Understanding the Hybridization of Everyday Activities from a Time-Geographic Perspective

In contrast to the dichotomous distinction between offline and online activity in much previous research, we argue for hybridization as a key feature of the digitalized postpandemic society, shaping and constraining the everyday lives and activities of individuals in new, unforeseen ways. The current understanding of the complex ways in which hybridization plays out and reorders everyday life is limited, partly due to a lack of relevant conceptualizations and methodological tools. The aim of this article is to further develop the time-geographic approach, as theory and method, to understand and visualize the hybridization of everyday activities. The article contributes to previous literature on everyday life digitalization in several important respects. The notions of hybrid activities, grounds, and sequences are proposed for an enhanced theoretical understanding of hybridization. Moreover, we argue that interrelated hybrid constraints shape the spatiotemporal organization of everyday activities. The concept of pocket of mediated order is proposed as a new domain of everyday activities in the hybrid era, supporting the accomplishment of everyday projects, yet also transforming the local pockets of order. Finally, drawing on a real family case, we refine the time-geographical notation system to capture and visualize the full complexity of hybridization in the time–space setting of daily life.