Mobile Communication

Benefits of Solitude

- Boosts creativity - Provide space for reflection (enhances intimacy and fosters empathy, formation of self identity) - Adolescents with intermediate levels of solitude were better adjusted

Health Effects of Mobile Communication

- Text neck - Increased illness due to germs - Car crashes due to texting/driving - Sleep issues (positively associated w/ insomnia)

Theory of Planned Behavior (Texting & Driving)

Conscious predictors of attitudes, norms & perceived behavioral control Habit: frequency + automaticity (texting is habitual and based on automaticity - you automatically check phone when it rings) Cognitive dissonance: people believe they have high amounts of control to not answer their phones, but findings reveal otherwise

Mobile Comm & Politics

Gergen's notion of monadic clusters o Mobile communication (with close ties) → small, likeminded enclaves → political detachment (not as much communication with those diff. opinions) & dialogic disruption (not having conversations around things you differ on or figuring out solutions) • Negative: has implications for democratic process → less conversation and debate

Sherry Turkle's "Alone Together" argument

Goldilocks effect - not too close, not too far, but just right. We can't get enough of each other, but only if it is on our own time and at a distance (issue: people's "just rights" may be different) Problem with conversation - In real time, you cannot control what you're going to say. Illusion of companionship without demands of friendship- We are tempted by machines that offer companionship. texting, editing, and selective attention allows us to feel like we have companionships, but we don't have to abide by the demands of friendship. 3 Gratifying fantasies of mobile technology: 1. We can place our attention wherever we want 2. We will always be heard 3. We are never alone

Mobile Comm & Social Capital

Social Capital: resources accrued from your social network - Information Exchange: positively linked to civic engagement, trust in others, life satisfaction. - Relational use: not significantly linked to civic/political engagement - Recreational Use: positively linked to civic & political, but mostly applies to older users

Effects on Social Coordination "micro-coordination"

Time & Space no longer ruling 1. softening of schedule 2. ongoing refinement (change plans or make them up on the fly) 3. Mobile communication allows more planning for spontaneous face-to-face encounters 4. Mobile workers: low boundaries between work/home may cause stress

Types of Social Capital

o Bridging Capital (weak ties) - connected to useful services and info o Bonding capital (close ties) - emotional support o Maintaining capital (old ties) - physically distant o Civil engagement o Political engagement o Trust in others o Life satisfaction

Distinctions between Mobile, Portable & Fixed communication

o Mobile - can be used on the go o Portable - carried place to place and then used (laptops) o Fixed - tethered to a location

Solitude (Implications)

o Need for new conceptualization & measurement o Oxford English dictionary: "state of being or living alone" o Storr's (1998) "Solitude: A return to the self" • Being alone • Lacking close relationships • Not getting married/cohabitating o Burger's (1995) Preference for solitude Scale

Sexting

o Sexing is both an injunctive & descriptive norm • Injunctive: what you "should" do in a social context • Descriptive: what people actually do. Sexting is seen as common, even though relatively uncommon o Sexual double standard: • Males exerted pressure on girls to send texts • Sexting for males was seen as a path to increased social status, females are punished even if they are giving into pressure from males. Females who sexted were seen as insecure, attention seeking sluts

Why Mobile Matters

o Unprecedented adoption rates (fastest yet) o Implications for how users relate to space o Size matters o Cost matters

Impact of Mobile on Solitude

• 72% teens feel the need to respond to texts immediately • 80% check their phone every hour o Study: students sit in room for 15 mins alone, prior to going in room, were given a shock to eliminate the curiosity factor

Private use in Public Space

• Forced eavesdropping: Most people do not like having to hear a person's phone conversations • Listening to "halfalogue" more distracting than hearing both sides of a conversation • Absent presence - phone users physically present, but minds are engaged elsewhere o Talking on the phone while driving is dangerous • Users of mobile technology for information are more likely to engage in convo with strangers (uses & grats lesson) • Social media & location based services - new narratives about connecting with places and people in public o Connecting through space o Creating meaning for space o Bringing social networks into public space

Effects on Social Relationships

• Pre-smartphone era (still mobile) o Individual accessibility o Heightened expectations for accessibility among core ties o Concerns about social insularity o New rhythms and rituals (people more accessible and adapt their life around this) • Smartphone era o Perpetual contact - people are always accessible o Text messages are symbolic of friendship/intimacy o Diversified channels (apps & social media, tinder)

Mobile communication

• Provides the ability or possibility for mediated social interaction, media consumption, and information exchange while the user is in physical motion (devices not necessarily used on the go, they simply make mobility possible during mediated social activity)