Unge forbrukere teori og praksis

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The role of mediated ritual in mobile
communication
Rich Ling
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Contents

• The adoption of mobile telephony
• The use of mobile telephone and other mediated
  communication
• The social consequences of mobile telephony
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)
• Mediated ritual interaction
• Conclusion

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Contents

• The adoption of mobile telephony
• The use of mobile telephone and other mediated
  communication
• The social consequences of mobile telephony
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)
• Mediated ritual interaction
• Conclusion

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Percent distribution of mobile telephone
subscriptions by region, 2004
Source ITU, 2004
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(No Transcript)
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Growth of mobile telephony in Norway 1969 - 2004
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Mobile phone adoption rates,Norway and US, 2005
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Mobile phone ownership, 9 30 year olds, Norway
2000 - 2004
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Contents

• The adoption of mobile telephony
• The use of mobile telephone and other mediated
  communication
• The social consequences of mobile telephony
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)
• Mediated ritual interaction
• Conclusion

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Mean number of SMS sent per day by age and
gender, Norway 2004
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Adoption of mobile telephony by teens in Norway,
1998 - 2001
Source Telenor
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Percent of persons owning a mobile telephone by
age group and gender, Norway 2005
Source Telenor SSB
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Mobile phone ownership by age (9 30) 1997
2005 for Norway
Source Telenor SSB
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Percent of persons who use various media on a
daily basis by age group, Norway 2005
The telephone is the primary form of mediated
interaction for elderly persons. They are
excluded, and to some degree they exclude
themselves from other forms of mediated
interaction
Young adults are generally abandoning the
landline telephone, at least in that portion of
their lives.
Source Telenor SSB
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Percent using landline telephony on a daily basis
by age group and gender, Norway 2005
Women use the landline phone more than do men.
It is often used for remote care giving and the
coordination of the family.
Source Telenor SSB
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Percent using voice mobile telephony on a daily
basis by age group and gender, Norway 2005
Men are the champions in using voice mobile
telephony
Source Telenor SSB
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Percent using SMS on a daily basis by age group
and gender, Norway 2005
SMS is being increasingly used by middle-aged
women. They have taken it onboard increasingly
in the last 5 years.
Source Telenor SSB
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Male attitudes to SMS

• Dexterity
• I think that there is something with SMS . . . I
  cant really do it. It is such short things
  (Bjørn 40)
• SMS takes too long (Kjetil 45)
• I generally call, I dont use much SMS. It is
  not so easy (laughter). I havent understood it
  (laughter). I cant get my fingers to do it
  (laughter) (Tron 36)
• Social context
• I am a tradesman, and I drive a lot from job to
  job. I talk a lot with the other workers. I
  only talk. I almost never send an SMS. (Alf 45)

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Women and texting

• Women write longer text messages
• Women often have better formal writing in their
  messages
• There is more of a written form of
  communication in womens text messages
• Men have a more oral form of writing SMS
  messages

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SMS use by age and gender, US and Norway 2005
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Voice mobile telephony by age and gender, US and
Norway 2005
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Content of SMS messages
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Contents

• The adoption of mobile telephony
• The use of mobile telephone and other mediated
  communication
• The social consequences of mobile telephony
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)
• Mediated ritual interaction
• Conclusion

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Social consequences of mobile communication

• Safety/security
• Coordination (micro-coordination)
• Identity development (particularly among teens
  and young adults)
• Disturbing the public sphere
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)

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Social consequences of mobile communication

• Safety/security
• Coordination (micro-coordination)
• Identity development (particularly among teens
  and young adults)
• Disturbing the public sphere
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)

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Mobile telephony and bounded intimacy

• Putnam points to several elements that reduce
  social capital
• TV
• Suburbia
• The passing of the post-war generation
• The internet may contribute to some forms of
  social capital
• Evidence shows that mobile communication plays
  directly into interpersonal interaction
• The development of connected presence

