Shirky is a strong advocate for the potential of digital media to help in the fight against injustices of all kinds. In his book Cognitive Surplus, he argues that following educational and industrial advancements, people have spent less time working and far more time watching television—a national average of two hundred billion hours each year (10). That’s the “surplus” where the book got its name. However, the good news, according to Shirky, is that people are increasingly using digital media platforms for productive purposes, including social justice and civic philanthropy. He cites fundraising efforts for disabled youth, websites (including the ones listed above) that focus on development and relief efforts, coordinated efforts to pick up trash on the street, online communities of patients who can connect with and support other people with the same illness, and a Facebook campaign to support women’s rights in southwestern India in the face of fundamentalism and oppression. Such profound opportunities exist when we see the potential of digital media beyond personal entertainment and satisfaction:

• Increased awareness of social issues around the world
• Heightened sense of empathy for people in crisis, particularly through pictures, videos, testimonials, and so on
• More capabilities to organize support and relief efforts
• Increased financial participation as well as other forms of support from people around the world
• Greater sense of community and goodwill
• More resources that make a tangible difference in people’s lives

As a brief conclusion to this section on the benefits of digital media, it should be clear that technology has so much potential to free up our time, foster deeper relationships, enhance our learning and productivity, and engage in civic activities that make a difference in our communities. On a fundamental level, digital media has a profound influence on who we can be and what we can do, and depending on how and why we leverage these technologies, the difference can be extremely positive.

The Bad and the Ugly: The Downsides of Digital Spaces

But. Realistically, there is always a “but” when it comes to digital media because the reality doesn’t usually match the ideal. For every benefit listed in the previous section, we could flip it on its head to expose the negative consequences. Digital media allows for more civic engagement? It also provides a space for people to argue, spouting their own perspectives and priorities without listening to others. It allows for more engaging educational tools? It also pulls students’ attention away when they should be listening in class. It facilitates more social connections? It also hinders in-person communication and often brings about feelings of isolation when we scroll through other people’s social media posts. And so on.

This section is not intended to be exhaustive. It would take a whole separate textbook to tease out all of the negative implications of digital media and its pervasiveness in our everyday lives. Anyway, as already stated, the point of having a critical perspective isn’t to be negative. The point is to have a fuller understanding of both the advantages and disadvantages so that you can make informed decisions about—and potentially put limits on—your own digital media use. To that end, we’ll look broadly in this section at three important areas where unrestricted, imprudent use can have the most damaging effects: social, emotional, and cognitive.

Social

It’s ironic that social media and so many other platforms that are intended to help us forge new connections, maintain relationships, and participate in larger civic activities and conversations could do so much damage in those very same areas. In this instance, the word “social” is about more than your “social life,” the people that you spend time with, or that part of your personality that makes you want to (or not want to) interact with other people. In this context, “social” is about the way that relationships are organized in society—how we are taught to interact with other people and how those interactions become central in our lived experiences. For instance, learning is largely a social process—it’s built around your interactions with your parents, your teachers, and your peers, and without those relationships, you wouldn’t learn. By the same token, all communication is inherently social; it takes place between people with the shared goal of reaching a common understanding. Digital media is a communication tool, which means it’s largely a social tool. It mediates our interactions with other people, and while it often enhances those interactions and our abilities to relate to other people, sometimes it makes things worse.

