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children in Paraguay who could care less
about their XO laptops?
To explore this question, we
convened a workshop at ACM’s
CHI 2014 conference. The
participants included 22 individuals
from departments and schools of
information, communication, computer
science, media studies, and other areas.
Here, the workshop organizers
reflect on key topics, themes, and
questions raised by participants,
discussing how they might provide
feedback to the broader HCI
community. Thus, rather than being
a strict summary or report of the
workshop, this article serves two
Quit Facebook Day. Paraguayan
children indifferent to their OLPC XO
laptop. Digitally disconnected residents
of Sub-Saharan Africa. Facebook pages
of the deceased.
Each of these in some way draws
attention to technology non-use. While
researchers have explored questions
around non-use for some time [ 1, 2],
the dominant discourse in HCI still
focuses primarily on technology users.
However, non-use and other forms of
technological relationships not only are
becoming increasingly common but
in fact also pervade numerous areas
of work in HCI. So what do deceased
Facebook users have in common with
Insights
→ Non-use goes beyond the
absence of technology.
→ Use and non-use are
not binary opposites
but represent different
configurations of
sociotechnical practice.
→ Studying these sociotechnical
configurations opens up
central questions around
“the user” in HCI. Q
On the
Importance and
Implications
of Studying
Technology
Non-Use
Eric P. S. Baumer, Cornell University
Jenna Burrell, University of California, Berkeley
Morgan G. Ames, University of California, Irvine
Jed R. Brubaker, University of California, Irvine
Paul Dourish, University of California, Irvine