The visceral embodiment of digital pleasures
- Smith, Naomi, Davis, Jenny, Maddox, Alexia Maddox, Patella-Rey, P.
- Authors: Smith, Naomi , Davis, Jenny , Maddox, Alexia Maddox , Patella-Rey, P.
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 20th Annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Brisbane, Australia p. 18
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- Description: This panel explores digital pleasures that arise through the entanglement of bodies and digital technologies. Focusing on the digital structures and affordances that facilitate seeking, receiving and giving pleasure we analyse the ways in which intimacy is not only interactive, but also profoundly embodied. Haraway’s work in particular highlights the importance of taking seriously the nexus of human bodies and technologies and attending to the ways in which technologies not only deliver and mediate pleasure, but potentially expand upon our capacity to experience it. This panel explores how mediated practices engage the body as a site of pleasure and embodied affective intensity. Within this frame, we suggest that digitally mediated pleasures, while widely consumed, still have a hint of the ‘fringe’ or ‘subversive’. As well as proposing a theoretical framework for understanding embodied digital pleasures, this panel also examines specific examples of digital pleasure from sex to drugs and sound. To date the research corpus has largely focused upon the micro-social interactions of digital intimacies. This emphasis on relational intimacy puts the body into the background of the digitally mediated encounter and limits the ways in which we can talk about embodiment, sex and pleasure online. Embodied pleasure is intrinsic to the human condition, and digital media is deeply embedded in contemporary life. How these intersect is a key piece of the puzzle of what it means to be human in contemporary society.
- Authors: Smith, Naomi , Davis, Jenny , Maddox, Alexia Maddox , Patella-Rey, P.
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 20th Annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Brisbane, Australia p. 18
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This panel explores digital pleasures that arise through the entanglement of bodies and digital technologies. Focusing on the digital structures and affordances that facilitate seeking, receiving and giving pleasure we analyse the ways in which intimacy is not only interactive, but also profoundly embodied. Haraway’s work in particular highlights the importance of taking seriously the nexus of human bodies and technologies and attending to the ways in which technologies not only deliver and mediate pleasure, but potentially expand upon our capacity to experience it. This panel explores how mediated practices engage the body as a site of pleasure and embodied affective intensity. Within this frame, we suggest that digitally mediated pleasures, while widely consumed, still have a hint of the ‘fringe’ or ‘subversive’. As well as proposing a theoretical framework for understanding embodied digital pleasures, this panel also examines specific examples of digital pleasure from sex to drugs and sound. To date the research corpus has largely focused upon the micro-social interactions of digital intimacies. This emphasis on relational intimacy puts the body into the background of the digitally mediated encounter and limits the ways in which we can talk about embodiment, sex and pleasure online. Embodied pleasure is intrinsic to the human condition, and digital media is deeply embedded in contemporary life. How these intersect is a key piece of the puzzle of what it means to be human in contemporary society.
Who uses digital drugs? An international survey of ‘binaural beat’ consumers
- Barratt, Monica, Maddox, Alexia, Smith, Naomi, Davis, Jenny, Goold, Lachlan, Winstock, Adam, Ferris, Jason
- Authors: Barratt, Monica , Maddox, Alexia , Smith, Naomi , Davis, Jenny , Goold, Lachlan , Winstock, Adam , Ferris, Jason
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Drug and Alcohol Review Vol. 41, no. 5 (2022), p. 1126-1130
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- Description: Introduction: Digital drugs, or binaural beats claimed to elicit specific cognitive or emotional states, are a phenomenon about which little is known. In this brief report, we describe demographic and drug use correlates of binaural beat use, patterns of use, reasons for use and methods of access. Methods: The Global Drug Survey 2021 was translated into 11 languages; 30 896 responses were gathered from 22 countries. Results: The use of binaural beats to experience altered states was reported by 5.3% of the sample (median age 27; 60.5% male), with the highest rates from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom. Controlling for all variables, age and non-male gender predicted binaural beat use, as did the recent use of cannabis, psychedelics and novel/new drugs. Respondents most commonly used binaural beats ‘to relax or fall asleep’ (72.2%) and ‘to change my mood’ (34.7%), while 11.7% reported trying ‘to get a similar effect to that of other drugs’. This latter motivation was more commonly reported among those who used classic psychedelics (16.5% vs. 7.9%; P < 0.001). The majority sought to connect with themselves (53.1%) or ‘something bigger than themselves’ (22.5%) through the experience. Binaural beats were accessed primarily through video streaming sites via mobile phones. Discussion and Conclusions: This paper establishes the existence of the phenomenon of listening to binaural beats to elicit changes in embodied and psychological states. Future research directions include the cultural context for consumption and proximate experiences, including co-use with ingestible drugs and other auditory phenomena. © 2022 The Authors. Drug and Alcohol Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.
- Authors: Barratt, Monica , Maddox, Alexia , Smith, Naomi , Davis, Jenny , Goold, Lachlan , Winstock, Adam , Ferris, Jason
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Drug and Alcohol Review Vol. 41, no. 5 (2022), p. 1126-1130
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Introduction: Digital drugs, or binaural beats claimed to elicit specific cognitive or emotional states, are a phenomenon about which little is known. In this brief report, we describe demographic and drug use correlates of binaural beat use, patterns of use, reasons for use and methods of access. Methods: The Global Drug Survey 2021 was translated into 11 languages; 30 896 responses were gathered from 22 countries. Results: The use of binaural beats to experience altered states was reported by 5.3% of the sample (median age 27; 60.5% male), with the highest rates from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom. Controlling for all variables, age and non-male gender predicted binaural beat use, as did the recent use of cannabis, psychedelics and novel/new drugs. Respondents most commonly used binaural beats ‘to relax or fall asleep’ (72.2%) and ‘to change my mood’ (34.7%), while 11.7% reported trying ‘to get a similar effect to that of other drugs’. This latter motivation was more commonly reported among those who used classic psychedelics (16.5% vs. 7.9%; P < 0.001). The majority sought to connect with themselves (53.1%) or ‘something bigger than themselves’ (22.5%) through the experience. Binaural beats were accessed primarily through video streaming sites via mobile phones. Discussion and Conclusions: This paper establishes the existence of the phenomenon of listening to binaural beats to elicit changes in embodied and psychological states. Future research directions include the cultural context for consumption and proximate experiences, including co-use with ingestible drugs and other auditory phenomena. © 2022 The Authors. Drug and Alcohol Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.
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