• Distractions. An obvious place to start might be the fact that many people become so dependent on their phones or iPads as forms of entertainment or distractions during their downtime that they can’t tear themselves away during in-person conversations or activities that merit their full attention. Maybe you’ve been to dinner with someone who spent half of the meal looking at their phone, which hindered any conversation you might have had. People do the same thing during class, walking down the street, standing in line at the grocery store, during commercial breaks, and even while driving. The habit of being constantly engaged with our phones prevents us from engaging meaningfully in things that are happening right in front of us. Instead of enriching our social interactions, our reliance on digital media depletes them.
• Posturing. Certainly, the argument can be made that all of our social interactions are performances and that we are constantly constructing (and reconstructing) our identities. We could also debate postmodern theories about the very existence of a core identity and whether any of us have a “true” core self. The point is that social media and other web-based platforms can further complicate—or even subvert—our identities. We spend so much time curating the perfect pictures of ourselves online—in a new bathing suit, at a fun or picturesque vacation spot, with our smiling family, or at the table with a gourmet meal in front of us—that we sometimes lose sight of or fail to appreciate the complex reality. For instance, we probably all know people online who constantly post selfies, and they aren’t usually candid, spontaneous photos. Chances are a single photo was carefully staged and that it took several minutes and several versions of the picture before they captured the “right” one. And even then, they probably put a filter over the photo to make their skin brighter or their eyes bigger—to cover up any potential flaws. Their profile presents a false identity, and while their posts might be impressive, they don’t enhance social connectedness. Quite the opposite, they create barriers designed to shield parts of ourselves and our lived experiences so people won’t really get to know us. What’s more, so much energy and focus often goes into constructing our ideal selves online that it gets harder to distinguish what’s “real.”
• Oversharing. In contrast to the point above, sometimes people don’t spend enough time filtering the content they put online. Much of their feed is inappropriate and off-putting because they divulge too much personal information, they give too many political opinions that create tension, or they post jokes that are crude and offensive. Once more, the result of oversharing online isn’t usually deeper relationships. It creates dissociations as their online “friends” block their feed or unfriend them altogether.
• Narrow-mindedness. Despite the fact that digital media has created more access than ever before to different perspectives and experiences, the reality is that instead of being sensitive to and reflective of other viewpoints that might expand their own ways of seeing and thinking, many people become more entrenched in their own opinions. In some ways, this is a consequence of personalization and the recommendation algorithms designed to “learn” what type of content people like and provide “super curated content” that fits those preferences and will therefore keep people online for longer periods of time (Farrar). Much of their online experience becomes an echo chamber in which their own viewpoints are constantly validated as more accurate and more virtuous. They learn to view opposing opinions as “wrong” and refuse to engage. In fact, Farrar points out that recommendation algorithms “can also spread misinformation, disinformation and propaganda.… Content that is emotionally charged tends to go viral because a lot of users engage with the content. There are also reports that users get sucked into radicalization rabbit holes as algorithms serve up more and more extreme content.”
• Uncivil discourse. On a related note, though digital media provides the opportunity for productive dialogue about important issues, that’s often not what happens. As noted above, some people refuse to meaningfully engage, which means that instead of trying to understand new perspectives, they often use online platforms to push their own opinions (backed by “credible” news sources that align with their political perspectives). Meanwhile, they are dismissive of and downright hateful toward other people, which is a common online phenomenon called the disinhibition effect, in which “people self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely” when they are online (Suler). This might also be a good place to mention common occurrences like social media shaming, cyberbullying, trolling to intentionally create discord (GCFGlobal), and even creating “bot-driven” social media accounts that “manipulate” voters with “animosity-stoking messages” (Baraniuk). None of these practices are about mutual understanding or social justice. They are intended to diminish other people while solidifying our own social standing and self-validation.
• Predatory behaviors. We can’t explore the dark side of digital media without recognizing the dangers that lurk online. Wreaking havoc on our sense of “community” are the hackers, stalkers, identity thieves, scammers, child predators, and human traffickers who have truly malicious intentions and can leverage the affordances of digital media to harm other people. Our digital experiences are always laced with concerns for privacy and security because of the dangers that exist.
• Inequalities. Finally, despite predictions that digital media would promote equality for various minority groups who, in theory, can participate equally in digital spaces where their voices can be heard, digital media has largely reinforced the status quo. For one thing, the digital divide continues to be a significant problem in which populations of a lower socioeconomic status don’t have constant access to digital devices (van Dijk). As a result of this inexperience, they don’t have the digital literacies that are necessary to navigate the digital realm and participate meaningfully in online spaces. What’s more, the pervasiveness of online echo chambers that separate people into like-minded groups based on similarities in political perspective, class, race, ethnicity, and so on has reinforced the status quo in online spaces by limiting people’s social network and therefore limiting their access to resources and opportunities (Dong et al.). There’s also the reality that while we’re all being monitored on a daily basis by algorithms trained to predict our behavior and “control access to resources” (Eubanks 10), the algorithms themselves are biased, often perpetuating social inequalities: “Marginalized groups face higher levels of data collection when they access public benefits, walk through highly policed neighborhoods, enter the health-care system, or cross national borders. The data acts to reinforce their marginality when it is used to target them for suspicion and extra scrutiny” (Eubanks 11). Cade Metz makes a similar point in a New York Times article about AI machines created by and for dominant groups that further marginalize women and people of color.

