Mobile Connections: An Exploration of the Place of Mobile Phones in Friendship Relations

Abstract

This paper explores the place and meaning of mobile phones within friendship relations amongst young Pakistani-British women and men. In particular it focuses on the ways in which friendship relations are transformed and reconfigured through new mobile phone technologies; and how "doing" friendship on the mobile uncovers significant insight into contemporary youth cultures of masculinity and femininity. Although the majority of young people of the "multimedia generation" have fully engaged with the mobile telephony revolution, there is no work which grounds mobile phone use within theoretical perspectives on friendship, in particular in different peer group cultures. We draw upon new empirical data from research in the North East of England to explore young people"s perceptions and uses of mobile phones. The resulting narratives reveal interesting gendered practices of connectivity and sociability amongst the sample group and important dimensions of developing peer group identities, including diverse performance of femininities and masculinities. Building on these ideas, this paper aims to make a theoretical contribution to debates on friendship and mobile phone use. In particular, we argue for the need to ground the empirical study of young people and mobile phones more firmly within social theory: a development that contributes towards a sharpening of theoretical perspectives on mobile technologies.3

Evaluation of problematic use of mobile phones and quality of sleep among high school students

“…In the present study, PUMP scale score was higher among the students having alover (p<0.05). Previous studies have also reported similar results (Green & Singleton, 2009), (Sara Berg, 2003).…”

Do women have longer conversations? Telephone evidence of gendered communication strategies

“…There remains controversy about whether such differences are innate or acquired (Gneezy, Leonard, & List, 2009), though there is by now strong evidence of hormonal factors in some such gender differences (Apicella et al, 2008;Chen, Katusczak, & Ozdenoren, 2009;Dreber et al, 2009). Outside the laboratory there is evidence from surveys that men and women may display differences in the use of communications technologies such as mobile phones (Green & Singleton, 2009;Igarashi, Takai, & Yoshida, 2005;Lemish & Cohen, 2005), as well as other evidence about clustering in social behavior resulting from different behavior patterns (Babcock & Leschever, 2003). However, these surveys mostly rely on self-reported behavior and many fewer studies to date have investigated more objective evidence such as telephone billing records (Smoreda & Licoppe, 2000;Wajman, Bittman, & Brown, 2009).…”

Constructing Facebook: cnstituting social space online

“…Like mobile technologies, social networking sites are often accused of 'displacing' real relationships. More nuanced arguments (Green and Singleton 2009;Larsen et al 2004) acknowledge the potential for temporal flexibility in creating and maintaining relationships as supported by Licoppe's (2004) (Fischer 1992). Externalities include things such as increased demand of telecommunications networks, thus requiring expensive upgrades, the cost of which is frequently passed on to consumers.…”

“…Turkle states that technology is significant because it "proposes itself as the architect of our intimacies" (2011: 1). It also provides space for identity work and a platform through which to shape and communicate the self (Green and Singleton 2009;Gershon 2010;Turkle 2011). For Turkle (1996, cyberspace makes possible the construction of fluid identities that strain the notion of authenticity.…”

“…Technologies create spaces to 'hang out' (Rheingold 2000;boyd 2007;Peel et al 2012) and help facilitate some of the activities that friendship engages in. In fact, mobile phones have become an increasingly central part of managing friendships (Licoppe 2004;Green and Singleton 2009) as they are a central space in which both the planning and debriefing of friendship related activities takes place (Peel et al 2012). Increasing geographical mobility means that people have more opportunities than ever to make a diverse network of friendships with technology giving space for these friendships to be maintained.…”