ABSTRACT
The purposive design, production and marketing of legal but health-demoting products that stimulate habitual consumption and pleasure for maximum profit has been called 'limbic capitalism'. In this article, drawing on alcohol and tobacco as key examples, we extend this framework into the digital realm. We argue that 'limbic platform capitalism' is a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and populations. Accessed routinely through everyday digital devices, social media platforms aggressively intensify limbic capitalism because they also work through embodied limbic processes. These platforms are designed to generate, analyse and apply vast amounts of personalised data in an effort to tune flows of online content to capture users' time and attention, and influence their affects, moods, emotions and desires in order to increase profits. Social media are central to young people's socialising, identities, leisure practices and engagement in civic life. Young people actively appropriate social media for their own ends but are simultaneously recruited as consumers who are specifically targeted by producers of limbic products and services. Social media platforms have seen large increases in users and traffic through the COVID-19 pandemic and limbic capitalism has worked to intensify marketing that is context, time and place specific, driving online purchases and deliveries of limbic products. This has public health implications that require immediate attention as existing regulatory frameworks are woefully inadequate in this era of data-driven, algorithmic marketing.
ABSTRACT
Objective: This study was conducted to examine the effects of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the anxiety and sleep levels of university students. Materials and Methods: The population of this descriptive study consisted of students who studied in health departments. The data were collected with a questionnaire that consisted of the descriptive characteristics form, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: A total of 70.5% of the students who participated in the study were female. 9.0% of the students use drugs and 38.4% of them smoke. The difference between anxiety score averages and having a chronic disease, continuous drug use, smoking, and being a disabled person in the living environment is significant. Sleep quality scores were found to be "elevated" and significant for those who constantly used drugs, had a family member with a disability and/or a person over the age of 65, and those who smoked. It also affected the sleep quality scores of those who were infected with the Coronavirus, those who had family members with Coronavirus in their family, and/or students who had a relative who died from the Coronavirus. Conclusion: It can be argued that the anxiety frequency of the students increased and their sleep quality deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Having a family member over the age of 65, having a disabled person, being infected with the Coronavirus and/or losing one of their relatives to the Coronavirus affected the anxiety and sleep quality scores of the students. Amaç: Bu çalışma, Koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 (COVID-19) pandemisinin üniversite öğrencilerinin anksiyete ve uyku düzeyleri üzerine etkilerini incelemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Tanımlayıcı tipte olan araştırmanın evrenini sağlık bölümlerinde okuyan öğrenciler oluşturmuştur. Veriler öğrencilerin tanımlayıcı özellikleri ile Beck Anksiyete Ölçeği ve Pittsburg Uyku Kalitesi Ölçeği'nden oluşan bir anket aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Bulgular: Araştırmaya katılan öğrencilerin %70,5'i kadındı. Öğrencilerin %9,0'ı ilaç, %38,4'ü sigara kullanmakta idi. Anksiyete puan ortalamaları ile kronik hastalık öyküsü, sürekli ilaç kullanımı, sigara, yaşadığı ortamda engelli birey olması durumları arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı fark saptandı. Sürekli ilaç kullananların, ailesinde engelli birey ve/veya 65 yaş üstü birey olanların ve sigara kullananların uyku kalitesi puanları "yüksek" ve anlamlı bulunmuştur. Koronavirüse yakalananların, ailesinde koronavirüse yakalananların ve/veya koronavirüsten vefat eden yakını olan öğrencilerin uyku kalitesi puanları "yüksek" ve anlamlı bulunmuştur. Sonuç: Öğrencilerin COVID-19 pandemisi döneminde anksiyete sıklığının arttığı ve uyku kalitesinin bozulduğu söylenebilir. Ailede 65 yaş üzeri bireyin olması, engelli bireyin olması, koronavirüse yakalanmış olması ve/veya yakınlarından birini koronavirüsten kaybetmiş olması, öğrencilerin anksiyete ve uyku kalitesi puanını etkilemiştir.