Studying mobile phone use in context: cultural, political, and economic dimensions of mobile phone use

Wei, Chunzhu; Kolko, Beth

doi:10.1109/ipcc.2005.1494179

Cited by 35 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…[18] This research demonstrated the value of researching mobile phone adoption within the parameters of a specific cultural context in order to better understand the meaning of mobile technologies to a particular population. That study also demonstrated that the uptake of mobile phones in Uzbekistan both mirrored and diverged from the adoption patterns seen in more technologically replete environments.…”

Section: Cultural Meaning and Uses Of Mobilesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Communication as information-seeking

Kolko

Rose

Johnson

2007

Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on World Wide Web

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In this paper, we describe several findings from a multi-year, multi-method study of how information and communication technologies have been adopted and adapted in Central Asia. We have found that mobile phone usage is outpacing the rate of Internet adoption, that access to the Internet is primarily through public access sites carrying with it issues regarding privacy and surveillance, that people rely on their social networks as information sources, that public institutions tend to be fairly weak as citizen resources, and that information seeking and communication are conflated in people's usage patterns with different technologies. In addition, in the developed world social networking software has grown rapidly and shown itself to have significant potential for mobilizing a population. Based on the collection of findings from Central Asia and observing patterns of technology usage in other parts of the world, our research leads to the conclusion that exploring mobile social software holds significant potential as an ICT that meshes well with preexisting patterns of communication and information seeking and also leverages the most predominant pattern of technology adoption. Many of the findings from this research echo results from studies in other geographic areas, and so we anticipate that much of this research will be relevant to developing regions generally.

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Section: Cultural Meaning and Uses Of Mobilesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Communication as information-seeking

Kolko

Rose

Johnson

2007

Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on World Wide Web

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“…For instance, research carried out on mobile phone technology in an urban slum in India (Rangaswamy & Cutrell, 2012), among Favela population in Brazil (e Silva et al, 2011), in Jamaican communities (Horst & Miller, 2006), Uzbekistan (Wei & Kolko, 2005), and different African countries such as Liberia (Best et al, 2010), Ghana (Sey, 2011;Slater & Kwami, 2005), Burkina Faso (Hahn & Kibora, 2008), South Africa (Donner & Gitau, 2009;Donner et al, 2011) and Malawi (Porter et al, 2012) share these similarities and differing patterns in the manner in which people adopt, interact and incorporate mobile phone technology into their everyday livelihood. To start with, although these studies may vary in contexts and approaches, common to them is the uptake of mobile phone technology as critical element of communication, socialisation and livelihood instrument for coping with the harsh reality of life in developing countries.…”

Section: Creating Friendship and Long Term Relationshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Mobile Internet Use Among Marginalised Young People in Post‐Conflict Sierra Leone

Sam

2015

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

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Although the use of mobile internet is emerging as a new area of exploration for accessing the impact of mobile telephony on people in developing countries, study on how it is adopted and utilised in post-conflict context is rare. This paper draws upon domestication theory and ethnographic approach to explore the adoption, popularity and use of mobile internet by marginalised young people in post-conflict Sierra Leone. It argues that such an inquiry is important for understanding how the behavioural patterns of marginalised young people are shaped by the technology that is available to them, and equally how they shape technology to respond to their needs. While the findings reveal an increasing popularity and usage of mobile internet among marginalised young people to build communication networks, access information and entertainment content; some of the users are confronted with multiple impediments that mitigate their capabilities to access and use mobile internet productively. Notable examples of such barriers include high cost of internet enabled mobile phone, low level ICT and literacy skills and limited knowledge in the productive use of mobile internet. The paper concludes that if the potential of mobile internet is to be exploited for productive livelihood improvement, then, there is a need to respond appropriately to these challenges by providing cheaper and durable internet enabled mobile phones, create awareness and facilitate training to improve on the literacy and ICT skills of the users.

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“…Even nations sharing cultural similarities reported differences in mobile communication practices. At this level of analysis, a range of cultural, political, and economic factors would influence mobile phone use [12]. In a comparison of Western European countries, Fortunati [13] found significant differences in the perceptions of the mobile phone's facilitation of social relationships.…”

Section: International Journal Of Journalism and Mass Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Study of the Relationship Between Mobile Phone Use and Social Capital Among College Students in Shanghai and Taipei

Chen¹,

Lo²,

Wei³

et al. 2014

Int J Journalism Mass Comm

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This study examines the relationship between motivations for mobile phone use and social capital among mobile phone-savvy college students in Shanghai and Taipei. Our findings from the survey of 1,923 reveal some key differences. Specifically, the Shanghai respondents had a higher motivation for using the mobile phone for entertainment/relaxation and surveillance. Regarding the relationship between motivations for mobile phone use and social capital, results of multivariate analyses using the Shanghai sample show that entertainment and relaxation needs significantly predicted life satisfaction, while surveillance needs were significantly associated with leisure activity. In the Taipei sample, entertainment and relaxation needs significantly predicted leisure activity and life satisfaction. Finally the role of societal factors in accounting for these differences is discussed.

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Studying mobile phone use in context: cultural, political, and economic dimensions of mobile phone use

Cited by 35 publications

References 7 publications

Communication as information-seeking

Communication as information-seeking

Exploring Mobile Internet Use Among Marginalised Young People in Post‐Conflict Sierra Leone

A Comparative Study of the Relationship Between Mobile Phone Use and Social Capital Among College Students in Shanghai and Taipei

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