Emotional

In conjunction with the negative social effects of digital media listed above, many studies have demonstrated that overexposure to certain types of content on digital media can have negative emotional effects. Again, it’s all about context. More positive experiences on digital media can have positive emotional effects, but it’s probably easy to overlook the significant emotional effects that come from our more negative experiences.

• Addiction. It’s easy to see how habit-forming things like social media and video games can be when usage goes unchecked. In 2018, the World Health Organization listed digital gaming disorder as a medical condition. Other studies have compared the addictiveness of social media and iPhone use to that of cigarettes, drugs, and gambling. A recent blog article by Harvard University explains that, like other addictive behaviors, positive digital media experiences trigger the release of dopamine, a chemical in our brain that invokes feelings of pleasure and motivates us to repeat certain behaviors (Haynes). Over time, a “reward pathway” forms. The neurons in our brain respond more quickly and intensely to a specific stimulus. According to the Harvard article, “Every notification, whether it’s a text message, a ‘like’ on Instagram, or a Facebook notification, has the potential to be a positive social stimulus and dopamine influx.” It’s the reason people check their phones so often, struggle to delay responding to a text, spend hours focused on a screen, and get so upset when they are apart from their devices (Hernandez and Howerton). What’s more, it’s by design that users react this way (Andersson).
• Feelings of isolation. For many people, the more time they spend on social media, the more isolated and disconnected they feel. A recent study found that young adults ages 19–32 experienced deeper feelings of isolation when they had higher levels of social media use (Primack et al.). This might be because they were interacting with people online and in fairly superficial ways instead of having enriched in-person interactions. Additionally, feelings of isolation can stem from scrolling through pictures of other people’s seemingly perfect lives and thinking our own lives pale in comparison.
• Anxiety/depression. The blog post by the Harvard research technician referenced above estimates that on average, all of the tapping and swiping that we do with our electronic devices adds up to 2,600 touches per day (Hernandez and Howerton). In conjunction with the compulsion to constantly be on our phones so that we can respond to the latest message, watch the latest viral video, and generally be “in the loop” comes a higher level of anxiety. Anxiety also increases as a result of our shift in perspective when we use digital media, focusing more on how other people will perceive us and constantly seeking their positive evaluation (Annoni et al.). This leads to nervousness, fear of disapproval, and hostility from others. There are also connections between digital media use and problems sleeping (Ellis) as well as other mental health problems like depression and lower levels of self-esteem (Miller). This is particularly true for people who constantly encounter negative content online or for victims of cyberbullying.
• Work-life balance difficulties. While digital media has made many of our professional tasks easier through handheld devices and cloud-based systems, it has also made it more difficult to set clear boundaries between “work” and “home” (Ciolfi and Lockley). Through email, texts, and social media, we are in constant connection with colleagues from work as well as our family and friends, but it’s exhausting and debilitating to be available all the time to everyone. It’s also more difficult to get out of “work mode” when we come home, which can lead to fatigue, burnout, and stress.
• Other addictive behaviors. We’ve already mentioned the addiction to digital media itself, but another negative aspect of digital media is that it facilitates other addictive behaviors, such as pornography (Love et al.) and gambling (Kruger) addictions. While a person could certainly engage in these behaviors without digital technology, handheld devices and laptops make these activities much more accessible, leading to an increase in the prevalence and severity of these types of addictions.

Cognitive

Obviously, the negative effects we’ve listed above are cause for concern, but there’s also something uniquely terrifying about the ways digital technology has affected our cognition—the ways that we perceive, process, and respond to information. Some recent studies have used neuroimaging to demonstrate that the very structure of our brains has changed, leading to a decline in cognitive function. For instance, a six-week study of participants in online roleplaying found that gamers who disengaged from the real world to focus on virtual gameplay had a significant decline in the gray matter in their orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps with sensory integration, participation in learning, impulse control, and decision-making (Zhou et al.)—after just six weeks! Though the cognitive effects of digital media are complex, and research is continuing, some of the negative effects of frequent use, especially in young children whose brains are still forming, are startling.

