The Mutable Mobile: Social Theory in the Wireless World

Abstract

We cannot say anymore that the immutable is truth, and that the mobile, transitory is appearance. Adorno (1973: 361) This chapter attempts to bring an empirical phenomenon, the mobile, into some kind of theoretical focus: that is to say, to begin to set out some aspects of its possible sociological significance. The technology and the behaviour it facilitates are already ubiquitous, and the wealth of folk-lore that surrounds it indicates that it is certainly a note-worthy social phenomenon. At the same time, its ready-to-hand (or even hands-free) quality, and the very speed ofits development and adoption suggest that there is some value in considering how it can be rendered visible; for some of its qualities might be said to be obscured by its status as both an already routine feature of everyday life, and yet one which continues to be subject to rapid change.The principal aim then is neither to locate the mobile and its use within some grand theoretical narrative of the state of communication and society, nor to survey a range of possibly relevant social theories but, more modestly, to consider some theoretical resources (fr9m within sociology, science and technology studies, philosophy and media studies) for thinking about certain features of a technology which seems manifestly socially significant -it introduces changes in social interaction for example -but, in some respects, evades sociological analysis. It should be noted that the features of interest emerge from an ongoing empirical research project, and that part of my argument will be that theoretical work carried out in isolation from the study of the practicalities of situated mobile use can easily go astray.!The title is an allusion to Latour's (1986) concept of an "immutable mobile" which, playfully reconciling two traditionally opposed elements within philosophical thought, denotes a technology (an inscription or representation such as a map for example) in which the portability of unchangeable (though recombinable) information from one setting to another makes possible action at a distance. The mobile on which we are focusing has something in common with this but, with respect to emerging patterns of use and social behaviour, can also be said to be mutable, transitory and malleable.The chapter is organised as follows. I first consider the issue of the technology's transparency, and the challenge that this poses to analysis. I then look at three

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“…The issue of surveillance has been addressed in discussions between mobilities and ICT [10,11]. Backpackers are watched by their audience through social media or online forums, which brings both positive and negative repercussion for mobile social relations [12].…”

Awareness, Transience and Temporality: Design Opportunities from Rah Island

“…Mobile phones enable people to take part in two places at once, the physical space, where the body is located physically, is sometimes set aside in favor of the conversational space where communication occurs: "People talking on mobile phones seem wholly or partially unaware of their surroundings" [30], in a state of "absent presence" [21]. Due to this, there might be sometimes a 'friction between mobile users and co-present others' [31]. This friction has been widely noted in a number of cross-cultural studies [26,32,33], where authors explain how mobile phones temporarily disrupt public spaces for both users and bystanders.…”

Calling Dick Tracy! or, Cellphone Use, Progress, and a Racial Paradigm

“…Rather than discussing race, researchers are more likely to focus on how cellphone users distinguish themselves as "tribes" who favour, for example, text messaging over talking (see Cooper, 2002;Reid & Reid, 2005;Rheingold, 2003;Taylor & Vincent, 2005;Townsend, 2000) or on cellphone use in a particular national or cultural context (see Harper, Brown, & Green, 2002;Horst & Miller, 2006;Katz, 2008;Katz & Aakhus, 2002), especially Japan (see Ito, Okabe, & Matsuda, 2005;Gye, 2007;Hjorth, 2007;Rivière, 2005). An aura of "techno-orientalism," (Ito, Okabe, & Matsuda, 2005, p. 2) that is, a fear of and fascination with Japanese electronics and management, wafts through some studies by non-Japanese researchers that examine cross-cultural differences between Japanese users and European or North American users.…”

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