DISCONNECTING BY CHOICE: A MICRO-NETNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF SMARTPHONE-TO-FEATURE PHONE MIGRATION FOR DIGITAL DETOX
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Jun 1, 2025
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Digital Detox, Digital Minimalism, Micro-Netnography, Technological Disengagement, Hyperconnectivity
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Abstract
In an era marked by hyperconnectivity and digital saturation, this study explores the phenomenon of feature phone adoption as a form of digital detox among Indonesian users. Drawing on a micro-netnographic methodology, the research analyses user-generated commentary on a high-engagement Instagram post by a verified media outlet, examining the discursive meanings and affective tensions underpinning the rejection of smartphones. Unlike temporary digital fasting or app-based self-regulation, the adoption of low-tech devices represents a more radical, embodied, and symbolically charged act of consumer resistance. Thematic analysis reveals that this behavioural shift is driven by emotional exhaustion, a desire for cognitive clarity, and a search for authenticity in digitally saturated environments. By foregrounding culturally situated narratives from a mobile-first emerging market, the study challenges dominant techno-optimist assumptions and contributes to theoretical conversations on digital minimalism, anti-consumption, and youth technology cultures. The findings offer both conceptual insight and practical implications for international marketers, particularly in designing psychologically attuned and culturally resonant strategies within emotionally fatigued digital landscapes. This research advances a more nuanced understanding of technological agency, centred not solely on innovation and access, but on intentional disconnection and value-based simplicity.
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References
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Hewer, P., & Brownlie, D. (2013). Spaces of hope, enlivenment and entanglement: Explorations in the spatial logic of celebrity culinary brands. Journal of Consumer Culture, 13(1), 46–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540512474531
Hook, J. N., Hodge, A. S., Zhang, H., Tongeren, D. R. Van, & Davis, D. E. (2023). Minimalism, voluntary simplicity, and well-being: A systematic review of the empirical literature. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(1), 130–141. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1991450
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Kaun, A. (2021). Ways of seeing digital disconnection: A negative sociology of digital culture. Convergence, 27(6), 1571–1583. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565211045535
Kozinets, R. V. (2006). Click to connect: Netnography and tribal advertising. In Journal of Advertising Research (Vol. 46, Issue 3, pp. 279–288). https://doi.org/10.2501/S0021849906060338
Kozinets, R. V. (2019). Netnography : the essential guide to qualitative social media research. SAGE. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003001430-2
Liang, W. (2024). The Impact of Social Comparison Processes on Psychological Well-Being: How Social Media, Self-Evaluation, and Education Policies Affect the Mental Health of Gen-Z Students. Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy, 8(06), 438–446. https://doi.org/10.36348/jaep.2024.v08i06.003
Liyanage, S., Coca-Stefaniak, J. A., & Powell, R. (2015). Dark destinations - visitor reflections from a holocaust memorial site. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 1(4), 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-08-2015-0019
Mannell, K., Boyle, E., Kennedy, J., & Holcombe-James, I. (2024). ‘Taking the router shopping’: How low-income families experience, negotiate, and enact digital dis/connections. New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241234941
Millham, M. H., & Atkin, D. (2018). Managing the virtual boundaries: Online social networks, disclosure, and privacy behaviors. New Media and Society, 20(1), 50–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816654465
Moreno, M. A., Goniu, N., Moreno, P. S., & Diekema, D. (2013). Ethics of social media research: Common concerns and practical considerations. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(9), 708–713. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0334
Nassen, L.-M., Vandebosch, H., Poels, K., & Karsay, K. (2023). Opt-out, abstain, unplug. A systematic review of the voluntary digital disconnection literature. Telematics and Informatics, 81. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2023.101980
Neelakandan, S. (2024). Internet Addiction, Digital Detox, and Mental Health: A Review of the Evidence with Clinical Examples. SBV Journal of Basic, Clinical and Applied Health Science, 7(3), 140–143. https://doi.org/10.4103/SBVJ.SBVJ_44_24
Pedersen, M. A., Smith, A., Kristensen, D. B., & Hoeyer, K. (2022). Subject in the Making: Technologies of the Self and Aspirations for a Good Life in Contemporary Denmark. Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, 41(4), 431–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2022.2054716
Radtke, T., Apel, T., Schenkel, K., Keller, J., & von Lindern, E. (2022). Digital detox: An effective solution in the smartphone era? A systematic literature review. Mobile Media and Communication, 10(2), 190–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579211028647
Rathod, A. S., Ingole, A., Gaidhane, A., & Choudhari, S. G. (2022). Psychological Morbidities Associated With Excessive Usage of Smartphones Among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Review. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30756