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SMS use and perception of friendship for
Norwegian teens, 2004
I am popular among those who are my age It is
difficult for other youth to like me (negative) I
feel that others who are my age accept me I have
really close friends It is hard to get friends
that I can really rely on (negative)
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Mobile telephony and bounded intimacy
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Mobile telephony and bounded intimacy
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Mobile telephony and bounded intimacy
Reid and Reid 2004
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Contents

• The adoption of mobile telephony
• The use of mobile telephone and other mediated
  communication
• The social consequences of mobile telephony
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)
• Mediated ritual interaction
• Conclusion

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Ritual and social integration

• If the communication established between
  individuals is to become real communion, that
  is to say a fusion of all particular sentiments
  into one common sentiment, the signs expressing
  them must themselves be fused into one single and
  unique resultant. It is the appearance of this
  that informs individuals that they are in harmony
  and makes them conscious of their moral unity.
  It is by uttering the same cry, pronouncing the
  same word, or performing the same gesture in
  regard to some object that they become and feel
  themselves to be in unison (Durkheim 1954, 230)

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Durkheimian ritual

• Rituals are a way in which the individual is
  exposed to and at some level accepts the
  collective ideas and influences of the broader
  social order
• Ritual requires a mutual focus
• Ritual results in effervesce (entrainment)
• Ritual relies on common sense of obeisance to a
  broader social order
• Ritual rejuvenates the totem

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Australian Aboriginal ritual
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The burning man festival
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Contemporary ritual
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In contemporary society rituals performed as
stand-ins for supernatural entities are
everywhere in decay, as are extensive ceremonial
agendas involving long strings of obligatory
rites. What remains are brief rituals one
individual performs for and to another, attesting
to civility and good will on the performers part
and the recipients possession of a small
patrimony of sacredness. What remains, in brief,
are interpersonal rituals (Goffman 1971, 61).
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Everyday rituals

• Everyday formal rituals
• Birthdays
• Weddings
• Graduations
• Attending a meeting or a lecture
• Going to a football game
• Everyday informal rituals
• Telling a joke
• Flirting
• Saying hello and exchanging small talk
• Paying toll in a toll booth

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What are the elements of everyday ritual

• Rituals are a product of situations, not
  individual
• Assembly of the group
• Definition of membership
• Notions of who is excluded
• Can be supported by an us/them ideology or
  etiquette
• Mutual focus
• Development of a collective engrossment
• There is a rhythm or cadence that is established
• The successful completion of the liturgy enhances
  the sense of social solidarity
• The liturgy plays on a general sense of how it
  should be a miniature ideology
• The specific event is a legitimization and a
  reconfirmation of the ideology
• Rituals can fail
• Failure or lack of respect can result in
  sanctions
• How little engrossment is needed for it to be a
  ritual?

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Mediated ritual

• Is co-presence necessary for ritual?
• Can ritual be mediated?
• Does the mobile phone support or destroy social
  cohesion?
• Can mediated ritual replace the role of the
  totem?
• Licoppes connected presence
• Itos lightweight contact
• Bounded solidarity
• Are there types of ritual that are only mediated?

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Contents

• The adoption of mobile telephony
• The use of mobile telephone and other mediated
  communication
• The social consequences of mobile telephony
• Over configuration of strong ties (bounded
  intimacy)
• Mediated ritual interaction
• Conclusion

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Mobile telephony and bounded intimacy

• Bounded intimacy and the reduction of tenuous
  ties?
• Teens have detailed insight into their peers
  lives
• Potentially are missing the resources afforded by
  weak ties
• Are elaborating a quasi-impervious ideology
• Main elements of the ideology (our side is
  correct)
• Regular infusions of material that supports that
  view
• No opportunity for alternative interpretations of
  the situation
• Development of ritual patterns and totems that
  support the ideology
• The role of mediated ritual
• Goffman (ritual at the micro level)
• Collins (ritual can only take place in co-present
  situations)