Ritualizing Digital Media Use: A Conceptual Model of Digital Resilience Rituals in Information-Rich Environments

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of digital resilience rituals in order to illuminate the ways in which media practices can be seen as adaptive responses to information stress in the context of the current digital communication environment. By incorporating the theoretical perspectives of the concept of ritual communication and the theories of resilience and salutogenesis, the current study aims to reconceptualize the use of digital media as routinized and meaning-making practices. Algorithmically curated, information-rich environments generate continuous cognitive and affective demands, experienced as information stress. In response, users engage in ritualized media practices that structure attention, regulate emotional responses, and maintain a sense of control. The model identifies three types of digital resilience rituals: orientation rituals, emotional regulation rituals, and boundary-setting rituals. Conceptually, the framework links structural characteristics of the media environment with psychological resources, positioning ritualized practices as mediating mechanisms between environmental stressors and adaptive outcomes. By doing so, the study extends ritual communication theory toward adaptive regulation in digital contexts and offers a theoretically grounded basis for future empirical research on media practices, information stress, and resilience.