Rothschild, A., & Lindqvist, J. (2024). Swapping 5G for 3G: Motivations, Experiences, and Implications of Contemporary Dumbphone Adoption. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(CSCW1). https://doi.org/10.1145/3637402
Suryawan, T. G. A. W. K., & Santikasari, N. N. (2024). A Behavioral Analysis of Online Loan Application Adoption: The Roles of Ease of Use, Risk, and Trust in Rural Bali. Jurnal Ilmu Manajemen (JIM), 21(2), 85–100. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.21831/jim.v21i2.78161
Suryawan, T. G. A. W. K., Sumerta, I. K., & Vijaya, M. P. (2024). Understanding Purchase Intentions on DOTA 2 Virtual Items: A Study of Indonesian Players’ Game Satisfaction and Emotional Value. Jurnal Ekonomi, 13(1), 259–274. https://doi.org/10.54209/ekonomi.v13i01
Tintori, A., Ciancimino, G., & Cerbara, L. (2024). How Screen Time and Social Media Hyperconnection Have Harmed Adolescents’ Relational and Psychological Well-Being since the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Sciences, 13(9), 470. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13090470
Wagner, J. (2021). The dialectic of digital culture. Journal of Cultural Geography, 38(2), 306–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2021.1906497
Whalen, E. A. (2018). Understanding a shifting methodology: A content analysis of the use of netnography in hospitality and tourism research. In International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (Vol. 30, Issue 11, pp. 3423–3441). Emerald Group Holdings Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2017-0536
Wibisono, H., & Purwanto, S. (2020). Affective Technology and Creative Labour in Indonesia’s Extractive Industry. International Journal of Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurial Research, 6(2), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.18510/ijmier.2020.626
Ziesemer, F., Hüttel, A., & Balderjahn, I. (2021). Young People as Drivers or Inhibitors of the Sustainability Movement: The Case of Anti-Consumption. Journal of Consumer Policy, 44(3), 427–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-021-09489-x
Amrita, N. D. A., Mandiyasa, I. K. S., Suryawan, T. G. A. W. K., Handayani, M. M., Nugroho, M. A., Puspitarini, E. W., Haro, A., Purbaya, M. E., Rivai, D. R., Munizu, M., Saktisyahputra, Mustikadara, I. S., Syapudin, Kirniasari, I., Wibisono, L. K., & Judijanto, L. (2024). DIGITAL MARKETING (Teori, Implementasi dan Masa Depan Digital Marketing) (Efitra, Ed.; 1st ed.). PT. Green Pustaka Indonesia. www.greenpustaka.com
Arnould, E. J., Thompson, C. J., & Press, melea. (2020). Consumer Culture Theory: An Anthropological Contribution to Consumption Studies. In The Routledge Companion to Anthropology and Business (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003052456-7
Ayadi, N., & Djelassi, S. (2023). “SOS time!” Paradoxes of digital time experience among emerging adults. Recherche et Applications En Marketing (English Edition), 38(2), 80–107. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/20515707231155785
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. In Qualitative Research in Psychology (Vol. 3, Issue 2, pp. 77–101). https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bucher, T. (2020). Nothing to disconnect from? Being singular plural in an age of machine learning. Media, Culture and Society, 42(4), 610–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443720914028
Cecchinato, M. E., Rooksby, J., Hiniker, A., Munson, S., Lukoff, K., Ciolfi, L., Thieme, A., & Harrison, D. (2019, May 2). Designing for digital wellbeing: A research & practice agenda. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3298998
Chandrasekara, R., Wijetunga, D., & Jayakody, J. A. S. K. (2022). Nuances in Identity Formation for Consumers in non-Western Markets. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 35(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2022.2067280
Chen L. (2018). Digital Connectivity. In The Comprehensive Asia Development Plan 3.0 (CADP 3.0): Towards an Integrated, Innovative, Inclusive, and Sustainable Economy (pp. 133–158). Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190630577.001.0001
Chia, A., & Beattie, A. (2021). Ethics and Experimentation in The Light Phone and Google Digital Wellbeing. In Reckoning with social media (pp. 127–146). Rowman & Littlefield. https://rowman.com/webdocs/reckoningwithsocialmediachapter6.pdf
Deepa, K. C., & Shelby, A. (2024). Media facade transformation: Shaping youth culture. International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 11(1), 520–525. https://doi.org/10.30574/ijsra.2024.11.1.0055
Ford, E., Shepherd, S., Jones, K., & Hassan, L. (2021). Toward an Ethical Framework for the Text Mining of Social Media for Health Research: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Digital Health, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2020.592237
Fortunati, L. (2023). The smartphone between the present and the future: Five changes. In Mobile Media and Communication (Vol. 11, Issue 1, pp. 19–24). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579221131223
Fullwood, C., Quinn, S., Kaye, L. K., & Redding, C. (2017). My virtual friend: A qualitative analysis of the attitudes and experiences of Smartphone users: Implications for Smartphone attachment. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 347–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.05.029
Hamidah, K. (2023). Seizing Public Digital Dominance; The Phenomenon Of Mainstream Islamic Media Digital Battle. Mu’ashir: Jurnal Dakwah Dan Komunikasi Islam, 1(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.35878/muashir.v1i1.749
Hewer, P., & Brownlie, D. (2013). Spaces of hope, enlivenment and entanglement: Explorations in the spatial logic of celebrity culinary brands. Journal of Consumer Culture, 13(1), 46–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540512474531