• Diminished attention span. With so many digital technologies and online platforms, combined with our own tendencies to multitask across multiple devices, respond instantly to notifications, skim web pages, and follow hyperlinks, research shows that our attention spans are diminishing (Purcell et al.). We struggle to stay focused on a single task, switching from one digital task to another every 19 seconds on average (Yeykelis et al.). A meta–analysis of 41 studies demonstrates a significant reduction in cognitive ability because of media multitasking (Firth et al.). Over time, people are more easily distracted and less able to concentrate for extended periods of time or think deeply about a topic. Similarly, we are less likely to engage with longer, more complicated texts, more likely to skim instead of read, and less engaged by ideas that are represented in alphabetic text than by pictures, sounds, and videos. One longitudinal study has found a direct connection between attentional deficits in younger adolescents and multitasking activities on electronic devices (Baumgartner et al.). Other experts question whether the increase in digital media has resulted in lower reading scores (Sparks). There are also the indirect effects of devices that take time away from homework, class engagement, and social activities.
• Decline in memory. No longer do we need to memorize information about history, geography, math, and so on. Information is constantly accessible at the click of a button, which means that we are far more reliant on digital devices to store this information instead of our own brains. For instance, this study by Sparrow et al. found that because of Google and other search engines, people are more likely to remember where to find the information they need than the actual information. It’s a form of “cognitive offloading” that some might argue frees up intellectual space for other tasks and ideas, though it seems just as likely that our collective memory about information that at one time was considered foundational to our lived experience is quickly eroding. A more recent study shows that while many people are adept at finding information online, we are less likely to commit the information to long-term memory when we use digital devices (Dong and Potenza). What’s more, the practice of searching the internet for answers becomes habit-forming, so we are more likely to ask Google when we are confronted with a challenge than think it through for ourselves (Wang et al.).
• Developmental delays. Depending on the amount of screen time and the content they watch, infants and toddlers can experience developmental delays, particularly those associated with language acquisition and executive function (Anderson and Subrahmanyam).
• Sleep disruptions. Finally, digital media can have a negative effect on our sleep because the blue light inhibits the production of melatonin, which helps us fall asleep (Gratton). Over time, it can disrupt our normal sleep cycles, leading to lower quality of sleep and other related problems like fatigue, difficulty focusing, difficulty with problem-solving, and so on.

It’s worth pointing out that not all studies confirm the negative cognitive effects of digital media. Some, like this one, show that the correlation between social media use and cognition is insignificant (Lara and Bokoch). Other studies, like this one, point to positive effects of gaming and other online activities on intelligence (Sauce et al.). The point of this section is that not all digital media experiences are positive and that overexposure to digital technology can have a variety of negative effects. It’s important to be intentional to understand our goals when we engage with digital media, evaluate the effects, and set healthy boundaries. We focus on how you can engage critically with digital technologies in the next section.

Setting Your Own Goals and Boundaries

Hopefully, it’s clear that digital media affords incredible opportunities that benefit our personal and professional lives as well as society as a whole, but those benefits aren’t automatic nor unqualified. If we are not intentional about our practices, digital media can have significant negative consequences. This last section of the chapter is about setting your own intentions. While there are some general guidelines when it comes to digital media use, it’s really up to you as an individual to understand your purpose(s) when you engage with digital media, reflect on the various effects, and maintain healthy boundaries.

Below is a list of factors that are fundamental to the ways that you engage with digital media. Each one has a profound impact—either positive or negative—on your own social/emotional health as well as the health of the people with whom you engage. Each one offers the opportunity for you to think critically about your personal goals and social ethics so that you can make positive choices in all the digital spaces you navigate.

