Digital Disconnection and a Return to Origins

an Ethnography of the Digital Detox Phenomenon from the Perspective of Nostalgia

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2237-9967.2026v15e37748

Keywords:

Digital Disconnection, Digital Detox, Nostalgia, Ethnography, Communication

Abstract

This article analyses practices of digital disconnection as responses to the contemporary imperative of constant connectivity. Based on a three-year ethnography conducted with eight interlocutors who experienced periods of withdrawal from digital technologies, the study draws on theoretical approaches to nostalgia. It argues that disconnection cannot be reduced to the self-regulation of technology use, but rather constitutes a narrative of return to times perceived as less mediated by digital technologies. Among the participants, nostalgia manifests itself in three ways: the recovery of habits displaced by screen use; a symbolic return to one's roots; and the evocation of a time when the internet was not a central element of everyday life. The article concludes that digital disconnection is mobilised as an attempt to reconfigure relationships with technologies, contrasting the hyperconnected present with pasts perceived as more authentic, slower-paced, and balanced.

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Author Biography

Thiago Álvares da Trindade, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria

Doutor em Comunicação pelo Programa de Pós-graduação em Comunicação da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Poscom/UFSM) e Mestre em Comunicação pelo mesmo programa, com estágio de doutorado-sanduíche na Loughborough University, em Londres, sob orientação do PhD Professor Thomas Tufte. Bacaherel em Comunicação Social - Publicidade e Propaganda também pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Integrante, desde 2012 até o presente momento, do grupo de pesquisa "Consumo e Culturas Digitais", coordenado pela Professora Doutora Sandra Rubia da Silva. Possui interesse de pesquisa em temas como desconexão digital, detox digital, smartphones, culturas digitais e etnografia. (Texto informado pelo autor)

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Published

2026-09-21

How to Cite

TRINDADE, Thiago Álvares da. Digital Disconnection and a Return to Origins: an Ethnography of the Digital Detox Phenomenon from the Perspective of Nostalgia. Dispositiva, Belo Horizonte, v. 15, p. e37748 , 2026. DOI: 10.5752/P.2237-9967.2026v15e37748. Disponível em: https://periodicos.pucminas.br/dispositiva/article/view/37748. Acesso em: 24 sep. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 15 (2026): Tema Livre e Dossiê temático: Nostalgia(s) nas mídias

Section

Nostalgia(s) in Media

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