Ritual Building for
Digital Degrowth
Encouraging belonging in a slower, more meaningful way.
Digital degrowth is an initiative to understand the ecological repercussions of today’s unsustainable use of technology, and encourages a reduction in consumption of resources and energy, particularly through the use of electronic devices. Through this project, I tackled the ever-expanding phenomenon of being “chronically online,” by pairing email lists, a low-tech communication method, with a digital talisman, a visual manifestation of purpose and intention, as a means of moving towards a mindful, computationally conservative digital existence.
Through my research, my strongest finding was that people overshare and are constantly present in these online spaces because they want to belong. While broadcasting a message online does not guarantee a response (a concept coined by Ursula K Le Guin as Secondary Orality), the possibility of the content being perceived at all is enough gratification for users to continue to exist on these platforms.
Over the span of 2 months, I created a reflective ritual meant to encourage introspection and limit use of technology, with the goal of supporting people as they find fulfillment in a more offline manner, and creating belonging through limited, but insightful conversations with close peers. In speaking to my participants, I observed that, although they were less active on social media, they found that the conversations held with their communities felt more intentional and held more depth than had they had unrestricted access to these sites. This suggests hopeful possibilities for building more computationally conservative networks in the future and speaks to the merits of moving towards digital degrowth.
This project was presented as part of the Limits within Computing 2024 Conference.
In this project, I created a ritual moving away from being “chronically online” through constructing a mindful, computationally conservative digital existence, transitioning from conventional social media into newsletters and email lists.
Objective
An Intro to Digital Degrowth
Over the past half-century, Western society has developed a need to always have the most of or the best of a thing, especially in the context of technology. Every other year, it seems that the newest, fastest, or most efficient technology is released, and we all have to have it. This practice and (socially enforced) expectation of overconsumption has caused more harm than good, and has created more devastating consequences to the environment (and humanity) than more analog methods of operating (which technology sought to move away from in the first place).
Digital degrowth as a practice seeks to move away from the mindset of overconsumption and accelerationism (and other behaviors that have been described to me as “innovation-pilled”), and rethink our structures of today, which demand constant expansion.
Research
In order to better inform my process, I read pieces about the problems created by oversharing online, the impact of spoken-word communication, and interviewed several friends who consider themselves to be chronically online.
Through my research, my strongest finding was the idea that, above all, people share and overshare, and are present in these online spaces because they want to belong.
Cards I printed out to create space for drawing of the digital talisman during prototyping.
LIMITS 2024
This project was presented as part of the LIMITS within Computing 2024 conference.
The Concept
While the end goal of my ritual was to guide people towards detaching from their online communication sites, I didn’t want to approach it in the style of quitting cold turkey. Drastic behaviors and unsustainable routines are hardly long-term solutions, and will likely not become habits. It is important for participants to feel that they are in control of what they do and how they go about it, and most importantly, to act with intention.
After receiving feedback from peers, I found that people needed to feel as if it was more personal. As it was, the concept of writing emails seemed too superficial, almost. There was potential in the idea to be something much more meaningful.
I circled back to the intention-setting idea I considered in the early stages of the project. In other mindfulness-centered practices such as yoga and meditation, participants are encouraged to set an intention for that day’s practice, and refer to it in times of struggle or discomfort.
Reminding someone of why they’re doing something in the first place is a powerful way of moving them to persevere towards a goal.
I wanted to create a physical manifestation of intention setting; a visual way of reminding the writer why they care enough to try and break away from the instant gratification of being always on.
The Concept
While the end goal of my ritual was to guide people towards detaching from their online communication sites, I didn’t want to approach it in the style of quitting cold turkey. Drastic behaviors and unsustainable routines are hardly long-term solutions, and will likely not become habits. It is important for participants to feel that they are in control of what they do and how they go about it, and most importantly, to act with intention.
After receiving feedback from peers, I found that people needed to feel as if it was more personal. As it was, the concept of writing emails seemed too superficial, almost. There was potential in the idea to be something much more meaningful.
I circled back to the intention-setting idea I considered in the early stages of the project. In other mindfulness-centered practices such as yoga and meditation, participants are encouraged to set an intention for that day’s practice, and refer to it in times of struggle or discomfort.
Reminding someone of why they’re doing something in the first place is a powerful way of moving them to persevere towards a goal.
I wanted to create a physical manifestation of intention setting; a visual way of reminding the writer why they care enough to try and break away from the instant gratification of being always on.
A Digital Talisman
I once took a class on art history of Asia, Africa, and Oceania. There, I learned of seals in Southeast Asia. People had their own, custom one, and would place it on artwork or other documents as a sign of acknowledgement or authorship. I was remembering this as I was trying to figure out a way to “marry the mundane to the sacred.” this is kind of something that’s around, in wax stamps on letters, and email signatures. I felt that adding an icon at the end of the email/newsletter was a unique way to represent someone as a writer, and highlight their individuality.
Final Prototyping and Testing
I tested this ritual with several peers and asked them to maintain the habit of writing for at least a couple of weeks.
They stated that although they felt a bit awkward with the Substack platform, they felt that they needed to refocus on their intention and the writing in order to make this a more successful experience for them.
Reflections
I feel that this project was a very interesting way of learning how other people’s needs influenced their actions, and how they may differ from myself. Belonging is a key point of this process, and understanding that, at the end of the day, most people just want to feel like they are involved with others, and that they have a support system, and that they can share things with them, even if they don’t receive a response. I do really want to explore the orality of communication as I learned in Telling is Listening. I’m impressed by all my peers’ takes on this project, and I am curious to continue workshopping this concept for my own personal gain.