We are happy to announce a new publication by ETHU members Jan Jasper Mathé and Karl Verstrynge, in collaboration with ECHO member Jo Bauwens: Being and becoming in the culture of immediacy: An existential-ethical approach, published in New Media & Society Vol. 27(11), 2025. The article can be retrieved via https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241267004.
In this paper, the authors take a deep dive into the phenomenon of online immediacy, not only as a cultural trend, but as a question of existential ethics. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach, the article explores how constant connectivity shapes the way young adults experience life: torn between the allure of immediate-aesthetic experiences and the challenge of authentic self-development.
The study calls for a transformative shift—one that rethinks our digital habits through an existential-ethical lens. Drawing on Kierkegaard’s existential philosophy of the self, the authors argue for moving beyond the superficiality of immediacy to foster a more authentic journey of being and becoming in a world increasingly mediated by technologies.