Digital Pollution and Its Impact on the Family and Social Interactions

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to identify the most prevailing means of digital devices and its impact as digital pollution on family and social interactions. Despite the obvious benefits of digital devices, in recent years researchers have taken more concern about its potential negative effect on human attitude and behavior, which in turn affects our society. A total of 613 usable responses were collected from Bangalore, India of excessive users of digital devices, such as a smartphone, computer/laptop, and television. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 23.0, AMOS 23.0, and SmartPLS 3.0. The results indicated that as the use of smartphone and computer/laptop increases, levels of digital pollution also increase, which in turn significantly triggers unfavorable impact on family and social interactions. The study indicated that digital pollution appears as an important predictor, which significantly affects social interaction unfavorably. The present study explored the various critical dimensions within this domain and delineated gaps in our knowledge of digital pollution. It was found that smartphones are more responsible for digital pollution among all the identified digital devices, followed by computer/laptop.

Communication and Social Sustainability: Information Disorder and the Risk of Pollution in the Italian Hybrid Media Ecosystem

“…Considering age, it can be observed that, except for the over-60 age group, which has a uniform distribution, the 31-45 and 46-60 age groups have a higher concentration (56.6 percent and 60.3 percent, respectively) in the two lowest quartiles. Conversely, the youngest age group (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) shows the opposite trend, with 56.6 percent of individuals concentrated in the middle and upper levels of the SSI. Age, like gender, seems to be a relevant variable in determining the propensity to adopt either integration or resistance attitudes toward sustainability.…”

“…Considering media as tools, they can be helpful to inform, promote, and raise awareness of sustainability issues and good practices related to sustainable development through mediation and mediatization logic. Considering media as environments, they can be seen as fragile ecosystems at risk of different forms of pollution [8,30] that, like natural environments, must be protected and cared for [31]. Phenomena such as post-truth [32], fake news, and information disorder can corrupt media as tools or pollute them as environments, turning them into potential obstacles or threats to sustainability and the processes that support it.…”

Leisure time posts on WhatsApp status drive travel and tourism consumption

“…Thus, such people are motivated to share their travel-related experiences on social media platforms to help aspiring travelers (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008). Besides, egoism is based on economic and social exchange models that motivate individuals to maintain or enhance self-recognition during social interaction (Agrawal, 2021a;Chang and Chuang, 2011). The self-evaluation maintenance model supports the view that upward social comparisons compel people to improve their lifestyles and, thus, motivate aspirational consumption behavior (Tesser, 1988).…”