Times of crises and uncertainty can lead to escapism motivated behaviour such as excessive time spent online and gambling (Jouhki et al., 2022). At the same time, excessive use of digital technology and digitalisation has a negative impact on social sustainability (Nosratabadi et al., 2023) and environmental sustainability (Widdicks et al., 2022) and thus contributes to the exacerbation of crises.
In this paper, I analyse ethnographic data gathered over half a year in Danish upper secondary-level school. I draw on several students but focus on my attention on the case of four18-19 year old guys, who through gambling as a social and affective practice form an affinity community with each other as well as in constellations that go beyond their class and spans the rest of the school and the country. Early gambling experiences are socially and culturally mediated and takes place in social contexts, but over time, the practices and the contexts of these practices change. Through analyses of the temporally mediated narratives and practices of this group, I display an example of how excessive online gambling and other online modes of existence are both a reaction to and a contributing factor in crises.