Digital well-being under pandemic conditions: catalysing a theory of online flourishing

Matthew J Dennis

doi:10.1007/s10676-021-09584-0

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed what may soon become a permanent digital transition in the domains of work, education, medicine, and leisure. This transition has also precipitated a spike in concern regarding our digital well-being. Prominent lobbying groups, such as the Center for Humane Technology (CHT), have responded to this concern. In April 2020, the CHT has offered a set of ‘Digital Well-Being Guidelines during the COVID-19 Pandemic.’ These guidelines offer a rule-based approach to digital well-being, one which aims to mitigate the effects of moving much of our lives online. The CHT’s guidelines follow much recent interest in digital well-being in the last decade. Ethicists of technology have recently argued that character-based strategies and redesigning of online architecture have the potential to promote the digital well-being of online technology users. In this article, I evaluate (1) the CHT’s rule-based approach, comparing it with (2) character-based strategies and (3) approaches to redesigning online architecture. I argue that all these approaches have some merit, but that each needs to contribute to an integrated approach to digital well-being in order to surmount the challenges of a post-COVID world in which we may well spend much of our lives online.

Highlights

In April 2020, YouTube’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki, predicted that the pandemic would cause ‘an acceleration of our digital lives’ (Stelter and Wojcicki 2020)
The aim of this article is to offer a sketch of the various approaches to improving digital well-being during and after the COVID-19, especially if the pandemic permanently increases the amount of time we are required to spend online
Rule-Based Strategies, I begin by exploring the reasons to be cautious of one initiative that has recently been offered by a influential US-based lobbying group, the Center for Humane Technology (CHT)

Summary

Introduction

In April 2020, YouTube’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki, predicted that the pandemic would cause ‘an acceleration of our digital lives’ (Stelter and Wojcicki 2020). It is one that requires us to ask more broadly what role online technologies should play in a flourishing human life (Goodyear et al 2018; Orben et al 2019b). This means that, while the pandemic has given the ongoing digital transition a new rationale, it gives new urgency to the question of how to cultivate our digital well-being. Rule-Based Strategies, I begin by exploring the reasons to be cautious of one initiative that has recently been offered by a influential US-based lobbying group, the Center for Humane Technology (CHT)

Objectives

Conclusion