Day-to-day routines of media platform use in the digital age: A structuration perspective

Abstract

Using Giddens's structuration theory, this study examines how the routinized use of traditional and new media platforms differently align with the structures of everyday life. We analyzed data from a quantitative diary study in Germany to find that new media platforms specifically affect societal structuration by blurring the lines between obligations and leisure time. The part played by routines in the use of new media platforms was less strongly connected to clock time compared to traditional media platforms. Consequently, the findings indicate both a vanishing potential for media platform use as a social zeitgeber and the relevance of rules as structuring elements.