IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v6y2018i2p5-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mobile Media and Social Space: How Anytime, Anyplace Connectivity Structures Everyday Life

Author

Listed:
  • Mariek Vanden Abeele

    (Department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg University, The Netherlands)

  • Ralf De Wolf

    (Department of Communication Sciences, imec-mict, Ghent University, Belgium)

  • Rich Ling

    (Wee Kim Wee School of Communication, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Abstract

Using Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory we examine how social structures in mobile communication technologies shape the everyday life of individuals, thereby re-shaping power dynamics that underlie the social organization of society. We argue that the anytime, anyplace connectivity afforded by mobile communication technologies structures society by imposing a network, social and personal logic. We discuss how each logic both reproduces and challenges traditional power structures, at the micro- as well as macro-level. At the micro-level, the network logic refers to mobile communication technologies’ capacity to organize activities in a networked fashion, granting people greater autonomy from time and place. The social logic refers to mobile communication technologies’ capacity for perpetual contact, fostering social connectedness with social relationships. The personal logic refers to mobile communication technologies’ capacity to serve as extensions of the Self, with which people can personalize contents, services, place and time. The flipside of these logics is that, at the micro-level, the responsibility to operate autonomously, to maintain personal social networks, and to manage and act based on personal information shifts to the individual. We also notice shifts in power structures at the macro-level. For instance, to reap the benefits of mobile communication technology individuals engage in free ‘digital labor’ and tolerate new forms of surveillance and control.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariek Vanden Abeele & Ralf De Wolf & Rich Ling, 2018. "Mobile Media and Social Space: How Anytime, Anyplace Connectivity Structures Everyday Life," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(2), pages 5-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:6:y:2018:i:2:p:5-14
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1399
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. José van Dijck & Thomas Poell, 2013. "Understanding Social Media Logic," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(1), pages 2-14.
    2. Gerardine DeSanctis & Marshall Scott Poole, 1994. "Capturing the Complexity in Advanced Technology Use: Adaptive Structuration Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(2), pages 121-147, May.
    3. Belk, Russell W, 1988. "Possessions and the Extended Self," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 139-168, September.
    4. Arun Vishwanath & Hao Chen, 2008. "Personal communication technologies as an extension of the self: A cross‐cultural comparison of people's associations with technology and their symbolic proximity with others," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 59(11), pages 1761-1775, September.
    5. Wanda J. Orlikowski, 1992. "The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of Technology in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 398-427, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Herrero, Juan & Rodríguez, Francisco J. & Urueña, Alberto, 2023. "Use of smartphone apps for mobile communication and social digital pressure: A longitudinal panel study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    2. R. Gordon Rinderknecht & Daniela V. Negraia & Sophie Lohmann & Emilio Zagheni, 2024. "Understanding the growth of solitary leisure in the U.S., 1965 – 2018," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-025, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Berta García-Orosa & Xosé López-García & Jorge Vázquez-Herrero, 2020. "Journalism in Digital Native Media: Beyond Technological Determinism," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 5-15.
    4. Simin Cao & Hui Li, 2023. "A Scoping Review of Digital Well-Being in Early Childhood: Definitions, Measurements, Contributors, and Interventions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.
    5. André Jansson & Johan Lindell, 2018. "Media Studies for a Mediatized World: Rethinking Media and Social Space," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(2), pages 1-4.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emmanuelle Vaast & Geoff Walsham, 2009. "Trans-Situated Learning: Supporting a Network of Practice with an Information Infrastructure," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 547-564, December.
    2. Pamela J. Hinds & Diane E. Bailey, 2003. "Out of Sight, Out of Sync: Understanding Conflict in Distributed Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(6), pages 615-632, December.
    3. Wanda J. Orlikowski & C. Suzanne Iacono, 2001. "Research Commentary: Desperately Seeking the “IT” in IT Research—A Call to Theorizing the IT Artifact," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 121-134, June.
    4. Daniel Beverungen, 2014. "Exploring the Interplay of the Design and Emergence of Business Processes as Organizational Routines," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 6(4), pages 191-202, August.
    5. Michiel Bal & Jos Benders & Lander Vermeerbergen, 2022. "‘Bringing the Covert into the Open’: A Case Study on Technology Appropriation and Continuous Improvement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Fatuma Namisango & Kyeong Kang & Ghassan Beydoun, 2022. "How the Structures Provided by Social Media Enable Collaborative Outcomes: A Study of Service Co-creation in Nonprofits," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 517-535, April.
    7. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2020. "Why distance matters: The relatedness between technology development and its appropriation in smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Khuong, Le-Nguyen & Harindranath, G. & Dyerson, Romano, 2014. "Understanding knowledge management software-organisation misalignments from an institutional perspective: A case study of a global IT-management consultancy firm," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 226-247.
    9. Verena Wolf & Christian Bartelheimer & Daniel Beverungen, 2020. "Workarounds as Generative Mechanisms for Restructuring and Redesigning Organizations - Insights from a Multiple Case Study," Working Papers Dissertations 68, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    10. Steinhilber, Simone & Wells, Peter & Thankappan, Samarthia, 2013. "Socio-technical inertia: Understanding the barriers to electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 531-539.
    11. repec:dau:papers:123456789/2753 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Jennifer A. Howard-Grenville, 2005. "The Persistence of Flexible Organizational Routines: The Role of Agency and Organizational Context," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 618-636, December.
    13. Sébastien Tran, 2010. "Quand les TIC réussissent trop bien dans les organisations : le cas du courrier électronique chez les managers," Post-Print halshs-00638824, HAL.
    14. Roxana Ologeanu-Taddei & Bernard Fallery & Ewan Oiry & Robert Tchobanian, 2014. "Usages des outils collaboratifs : le rôle des formes organisationnelles et des politiques de ressources humaines," Post-Print hal-02049159, HAL.
    15. Valor, Josep & Sieber, Sandra, 2003. "Uses and attitudes of young people toward technology and mobile telephony," IESE Research Papers D/505, IESE Business School.
    16. Orlikowski, Wanda J. & Scott, Susan V., 2008. "The entanglement of technology and work in organizations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33898, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. repec:dau:papers:123456789/445 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Ravi Anand Rao & Rahul De’, 2015. "Technology assimilation through conjunctures – a look at IS use in retail," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 31-50, February.
    19. Franco, L. Alberto & Hämäläinen, Raimo P. & Rouwette, Etiënne A.J.A. & Leppänen, Ilkka, 2021. "Taking stock of behavioural OR: A review of behavioural studies with an intervention focus," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(2), pages 401-418.
    20. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas, 2011. "Agency and structure in management accounting research: Reflections and extensions of Kilfoyle and Richardson," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 581-592.
    21. Monideepa Tarafdar & Cary L Cooper & Jean‐françois Stich, 2018. "The technostress trifecta - techno eustress, techno distress and design: Theoretical directions and an agenda for research," Post-Print hal-01689038, HAL.
    22. Pier Vittorio Mannucci, 2017. "Drawing Snow White and Animating Buzz Lightyear: Technological Toolkit Characteristics and Creativity in Cross-Disciplinary Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 711-728, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:6:y:2018:i:2:p:5-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.