Home-based digital leisure

ABSTRACT The introduction and domestication of the information and communication technologies –ICT, in the home has transformed leisure activities Now, those technologies have an important role on leisure of households’ members and the transformation in leisure activities and experiences is a necessary issue to explore, because we actually know little about these changes and transformations. Leisure at home has a digital aspect we called here as home-based digital leisure. In this article we expose some aspects from a study developed under a constructivist and interpretive perspective, analysing 30 informants narratives that explain leisure activities undertaken during informant’s free time at home, using any kind of digital technologies in different households of Barcelona, Spain. Analysis was conducted under thematic analysis to construct and interpret texts, looking for patterns, creating categories and properties to find themes and elements shared in order to describe and interpret how digital technologies have transformed home-based leisure activities. Main findings show how individuals use available technologies for home-based leisure activities, how traditional leisure activities are changing, how domestic leisure and individual and household maintenance activities overlap, and how the appeal of traditional leisure activities has changed in the home when digital leisure activities are performed. Changes brought about are qualitatively different from those produced by radio and television devices, digital technologies increase the exposure to different experiences and allow people to control them. Technologies consumption for leisure is no longer homogeneous within household members due to the nature of ICT and Internet, narrative led us to report how our informants have greater freedom regarding their choice to do home-based leisure activities with more satisfaction given a decrease in time and money costs. Findings can be used for the design and development of home leisure technologies and services. There is an opportunity to go deeper and find more information about digital leisure in other areas of people’s life, considering social connections and according to the evolution of digital technologies, devices and applications.

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