“Digitalization and Loneliness” Book hit the shelves

The III. International Symposium on Loneliness, which was organized by Üsküdar University between December 10-11 2021, has been published into a book. The book, which was published by Üsküdar University Publications, was edited by Sociology Department faculty members Prof. Ebulfez Süleymanlı, Asst. Prof. Nihan Kalkandeler, RA Bengi Cakmak and RA Berat Dağ.

The symposium book includes articles and essays by academicians, artists and researchers from five different countries. The book “Digitalization and Loneliness” consists of four main parts. The book, to which President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan also contributed, met with its readers. In the book, Prof. Tarhan emphasizes the negative effects of the digitalization process that deepen physically, psychiatrically, psychologically and socially, and emphasizes the values of justice, solidarity, self-sacrifice, modesty and well-being on the axis of positive psychology against these effects.

In the book which includes the results of its member articles titled "Turkey Digitalization and Loneliness Research Results" by Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty members Prof. Ebulfez Süleymanlı and Asst. Prof, the book shares the results that predict that digital culture focuses on determining the power of transforming individuals' social relationships by measuring the level of loneliness perception.

Moreover, Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Cem Tutar states that the limitation of subjects to virtual topographies created with the possibilities of digital technologies is decisive in the process of breaking away from urban areas in metropolises in the essay text written by Sociologist-Communication Specialist Bilge Evran.

Other scientists who contributed to the book are as follows:

Prof. Milay Köktürk philosophically discusses the relationship between the loneliness process and deep concept affecting the mental world of the individual, and digital changes and transformations in her essay titled “Deep Loneliness in the Digital World”.  Prof. Fulya Bayraktar, on the other hand, mentions the alienation caused by digitalization in her article from a philosophical point of view, and states that this is important for people to remember their essential nature.

Prof. Kadriye Bakırcı discusses the relationship between the isolation of individuals, groups or some groups in business life and the process of being exposed to social isolation, poverty, violence and discrimination from a legal perspective. In the article written by Assoc. Prof. Mustafa Günay, the limits and possibilities created by deepening the concepts of loneliness and togetherness are evaluated in the context of human relations and digitalization.

Prof. F. Belma Oğul and RA Oğul Köker go beyond the narratives centered on the democratizing power of current technology in the article titled “The Home Studio as a Space for Men's Loneliness and open up a discussion on how masculinity is built in home studios.

Psychologist Botagöz Tolepbergenova from Kazakhstan and Assoc. Prof. Yelena Barabanova emphasize the positive and negative aspects of living alone while addressing loneliness that is a problem of modern society, as a lifestyle of modern adults in the context of digital communication. Ryazantsev, Rostovskaya and Yurievna from Russia write about the life practices of lone immigrant women, referring to the digital age. Riga Salmorbekova from Kyrgyzstan examines the effects of loneliness in modern society on individuals' sleep status, attention, logical and verbal thinking, immune system and hormonal balance in the context of Kyrgyzstan society. Prof. Nigina Rakhimova, on the other hand, brings up the difference of the effect of the pandemic process on the society in general, especially on the family, in Uzbekistan in her essay.

Author Hülya Mutlu examines the relationship between loneliness and the business world around the concepts of competition, diversity, inclusivity, search for meaning and friendship. Producer and Screenwriter Birol Güven, on the other hand, meets with the reader with an essay which is shaped by the fact that technology and digitalization have a quality that distracts individuals, especially young people, from their sense of loneliness, thought and situation contrary to popular belief.

Digitalization and Loneliness Book; It aims to explain and understand the digitalization process and loneliness within an interdisciplinary and relational integrity. In the same way, it is possible to emphasize that the book also aims to develop a holistic solution proposal for the multi-causal, directional and progressive problems encountered within the framework of the relationship between digitalization and loneliness.

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Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)