Smitte|Stop & the Technological Mediation of Civic Consciousness

Technology co-shapes interpretations of, and practices pertaining to, moral values and normative frameworks. In this article, we explore the mediating role of the Danish contact tracing technology “Smitte|Stop’s” role in shaping the value of civic consciousness. We empirically investigate through interviews with (non-)users how the meaning of the Danish notion of samfundssind, a compound word of samfund (society) and sind (spirit/mind/soul) - what we refer to as civic consciousness - takes on contextual meanings in relation to Smitte|Stop. We conceptualize two ways that Smitte|Stop does this: by mediating intersubjective responsibility, where the civic is interpreted as other people of flesh and blood, one’s community; and by mediating between individual and state, where the civic is the state and its authorities. Thus, Smitte|Stop mediates the meaning of civic consciousness by putting at stake what the “civic” is, and thus how one is “conscious” for such a particular civic.