#digital spaces

Anyone feeling really...tired lately? Like you're being pulled in too many directions at once and there's too many things to do?

I've been struggling with this a lot lately, and just when I needed it, this article appeared on my Facebook feed:

Anxious about returning to regular life? 6 Jesuit discernment tips for the post-Covid world

In the article, for those that don't want to read, the author likens what we've done during the pandemic to going on a spiritual retreat. We've disengaged from our normal, for a long time, and, as she rightly points out, it's going to be hard to go back. We are going to have to re-learn some things. (The author suggests some practices from the Ignatian monastic tradition, if you want suggestions.)

And I think the same thing is true for our digital spaces. Even though we've been here for the whole time, we've changed the way we use these digital spaces in big ways.

I think a lot of what's going on in a lot of fandom spaces I'm in right now (tumblr, discord, AO3) - and where a lot of my fatigue is coming from - is the desire to be the participant (and have the level of participation) I had when I didn't have anywhere to go AND the completing desire to go back to the world of school and work and social activities that don't involve Zoom.

And we can't do both. We simply don't have the bandwidth, and we definitely don't have the time. And some of us are somehow...beating ourselves up over this?

If you have time today, sit for a moment and consider where you spend your time, and what, if anything, is giving you anxiety in your fandom and digital spaces. Can you turn off some notifications? Do you need to see every conversation on your Discord server? Would making a post for your tumblr followers make you feel better? Do you need to put a project on hiatus or turn your askbox off?

There’s this idea that the internet should be “free” and unfiltered.

But honestly?

The most comfortable online interactions I’ve had were the ones with clear boundaries.

Time limits. Clear expectations. No emotional ambiguity.

That’s something I appreciate about structured platforms like ePal. It removes that weird uncertainty of:

“Am I bothering them?”

“Do they expect something back?”

“Is this going somewhere?”

It’s just… agreed time. Shared space.

Boundaries don’t make connection colder. They make it safer.

And safety makes people relax.

Relaxed people talk more honestly. Laugh more naturally. Exist more comfortably.

The International Day of the Girl Child 2022 was held under the theme: Closing the Digital Divide to Accelerate Opportunity.

The 9th celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child demands a continued innovative approach to building connection through digital spaces while emphasizing inclusion of voices often left out of these digital spaces. The Working Group on Girls, UNICEF, UN Women, and UNFPA seek to put girls at the forefront to share their experiences, to listen to a diversity of girls to hear what they need, and to partner with them and key stakeholders in highlighting sustainable and innovative solutions to issues that they face.

In our consultations with girls, they have emphasized "the importance of digital literacy, reliable electricity, devices, and the internet, and how they can impact the way girls interact, educate themselves, and participate in political discourse," and that "closing the digital gender divide and ensuring access to the internet is crucial." Given the lack of research and data on the gender digital divide for girls (UNICEF Review), providing this space to hear from girls directly is critical to understand how to address the issue.

Thus, this year, in conjunction with UNICEF's IDG 2021 Theme "Digital Generation, Our Generation," on this 9th annual marking of IDG, the WGG's theme for the Girls Speak Out is: "Closing the Digital Divide to Accelerate Opportunity."

The Future of Work: Digital Spaces and Collaborative Work Online

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the nature of the office workspace has undergone dramatic changes. Today’s office looks much different from even a few years ago. While the norm for decades has been the commute to work and a 9-to-5 day in an office location, today, there are three distinct workspaces: the traditional in-office experience, a fully remote workforce, and a hybrid version. For…