“S.O.S. time!” Paradoxes of digital time experience among emerging adults

Abstract

The concept of time is revisited through the lens of the digital revolution. Our research aims to explore the relationship between emerging adults’ experience and perception of time and their use of digital technologies including the Internet, social networks, mobile apps, entertainment platforms, and instant messaging. A qualitative approach using a sample of 22 French emerging adults identified four perceptual dimensions of time – spiritual, organizational, evaluative, and affective. Our results show that emerging adults’ digital experience of time is characterized by three temporal paradoxes – (de)consumption of time, (de)regulation, and emotional ambivalence related to time.