Following the first project stage, which was marked by filling vacant PhD and postdoc positions as well as a range of mostly internal seminars focused on methodology, compliance, and theory, for the long middle period the project team’ and subteam’s subsequent workshops and writing retreats were focused on data analyses and the writing up of results based on data from each subprojects’ case studies. Finally, in the project’s third phase, much time and energy were spent on the planning and execution of as well as follow-up and outputs from major international conference with researchers, policymakers, and journalists.
Key research activities and outputs that took place in the course the project include:
(1) Covid 19 related research in the form several talks and papers concerning both issue attention dynamics on Danish social media and new pandemic-induced social and existential possibilities and problems in work and leisure contexts. A blog on Distract Covid-19 research (
https://coronakrisen.github.io(opens in new window)) gave rise to significant media attention in the form of resulted in several interviews of PI and other team members.
(2) The ambitious field experiment at Folkemødet (People’s Meeting), which resulted in the development of new interdisciplinary methods and digital infrastructures, several upcoming publications, and last but not least high-impact outreach and impact for policy makers and other stakeholders, including a high-profile presentation in the Danish Parliament, several newspaper and radio interviews, and meetings with NGOs.
(3) Research in screentime, digital detox, and digital dependence have resulted in a policy brief for the Copenhagen Tech Policy Committee, as well as several papers in peer-reviewed journals. Given the increasing national and international focus and debated on digital distraction and screen time issues, project findings have been publicized via prominent Danish newspapers, and TV and radio programs.
(4) Development, dissemination and commercialization of new a secure and systematic digital tool for qualitative data collection, storage sharing and processing, including publications in Big Data and Society, Social Science Computer Review, Ethnography, Anthrodendum, and Danish anthropology textbook.
(5) Other prominent publications include Lassen et al’ “The Negative Effect of Smartphone Use on Academic Performance May Be Overestimated: Evidence From a 2-Year Panel Study” in Psychological Science (2020), PI and co-PI’s co-authored paper on “The Political Economy of Attention” in Annual Review of Anthropology (2021); Otto, Blok, and Salka’s article on GitHub network published in Journal of Cultural Economy (2023); Lehmann et al’s “Exposure to urban and rural contexts shapes smartphone usage behavior” published PNAS Nexus (2024); DISTRACT researchers’ Pedersen’s and Otto’s contribution as co-editors and authors to the book The Economic Lives of Platforms: Rethinking the Political Economy of Digital Markets (2024, Bristol University Press); Albris et al’ special issue on digital trust in Journal of Cultural Economy (2024), Enggaard et al’s “Analyzing differences between discursive communities using dialectograms” published in Scientific Reports (2024); Jespersen et al’ “Deconstructing screen time: The connections between digital use, dissatisfaction, and disconnection” in Computers in Human Behavior Reports (2025), and Pedersen, Otto et al’s upcoming special theme issue on Agencies of Attention in Ethos: Journal of Psychological Anthropology.
(6) In the course of the project, especially PI but also the co-PIs have been invited to present talks and keynote at many leading (e.g. Stanford, UCL, Edinburgh) institutions, just as members from each sub-teams have presented their findings to an academic and general public audiences in Denmark and abroad.
(7) The two-day Weapons of Mass Distraction? event, held at the Danish Royal Academy of Science and Letters brought together leading experts to discuss the pressing issue of digital distraction and human well-being in an age defined by ubiquitous smartphone use and social media platforms.