• Big-Picture Goals
  • Identify your purpose(s). When you engage in digital media, whether you are receiving or sending information, you always have a purpose. Is it to get specific information? To make social connections? To network with other professionals? To market your business? To relax and enjoy a show or a video game with your friends? Take time to reflect on what your objectives are when you engage in digital media activities.
  • Identify positive experiences. Based on the objectives you identified above, which ones do you feel are generally successful? Why? What are some of the unexpected benefits you’ve experienced?
  • Identify negative experiences. Now consider the objectives that aren’t being fully met based on your current practice. Why do you think that is? What are some of the negative consequences you hadn’t expected? What are some adjustments you can make to diminish these negative outcomes?
  • Set time limits. This one is tricky, since so much of our work lives (and school lives) take place in the digital realm. Sometimes it’s difficult to control how much screen time we get when we are expected to engage in digital activities for work and school. Additionally, like this Time article suggests, the type of content you consume online is just as, if not more, important than the amount of time you spend online (Serrano). However, considering the addictive nature of digital media and the negative emotional, social, and cognitive effects discussed in the previous section, it’s a good idea to limit your screen time, particularly when it comes to personal use (e.g., scrolling your social media feed or binging Netflix). See if you can identify a reasonable time limit per day or per week that allows you to enjoy these activities while still making room for other types of activities.
  • Set timing limits. This is a bit different than the last one about limiting the amount of time you spend in front of a screen. This is about timing—establishing situations when it is appropriate and beneficial to be on digital media (e.g., when you are doing homework or relaxing after dinner) and when it is inappropriate (e.g., during dinner with your family or while you are driving). This category also requires you to be discerning about which types of digital media are appropriate in different contexts. While you are doing your homework, it’s completely appropriate for you to use Google Drive or some other homework app that has been assigned. It’s not the time to respond to a bunch of texts, check your TikTok feed, or watch Netflix. This category is about having discipline to limit certain types of digital media activities when they distract you from your key focus/purpose.
• Content You Consume
  • Make a list of the digital spaces where you receive information—websites, social media apps, and maybe even texts and emails that you receive from businesses and news organizations.
  • What types of digital content do you consume regularly?
  • Which types of content and digital spaces have a positive effect because they help you reach key objectives or they create positive feelings and connections?
  • Which types of content and digital spaces have a negative effect because they distract you from key objectives or they are detrimental to your social/emotional health in some way?
  • How can you eliminate the negative content? Admittedly, it might not always be possible to disassociate from content that inspires negative feelings. For instance, homework can be stressful, but it wouldn’t be beneficial if you stopped paying attention to emails from your professor or the assignment listings in Canvas. However, there are probably places where you can make a break. Unsubscribe to spam emails that fill up your inbox. Break away from social media groups that are toxic in some way. And maybe take a second look at the news feed you subscribe to or the friends on your social media who are consistently negative.
  • How can you balance the information you receive? Particularly when it comes to news articles, blog posts, and even scientific studies, we tend to accept what we read online as fact. However, as we’ll discuss in the next chapter, there is always another side to every issue. Do you research the information you receive online to verify it from more than one credible source? Is the information you receive balanced and accepting of different viewpoints? Do you purposely engage with people who have different experiences and perspectives than you so that you can challenge your own biases?
• Content You Share
  • Make a list of all of the digital spaces where you share information—websites and social media apps as well as texts and email, if applicable. Also include places where you regularly make comments on other people’s posts.
  • What types of content do you regularly share? Work- or school-related information? Posts about family and personal experiences? How-to videos?
  • What types of information do you share that have a positive effect on yourself and others? Consider the type of content as well as the tone that you use. Which messages help you meet the underlying objectives you listed above? Which ones demonstrate respect and care for people both inside and outside of your audience?
  • What types of information do you share that have a negative effect on yourself and others? This is where you have to take an honest look at your recent messages and consider whether they align with your underlying digital media goals and personal ethics or whether they undermine those things because you are uncivil, disrespectful, or careless toward people both inside and outside of your audience.
  • How can you eliminate the content you share that has a negative effect, either on your own reputation and mental health or on the well-being of others? Maybe consider first what might trigger some of your more negative messages and what might be a healthier, more productive way to resolve those issues. In some cases, it might help to disconnect completely from digital spaces that have become toxic.
  • How can you be even more thoughtful about the messages that you share? This might have to do with verifying “facts” by multiple credible sources, or it might be more about being considerate of people whose experiences and perspectives are different from yours.

Probably the most important part of engaging critically with digital media is to reflect honestly and deeply about your own practices, to consistently assess your experiences and outcomes, and to be willing to make effective adjustments and set healthy boundaries. It’s also important to take a “both/and” approach to digital media. It’s not entirely good, and it’s not entirely bad. It’s complex, imbued with both positive and negative effects that can’t be easily untangled. But you should still try, and you should consider what it might look like for you to embrace an approach to digital media that is both critically sensitive and appropriately moderate. Though it might seem insignificant in comparison to some of the negative consequences mentioned earlier, gaining control over your own practices will have a big impact on you and set a positive example for those with whom you come in contact.