Neither anguish nor salvation: The necessity of media technology use by early adults living in Poland at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the significance of media technologies for early adults living in large urban Polish agglomerations and actively studying, working or operating in both areas at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exploratory and qualitative research was conducted during the first weeks of the first lockdown. Internet surveys with mainly open questions were conducted with people aged 18–40, living in the biggest Polish agglomerations. The study shows that media technologies played a key role in the lives of early adults at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but were valued very ambivalently. The support functions and burdensome influence of media technologies were determined. Support functions were mainly related to home duties and interpersonal communication. Remote working and education, as well as searches for and the sharing of information were ambivalent. In the area of self-care, media technologies were burdening users. The results indicate that the adaptation of users to the new situation led to consequences of a different nature (ranging from physical, mental, to social). It was observed that there was a sudden digital intoxication and maximization of opportunities and profits from task-oriented use of technologies, which were gained at a loss to individual well-being.