How to stream sustainably; investigating avenues for sufficient use practices in Dutch households
bookPart
Information and communication technology (ICT) can contribute positively to sustainability, however, the high energy and resource demands of the ICT sector itself significantly counteract GHG emission reductions in other sectors. Due to declining efficiency gains and a rapidly expanding network, a shift is needed from technological, efficiency-oriented solutions to sustainability approaches considering demand reduction via changes in adoption (sufficiency). We explore this paradigm of digital sufficiency by investigating how video streaming practices in Dutch households can be changed in favour of energy demand. Using a mixed methods approach with various data collection methods (data logging via routers, daily experience sampling surveys, and semi-structured interviews), we provide insights on three major themes: motivations for streaming and reducing, social influences thereon and users’ agency to control this behaviour. Our findings show how users can be empowered to consume audiovisual media more sufficiently by algorithms that better support them in deciding what to watch and for how long. Furthermore, we see opportunities to mobilise social structures around users to encourage and strengthen ambitions for sufficient consumption.
TNO Identifier
1019573
ISBN
979-8-4007-2102-1
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Article nr.
28
Source title
CHItaly '25: Proceedings of the 16th Biannual Conference of the Italian SIGCHI, Technologies and Methodologies of Human-Computer Interaction in the Third Millenium“, 6-10 October 2025, Salerno, Italy
Place of publication
New York
Pages
1-12