T&F Proofs: Not For Distribution 11 Cell Phones, iPods, and Subjective Well-Being

All of the questions we used to ask about cyberspace are now more rewardingly asked about ‘non-mediated experience’—those increas-ingly rare moments when we disconnect from all media. The digital is now the rule, while the non-mediated becomes ever more the excep-tion. (Howell 2007)1 Mediated experience is becoming very common. It is increasingly unusual to have an experience that isn’t interrupted by a cell phone call, accompa-nied by a podcast coming through your ear buds, or fi ltered through the lens of a digital camera. Digital technology has changed social interaction in more direct ways. For example, there are now “mobile clubbing ” events, during which people dance “together ” (in the same space) to their own music coming through their own music device. One might think that (at least in some cases) having our experiences interrupted or mediated by new technology is bad for us. By constantly attending to how to take the best shot of the mountain, we may miss its awesome beauty. Having a conversa