Hook, J. N., Hodge, A. S., Zhang, H., Tongeren, D. R. Van, & Davis, D. E. (2023). Minimalism, voluntary simplicity, and well-being: A systematic review of the empirical literature. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(1), 130–141. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1991450
James, J. (2020). Smart Feature Phones and Welfare in Poor Developing Countries. In The Impact of Smart Feature Phones on Development: Internet, Literacy and Digital Skills (pp. 29–43). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62212-1_3
Kaun, A. (2021). Ways of seeing digital disconnection: A negative sociology of digital culture. Convergence, 27(6), 1571–1583. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565211045535
Kozinets, R. V. (2006). Click to connect: Netnography and tribal advertising. In Journal of Advertising Research (Vol. 46, Issue 3, pp. 279–288). https://doi.org/10.2501/S0021849906060338
Kozinets, R. V. (2019). Netnography : the essential guide to qualitative social media research. SAGE. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003001430-2
Liang, W. (2024). The Impact of Social Comparison Processes on Psychological Well-Being: How Social Media, Self-Evaluation, and Education Policies Affect the Mental Health of Gen-Z Students. Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy, 8(06), 438–446. https://doi.org/10.36348/jaep.2024.v08i06.003
Liyanage, S., Coca-Stefaniak, J. A., & Powell, R. (2015). Dark destinations - visitor reflections from a holocaust memorial site. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 1(4), 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-08-2015-0019
Mannell, K., Boyle, E., Kennedy, J., & Holcombe-James, I. (2024). ‘Taking the router shopping’: How low-income families experience, negotiate, and enact digital dis/connections. New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241234941
Millham, M. H., & Atkin, D. (2018). Managing the virtual boundaries: Online social networks, disclosure, and privacy behaviors. New Media and Society, 20(1), 50–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816654465
Moreno, M. A., Goniu, N., Moreno, P. S., & Diekema, D. (2013). Ethics of social media research: Common concerns and practical considerations. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(9), 708–713. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0334
Nassen, L.-M., Vandebosch, H., Poels, K., & Karsay, K. (2023). Opt-out, abstain, unplug. A systematic review of the voluntary digital disconnection literature. Telematics and Informatics, 81. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2023.101980
Neelakandan, S. (2024). Internet Addiction, Digital Detox, and Mental Health: A Review of the Evidence with Clinical Examples. SBV Journal of Basic, Clinical and Applied Health Science, 7(3), 140–143. https://doi.org/10.4103/SBVJ.SBVJ_44_24
Pedersen, M. A., Smith, A., Kristensen, D. B., & Hoeyer, K. (2022). Subject in the Making: Technologies of the Self and Aspirations for a Good Life in Contemporary Denmark. Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, 41(4), 431–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2022.2054716
Radtke, T., Apel, T., Schenkel, K., Keller, J., & von Lindern, E. (2022). Digital detox: An effective solution in the smartphone era? A systematic literature review. Mobile Media and Communication, 10(2), 190–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579211028647
Rathod, A. S., Ingole, A., Gaidhane, A., & Choudhari, S. G. (2022). Psychological Morbidities Associated With Excessive Usage of Smartphones Among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Review. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30756
Rothschild, A., & Lindqvist, J. (2024). Swapping 5G for 3G: Motivations, Experiences, and Implications of Contemporary Dumbphone Adoption. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(CSCW1). https://doi.org/10.1145/3637402
Suryawan, T. G. A. W. K., & Santikasari, N. N. (2024). A Behavioral Analysis of Online Loan Application Adoption: The Roles of Ease of Use, Risk, and Trust in Rural Bali. Jurnal Ilmu Manajemen (JIM), 21(2), 85–100. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.21831/jim.v21i2.78161
Suryawan, T. G. A. W. K., Sumerta, I. K., & Vijaya, M. P. (2024). Understanding Purchase Intentions on DOTA 2 Virtual Items: A Study of Indonesian Players’ Game Satisfaction and Emotional Value. Jurnal Ekonomi, 13(1), 259–274. https://doi.org/10.54209/ekonomi.v13i01
Tintori, A., Ciancimino, G., & Cerbara, L. (2024). How Screen Time and Social Media Hyperconnection Have Harmed Adolescents’ Relational and Psychological Well-Being since the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Sciences, 13(9), 470. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13090470
Wagner, J. (2021). The dialectic of digital culture. Journal of Cultural Geography, 38(2), 306–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2021.1906497
Whalen, E. A. (2018). Understanding a shifting methodology: A content analysis of the use of netnography in hospitality and tourism research. In International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (Vol. 30, Issue 11, pp. 3423–3441). Emerald Group Holdings Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2017-0536
Wibisono, H., & Purwanto, S. (2020). Affective Technology and Creative Labour in Indonesia’s Extractive Industry. International Journal of Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurial Research, 6(2), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.18510/ijmier.2020.626
Ziesemer, F., Hüttel, A., & Balderjahn, I. (2021). Young People as Drivers or Inhibitors of the Sustainability Movement: The Case of Anti-Consumption. Journal of Consumer Policy, 44(3), 427–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-021-09489-x
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