The Presence Assumption: Digital Wellness and the Community It Presupposes

When a St. John's College student described a six-day phone fast as revelatory—"presence with nearby people became necessary"—they echoed a thirty-year-old prescription: reframe digital detox from "anti-tech" to "pro-community" by filling screen-free space with genuine presence. Melissa Kirsch made the same argument in the New York Times Morning newsletter, opening with a 1996 artifact ("netaholism," … Continue reading The Presence Assumption: Digital Wellness and the Community It Presupposes

Critical Ignoring as a Core Competence for Digital Citizens

"Abstract Low-quality and misleading information online can hijack people’s attention, often by evoking curiosity, outrage, or anger. Resisting certain types of information and actors online requires people to adopt new mental habits that help them avoid being tempted by attention-grabbing and potentially harmful content. We argue that digital information literacy must include the competence of critical … Continue reading Critical Ignoring as a Core Competence for Digital Citizens