Mobile Communications: Re-negotiation of the Social Sphere

ISBN-13: 9781852339319 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 454 str.

Rich Ling;Per E. Pedersen

Opis

Mobile telephony has arrived on the scene.According to statistics of the International Telecommunications Union, in the mid-1990s, less than one person in 20 had a mobile telephone; as of 2003, this had risen to on p- son in five.In the mid-1990s, the GSM system was just being commerci- ized, there were serious coverage and interoperability issues that were not yet sorted out and handsets were only beginning to be something that did not require a car to transport them.In the mid-1990s, if a teen owned a mobile telephone it was likely an indicator of an over-pampered rich kid rather than today's sense that it is a more or less essential part of a teen's everyday identity kit. Hence, in less than a decade, this device has established itself tech- cally, commercially, socially and in the imagination of the people.It has changed the way we think about communication, coordination and safety and it has changed the way we behave in the public sphere. The mobile telephone has become an element in our sense of public and private space and in the development of our social and psychological personas.It has become an arena wherein the language is being played with, morphed and extended.Finally, it is reaching out into ever-new areas of commerce and interaction. All of this is, of course, interesting to social scientists.As brought out by Woolgar later, this is, in some ways, a type of experiment writ large that has engendered serious insight into the functioning of the social group and the individual in society.

Spis treści

Research Questions for the Evolving Communications Landscape.- Mobile Back to Front: Uncertainty and Danger in the Theory—Technology Relation.- Wi-Fi Networks and the Reorganization of Wireline—Wireless Relationship.- Mobile Phones as Fashion Statements: The Co-creation of Mobile Communication’s Public Meaning.- Behavioral Changes at the Mobile Workplace: A Symbolic Interactionistic Approach.- Being Mobile with the Mobile: Cellular Telephony and Renegotiations of Public Transport as Public Sphere.- Mobile Phones, Japanese Youth, and the Re-placement of Social Contact.- Phone Talk.- Mobile Camera Phones: A New Form of “Being Together” in Daily Interpersonal Communication.- Tell Me About Your Mobile and I’ll Tell You Who You Are: Israelis Talk About Themselves.- Mobile Telephone and the Presentation of Self.- “Surprisingly, Nobody Tried to Caution Her”: Perceptions of Intentionality and the Role of Social Responsibility in the Public Use of Mobile Phones.- Changing Learning and Teaching Cultures?.- Mobile Phone Addiction.- Does Personality Affect Peoples’ Attitude Towards Mobile Phone Use in Public Places?.- Tethered or Mobile? Use of Away Messages in Instant Messaging by American College Students.- Language Use in Swedish Mobile Text Messaging.- The Sociolinguistics of SMS: An Analysis of SMS Use by a Random Sample of Norwegians.- The Construction of Symbolic Values of the Mobile Phone in the Hong Kong Chinese Print Media.- Instrumentality Challenged: The Adoption of a Mobile Parking Service.- Relationship Deepening Through Mobile and Interactive Services.- The Integration of Mobile Alerts into Everyday Life.- The Wired — and Wireless — Japanese: Webphones, PCs and Social Networks.

O autorze

Rich Ling is Senior Researcher at the Telenor Research Institute in Norway.

Blurb

Mobile Communications: Renegotiation of the Social Sphere surveys some of the broader issues associated with the adoption and use of mobile communication, and explores developing areas of inquiry. Mobile communications are looked at in the context of other types of mediated interaction (e-mail, instant messaging, Wi-Fi, landline telephone etc.), thus demonstrating the uniqueness of this form of communication and how it is influencing the renegotiation of the social sphere.

A truly international set of contributors consider how mobile communication has impacted on society and reflect on how it is used (and sometimes resented) in various public and private spaces. They provide an in-depth analysis of specific areas which complement our understanding of the phenomena including:

• The psychological dimensions of mobile communication (addiction, proclivity to be disturbed by others use of the mobile phone),

• The linguistics of mobile communication, and

• The understanding of mobile communication’s commercialisation.

This book will be a valuable addition to any researcher’s or professional’s reading material in the area of interaction of technology and society, providing the reader with a broad insight and specific knowledge of how mobile communication is reformulating the social sphere.