Skip to main content
View expanded cover

Digital Transformation and Human Behavior pp 165–171Cite as

Digital Emancipation: Are We Becoming Prisoners of Our Own Device?

Part of the Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation book series (LNISO,volume 37)

Abstract

Contemporary information systems in combination with high-speed internet, liberate individuals as they set them free from time, place and device restrictions of their everyday life. As a result, they blur the boundaries between work, social and personal life contexts. In this paper we introduce the concept of digital emancipation to refer to the notion of freedom experienced by individuals due the wide use of contemporary information systems. We argue that digital emancipation may have both a positive and a negative impact in each context as the individual may be at the same time be digitally emancipated, but also bound to the technology and its capabilities or limitations. We draw on existing literature to provide indications that digital emancipation is associated to both positive and negative experiences within each context and highlight that tensions between these mixed experiences exists. Building on this analysis, we then set the ground and motivates the need for an integrated theoretical framework for understanding the balancing effort of the digitally emancipated individual.

Keywords

  • Digital emancipation
  • Contemporary IS
  • Work-life
  • Social-life
  • Personal-life
  • Tensions

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-47539-0_12
  • Chapter length: 7 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-030-47539-0
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  1. Ahuja, M. K., Chudoba, K. M., Kacmar, C. J., McKnight, D. H., & George, J. F. (2007). ICT road warriors: Balancing work-family conflict, job autonomy, and work overload to mitigate turnover intentions. MIS Quarterly, 31(1), 1–18.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  2. Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J., & Herron, M. (1996). Assessing the work environment for creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 39(5), 1154–1184.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Aral, S., & Nicolaides, C. (2017). Exercise contagion in a global social network. Nature Communications, 8, 14753.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  4. Blikstein, P. (2018). Travels in Troy with Freire. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Calamaro, C. J., Mason, T. A. B., & Ratcliffe, S. J. (2009). Adolescents living the 24/7 lifestyle: Effects of caffeine and technology on sleep duration and daytime functioning. Pediatrics, 123(6), 1005–1010.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  6. Chamakiotis, P., Dekoninck, E. A., & Panteli, N. (2013). Factors influencing creativity in virtual design teams: An interplay between technology, teams and individuals. Creativity & Innovation Management, 22(3), 265–279.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  7. Chamakiotis, P., & Panteli, N. (2017). Leading the creative process: The case of virtual product design. New Technology, Work & Employment, 32(1), 28–42.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  8. Dwyer, R., Kushlev, K., & Dunn, E. (2018). Smartphone use undermines enjoyment of face-to-face social interactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 78(3), 233–239.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  9. Fisch, M. J., Chung, A. E., & Accordino, M. K. (2016). Using technology to improve cancer care: Social media, wearables, and electronic health records. American Society of Clinical Oncology Educational Book, 36, 200–208.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  10. Hawn, C. (2009). Take two aspirin and tweet me in the morning: How Twitter, Facebook, and other social media are reshaping health care. Health Affairs, 28(2), 361–368.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  11. Hilbrecht, M., Shaw, S. M., Johnson, L. C., & Andrey, J. (2008). ‘I’m Home for the Kids’: Contradictory implications for work-life balance of teleworking mothers. Gender, Work & Organization, 15(5), 454–476.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  12. Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukophadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox. A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53(9), 1017–1031.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  13. Kushlev, K., Proulx, J., & Dunn, E. (2016). Silence your phones: Smartphone notifications increase inattention and hyperactivity symptoms. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ‘16) (pp. 1011–1020). New York, NY, USA: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kushlev, K., Proulx, J., & Dunn, E. (2017). Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people. Computers in Human Behavior, 76(3), 68–74.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  15. Mazmanian, M., Orlikowski, W. J., & Yates, J. (2013). The autonomy paradox: The implications of mobile email devices for knowledge professionals. Organization Science, 24(5), 1–21.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  16. Morahan-Martin, J., & Phyllis, S. (2003). Loneliness and social uses of the internet. Applied Psychology Journal, 19(6), 659–671.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Prasopoulou, E., Pouloudi, A., & Panteli, N. (2006). Enacting new temporal boundaries: The role of mobile phones. European Journal of Information Systems, 15(3), 277–284.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  18. Searls, D. (2014). Time for digital emancipation. Harvard Education Blog. Posted on 17 July 2014. Retrieved on November 14, 2018. Available at https://blogs.harvard.edu/doc/2014/07/27/time-for-digital-emancipation/.

  19. Thomée, S., Eklöf, M., Gustafsson, E., Nilsson, R., & Hagberg, M. (2007). Prevalence of perceived stress, symptoms of depression and sleep disturbances in relation to information and communication technology (ICT) use among young adults. An explorative prospective study. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(1), 1300–1321.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Wellman, B., Haase, A. Q., Witte, J., & Hampton, K. (2001). Does the internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(3), 436–455.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  21. Yun, H., Kettinger, W. J., & Lee, C. C. (2012). A new open door: The smartphone’s impact on work-to-life conflict, stress, and resistance. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 16(4), 121–152.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Nancy Pouloudi and Katerina Pramatari acknowledge the financial support of the Research Center of Athens University of Economics and Business.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Ariana Polyviou

  2. Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece

    Nancy Pouloudi & Katerina Pramatari

  3. University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA

    Gurpreet Dhillon

Authors
  1. Ariana Polyviou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nancy Pouloudi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Katerina Pramatari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gurpreet Dhillon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ariana Polyviou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Science and Technology, Parthenope University of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Prof. Concetta Metallo

  2. Department of Business and Economics, Parthenope University of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Prof. Maria Ferrara

  3. Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Prof. Alessandra Lazazzara

  4. Management and Business Administration, University of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy

    Prof. Stefano Za

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Polyviou, A., Pouloudi, N., Pramatari, K., Dhillon, G. (2021). Digital Emancipation: Are We Becoming Prisoners of Our Own Device?. In: Metallo, C., Ferrara, M., Lazazzara, A., Za, S. (eds) Digital Transformation and Human Behavior. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 37. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47539-0_12

Download citation