Ever since internet was available to most people, the use of screens has increased. Members of the society need to be digital literate to be able to use the digital tools and services. In Sweden, public libraries are assigned the task to support that digital literacy by Kungliga biblioteket. As people spend more time online, questions regarding how screen use impact on health increases, together with a growing interest in restricting one’s own use of digital devices and a growing interest in self-help literature on this topic. The aim of this thesis is to contribute with knowledge regarding how screen use is presented in Swedish self-help literature. To do so, a discourse analysis inspired by Michel Foucault’s thoughts on self-technologies, the relation of language-power and power-knowledge, is performed.

Findings: Biological-, economic- and health discourses are used when describing the impact of screen use. Focus is on what activities the screen is used for and not so much on the impact from the screen itself. Screen use is talked about as addictive and is accused of leading to sleeping problems and stress. The solution according to the texts is to balance the screen use by performing self-discipline and control.