My name is Caitlin Begg and I am the Founder of Authentic Social and a Sociological Researcher, focused on technology’s effect on conversation. Below you can find updates on my research and publications.

RESEARCH UPDATES

07 September 2023

It’s been a busy month! Some highlights below:

20 August 2023
🇺🇸 Presented at American Sociological Association Annual Meeting: The Educative Power of Sociology (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

23-24 August 2023
🇫🇮 Presented 3x at WORK2023 (Turku, Finland)

30 August 2023
🇸🇪 Presented at International Sociological Association Conference: Law, Society and Digital Pasts, Presents and Futures (Lund, Sweden)

1 September 2023
Featured on MindBodySpace Podcast: “How to Decrease Anxiety and Get Focused in a Hyper Texting Digital World with Caitlin Begg” - September 2023

Listen below, and on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

“In this episode of the MindBodySpace podcast, Dr. Juna speaks with sociological researcher and Authentic Social founder Caitlin “Caity” Begg about the effects of digital communication and hyper-communication on human relationships and interactions. They discuss how the rise of texting, social media, and constant connectivity has impacted the way we converse, date, work, and even think. Caity provides insights from her research on improving communication and promoting more presence despite our tech-driven world.”

Dr. Juna is a Mom-M.D., certified by Harvard Medical School for Mind-Body Medicine, and is on faculty at The Juilliard School where she teaches "The Science of Resilience for Peak Performance & Happiness".

08 August 2023

Today is my 29th birthday, and as I reflect on the last year I can’t help but notice how much I have transformed my everyday through a “progression to analog”. hjkbmn

Progression to analog is my term for exploring a more human everyday - with “just enough” technology.

Some updates on my “progression to analog”:

I read nonfiction each morning before I go on my phone (without exception since September 5th). Starting my days without my phone has been wonderful, and subsequently led to me decreasing my screetime by over 65%.

About two weeks ago, I went 81+ hours without going on my phone. I have done this several times as “screen resets”. They have a tremendous effect on my creativity and happiness, and allow me to directly interact with my surroundings.

I purchased (and use) a landline in my apartment, and have done so since January. I love using the landline for calling my grandmother, parents, and sometimes my friends and clients.

46 weeks shooting film of the everyday (& covering the walls of my lower Manhattan apartment with said film)

I spent months sourcing out-of-print technology magazines, curating an exhibit in my apartment and hosting 46 people who, in an accidental social experiment, essentially stayed off their phones for three hours.

My attention span has increased, and I feel more fully present with my family and friends.

The everyday > the spectacular

Said “progression to analog” has also made a tremendous impact outside of my own life and personal projects, in both a tangible project-based client professional context as well as through my research. More on this soon...

Along with these projects in "Progression to Analog", I've spent the last year on a dense literature review of French and American Sociological texts from the 1930s to 2020s, out-of-print technology magazines spanning seven decades, and more, in addition to other sociological research methods related to technology's effect on conversation. This literature review, combined with other methods of research and exploration, combine to form my research presentations at major academic and industry conferences across the U.S. and Europe.

I am speaking in Finland, Sweden, and Germany over the next two months at future of work, sociology, and responsible artifical intelligence conferences and will provide updates on said presentation on this site!

“The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Everyday Human Conversation and Social Interaction”

“Everyday Conversation: The Effect of Asynchronous Communication and Hypercommunication on Daily Interaction and Sociotechnical Systems”

“A Sociotechnical Approach to Digital Communication Dysfunction Avoidance in Remote and Hybrid Work Settings”

“Joint Optimization of Social and Technical Systems to Effect Organizational Change”

19 May 2023

I presented at the UCSB / UCLA co-hosted 26th Annual Conference on Language, Interaction, and Social Organization.

“Everyday Conversation: The Effect of Asynchronous Communication and Hypercommunicatin on Daily Interaction and Sociotechnical Systems” (presented as in-progress research)

My next presentation is in August in Philadelphia, followed by Finland, Sweden, and Germany. See below entries for some of the research topics I will be covering over the next few months.

