Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together and Tearing Us Apart

by Campbell,Scott

• ISBN13: 9781412849555
• ISBN10: 1412849551
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2012-08-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Mobile Communication covers a wide range of topics. These include the replacement of co-present interaction with mediated contact and analysis of mobile-based cohesion and gender. The authors also explore the role of media choice and its effect on the quality as well as quantity of social cohesion. Other topics include mobile communication and communities of interest; and mobile communication, cohesion, and youth. This volume brings together scholars from around the world to consider how mobile communication both builds and destroys our sense of social cohesion. There is no question that uses of technology can lead to increased cohesion within personal communities. For example, this volume includes research on caravan couples in Australia, factory workers in China, young couples in Germany, citizens in Slovenia, and sports clubs in Ireland. It also includes research on drunken calls between university students in the US, calls of international students in Switzerland and communications between immigrant women in Melbourne, Australia. However, the contributors also argue that as social networks become inundated with mobile communication users, these users may become increasingly isolated and social division can ensue.

Author Biography

Rich Ling is professor at the IT University of Copenhagen and is also a sociologist at Telenor's research institute near Oslo, Norway. Previously, he was Pohs Visiting Professor of Communication at the University of Michigan. He is the author of New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication Is Reshaping Social Cohesion and The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone's Impact on Society. Scott W. Campbell is associate professor of communication studies and Pohs Fellow of Telecommunications in the department of communication studies at the University of Michigan. His research has been published in the journals Communication Education, Communication Monographs, International Journal of Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research, New Media Society, and others.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together and Tearing Us Apart	p. 1
Mobile Symbiosis: A Precursor to Public Risk-Taking Behavior?	p. 17
Mobile Specters of Intimacy: A Case Study of Women and Mobile Intimacy	p. 37
(Im)mobile Mobility: Marginal Youth and Mobile Phones in Beijing	p. 61
Mobiles Are Not That Personal: The Unexpected Consequences of the Accountability, Accessibility, and Transparency Afforded by Mobile Telephony	p. 83
Mobile Communication in Intimate Relationships: Relationship Development and the Multiple Dialectics of Couples' Media Usage and Communication	p. 107
Bonds and Bridges: Mobile Phone Use and Social Capital Debates	p. 127
Extended Sociability and Relational Capital Management: Interweaving ICTs and Social Relations	p. 151
Network and Mobile Sociality in Personal Communities: Exploring Personal Networks of ICT Users	p. 181
There's an Off-line Community on the Line!	p. 211
Mobile Social Networking: Learning from Tourists' Use of CB Radio in the Australian Outback	p. 229
Generation Disconnections: Youth Culture and Mobile Communication	p. 249
Interpersonal Communication beyond Geographical Constraints: A Case of College Students Who Maintain Geographically Dispersed Relationships	p. 271
"I Love You, Man": Drunk Dialing Motives and Their Impact on Social Cohesion	p. 293
Conclusion: Connecting and Disconnecting through Mobile Communication	p. 323
About the Contributors	p. 331
Index	p. 339
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