[Air-l] suggestions?

[Charles Ess]

Hi AoIRists,

I've been asked by a local TV station to comment on a story they're doing
titled "Techno Detox".  They have one volunteer (so far) to engage in the
following:

> We are looking for individuals who are "addicted" to technology (iPod, cell
> phone, texting, email, facebook/myspace, etc)
> We would like to have those individuals tell us why they love their gadgets
> and then have them go cold turkey for a few days.  We'll check in to see how
> they're doing and then wrap up at the end of the week as they are allowed to
> once again use those coveted items.
> Now, failure can also be part of the story.  We just want people who are
> willing to give it an honest effort, and candidly tell us about their
> experience. 

1.  I know that someone(s) at AoIR in Brisbane mentioned a similar sort of
process, but done (if memory serves - always a shaky assumption) as an
academic study.  If anyone on the list who was also at AoIR in Brisbane can
remember this conversation - can you please contact me offlist with the
details of the study?

2.  I have a number of qualms about participating in the story as a local
"expert" - but hope that by doing so I might be able to defuse some of the
prevailing dichotomies that seem to shape reporting on media (beginning, in
this instance, by using the disease model of addiction as the primary
frame).  Stated another way, I'm hoping to provide more informed and nuanced
commentary that would help both the reporter and the audience move away from
these sorts of notions of technology (good or bad? cure or disease? blessing
or curse, etc.) - notions that fuel the sorts of "moral panic" reporting on
new media (currently, e.g., connections between violent video games and
recent episodes of violence in schools, etc.)

So ... does anyone have good research relevant to these concerns and the
phenomena in question that you would recommend as useful background reading
as I prepare for the interview?

Many thanks in advance -
charles


Distinguished Research Professor,
Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21>
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave.              Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO  65802  USA       FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page:  http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html

Information Ethics Fellow, 2006-07, Center for Information Policy Research,
School of Information Studies, UW-Milwaukee
Co-chair, CATaC conferences <www.catacconference.org>
Vice-President, Association of Internet Researchers <www.aoir.org>
Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
<http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php>

Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23