Abstract: Technology’s effect on social systems begins with its impact on conversation. Digital communication often leads to difficulty in interpreting tones and intentions as compared to in-person conversation (Begg 2016). Using a year of in-depth theoretical research, I analyze the effect of asynchronous communication and hypercommunication on sociotechnical systems and daily interaction. In initial findings, I theorize that a lack of unmediated experiences in everyday life prevents meaningful connection through conversation in its traditional form. This experiential deficit can lead to negative effects in personal and professional contexts, although I theorize that détournement of everyday communication at scale could change this. This research seeks not only to expand upon conversation and technology theories, but also to leverage qualitative data to provide a potential blueprint for increasing satisfaction and alignment in sociotechnical systems and everyday conversation — in part through what I refer to as “progression to analog”.

21 March 2023

As of March 2023, my research has been accepted at numerous academic and industry conferences across the United States, Europe, and Asia. I will begin presenting my research and speaking at said conferences in mid-May.

Upcoming Conference Presentations:
- Everyday Conversation: The Effect of Asynchronous Communication and Hypercommunication on Daily Interaction and Sociotechnical Systems (both as in-progress and completed research)

- The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Everyday Human Conversation and Social Interaction

- A Sociotechnical Approach to Digital Communication Dysfunction Avoidance in Remote and Hybrid Work Settings

- Joint Optimization of Social and Technical Systems to Effect Organizational Change

Google Scholar | ORCID | ResearchGate

January 2023

“Everyday Conversation” explores how technology affects the way we speak to each other. The forthcoming publications and presentations will follow my 2016 undergraduate thesis, “Virtual Impressions: The Effect of Digital Communication on Millennial Social Interaction”.

To supplement my research, I explore several analog projects (what I refer to as “PROGRESSION TO ANALOG”):

Shooting film of everyday life - I have been capturing film weekly since August 2022 with a focus on the everyday vs. the spectacle. Besides my larger film collection, I have curated two film series thus far: “AFTER THE SPECTACLE” and “PHONES AND THE EVERYDAY” (both exhibited at the January 19th event).

Sourcing and scouring through old and often out-of-print technology magazines across seven decades, and compiling relevant advertisements and information from said materials.

Getting a landline (to supplement, not replace, my cell phone) feedback pending...

& more to come

ABOUT THE JANUARY 19TH EVENT

19 January 2023

On January 19, 2023, I hosted forty-four people for an intimate launch of “Everyday Conversation”. The event was at my residence in Lower Manhattan, and featured kava beverages from Nothing Special.

As mentioned above, I also exhibited the two film series “AFTER THE SPECTACLE” and “PHONES AND THE EVERYDAY”, in addition to a wall of curated advertisements from old or out-of-print technology magazines. Guests were encouraged to practice “intentional technology use” during the event, and enjoyed pizza from Joe’s and Double Zero, Nothing Special kava, various craft alcohol beverages, and other non-alc options.

All this aside, the main “objective” of the event was simply to bring a group of people together either directly or tangentially connected to technology and its ethical applications in a setting designed for conversation and connection.

ABOUT MY ONGOING SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Technology’s Effect on Conversation: Sociotechnical Systems and Digital Identity

My ongoing sociological research focuses on technology’s effect on conversation, sociotechnical systems, digital identity, and ethnomethodology. It seeks to both develop theories and provide workable large-scale solutions to the following problems:

ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION (conversations with a time lag between messages, such as through social media and other related mechanisms such as iMessage) and its impact on conversation, verbal communication skills, relationships, and professional success. Can re-engineering sociotechnical systems architecture, perhaps through subversive techniques, help solve this?

HYPERCOMMUNICATION, or excess inbound and outbound communication precipitated by technology, and its subsequent effect on social conditioning and impact on myriad areas of life (especially personal and professional relationships).

A LACK OF CENTRALIZED OPEN-SOURCE, ACCESSIBLE, AND ENGAGING YOUTH-FOCUSED DIGITAL IDENTITY FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES. The lack of such forums for navigating the digital communication landscape prove especially concerning amidst the ever-increasing separation between the digital and real-world self.

I have been conducting this research since March 2022. I sourced literature and designed both curriculum and research methods. I conduct everyday reading and writing, engage in ongoing formation of functional thesis repository, data collection, and am currently developing formal papers for forthcoming publications. I also integrate research into processes and methods for Authentic Social - this research is done in addition to my core role as founder.

More about my research (including some of my sources) at caitybegg.com

Everyday Conversation