Exploring the invisible: The vital role of 'doing nothing' in the digital age for older adults' agency
J. Ewert
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AbstractCan we ever ‘do nothing’ when we are ‘always on’ in our accelerated digitalized world? In our ever-evolving digitalized landscape, the positive impact of technology on everyday life is undeniable. Increased technology use, however, also presents a potential risk of disrupting crucial phases of doing nothing (DN) (Vorderer 2015). Drawing from an interdisciplinary integrative literature review, this contribution presents a framework (Fig.1) that illuminates the ambiguous nature of DN. It suggests that phases of DN are accompanied by vital mental processes, partly described in theories as the “internal conversation” (Archer 2003) or “internally-focused thoughts” (Immordino-Yang et al. 2012), that allow individuals to reflect on their goals and desires within the existing structures, thus playing a key role in their agency – the ability to actively make decisions and shape their lives. This contribution will discuss the interplay between DN and mental processes especially against the backdrop of technology use. The frequent notifications coming along with social media contribute to dependencies, especially in younger generations who are said to be more susceptible to those detrimental effects than older generations. (Sharifian et al. 2021, Fitz et al. 2019) This contribution will explore the individual strategies older adults employ to manage and mitigate the impact of technology use and what (especially the younger part of) society might learn from those strategies, ultimately discussing the importance of DN in an accelerated digitalized world.Keywords: doing nothing, internal conversation, technology use, agency, older adults
J. Ewert (2024). Exploring the invisible: The vital role of 'doing nothing' in the digital age for older adults' agency. Gerontechnology, 23(2), 1-1
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2024.23.s.895.opp