ABSTRACT

Since the publication of the ground-breaking first edition, there has been an exponential growth in research and literature about the digital world and its enormous potential benefits and threats. Fully revised and updated, this new edition brings together an expertly curated and authoritative overview of the impact and emerging horizons of digital consumption.

Divided into sections, it addresses key topics including digital entertainment, self-representation, communication, Big Data, digital spirituality, online surveillance, and algorithmic advertising. It explores developments such as consumer data collection techniques, peer-to-peer payment systems, augmented reality, and AI-enhanced consumer well-being, as well as digital transgression, secrecy, crypto-currencies, NFTs, and cultural concerns such as the spread of conspiracy theories and fake news. From digital influencers, digital nomads, and digital neo-tribalism to robots and cyborgs, it explores existences that blur boundaries between humans and machines, reality and the metaverse, and the emerging "technoculture" – a state of all-encompassing digital being.

This unique volume is an essential resource for scholars, practitioners, and policy makers, and will continue to provide a new generation of readers with a deep understanding of the universe of digital consumption.

part I|71 pages

What's digital?

chapter 1|19 pages

Living in a digital society

chapter 5|12 pages

Researching the Black Box

A Call for Methodological Diversity, Transdisciplinarity, and Creativity in Research on Smart Digital Consumption

part II|63 pages

Representing the Self and Others

chapter 6|11 pages

The Evolution of Online Self-Presentation

From Programmable Freeform Websites to Algorithmized Templates that Encourage Commercially Exploitable Content

chapter 7|12 pages

Digital Identity

The Postmodern Consumer Chameleon

chapter 9|13 pages

From Blogs to Platforms

Content Landscape and Affordances

chapter 10|12 pages

Chatbots

From Eliza and Alexa to Therapy-bots, and Sexbots

part IV|64 pages

Communicating, Interacting, and Socializing

part V|82 pages

Using Digital

chapter 21|15 pages

From techno-utopianism to personal panopticon and beyond

A call for a revised self-tracking research agenda

part VI|61 pages

Playing, Praying, Educating, and Entertaining

chapter 29|8 pages

Education in a digital age

Do we need more innovation in educational innovations?

chapter 30|15 pages

Digital Fandom (Revisited)

Exploring the Role of the Hypermediated Fan as Trickster

chapter 31|11 pages

Online games

Consuming experiences and interacting in virtual worlds

part VII|117 pages

Issues of Concern in Society and Culture

chapter 34|11 pages

Online Privacy as Space

Concepts, Issues, and Research Avenues for Digital Consumption

chapter 35|14 pages

The Power of Digital Integration

The Normalization of Tracking and Surveillance Technologies

chapter 36|14 pages

Online Consumer Activism 2.5

Youth at the Forefront of the Global Climate Crisis

chapter 38|13 pages

Models of Viral Propagation in Digital Contexts

How Messages and Ideas—From Internet Memes to Fake News—Created by Consumers, Bots, and Marketers Spread

chapter 39|12 pages

‘Posting sexy images and still being respected as a woman'

Perspectives on human and non-human influencers

chapter 40|14 pages

Consumer online (dis)trust

A decade later