Presented by Scott Campbell at Design for Mobile 2009, in Lawrence, KS
For more information see http://patterns.design4mobile.com/index.php/Civic_Life_in_%27Mobilized%27_Society:_Considerations_for_Theory%2C_Research%2C_and_Design
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Civic Life in the "Mobilized" US
1. Civic Life in the “Mobilized” US
Scott Campbell
Assistant Professor
Pohs Fellow of Telecommunications
University of Michigan Department
of Communication Studies
3. From “Mass Age” to “Personal
Communication Society”
“Predominant” new medium of an era
• 1930s/40s – radio (mass age)
• 1950/60s – TV (mass age)
• 1990s – PC/Internet (network society)
• Today – mobile (personalization)
4. Personalization of mobile
media
Extension of self
Personalized content
Personalization of public space
Strengthens personal ties
5. But does personalization
foster social privatism?
Telecocooning
Virtual walled communities
Monadic clusters
Detachment
Small,
Mobile
likeminded
communication Dialogic
enclaves
disruption
6. Social capital: Old and new
media
Putnam – privatization of leisure time (TV)
Early Internet studies
• Isolation, alienation, less FtF social engagement
• Community building, informal socializing (social
capital)
Depends on the context of use
• Information exchange
• Sociability
• Recreation
7. Survey of adults in US
Criterion variables
• Civic engagement (community, social cause, neighborhood)
• Political participation (attending events, petitioning, contacting
political official)
Predictor variables
• Mobile phone use (factor analysis): sociability, information,
recreation
Moderating variable (interaction terms): comfort with
mobile telephony
Control variables: age, gender, education, income,
political interest
8. Findings
Use for information exchange fosters
civic & political engagement
Sociability not significant
Recreational use also positively linked
11. Follow-up study: Monadic
clusters?
Detachment
Small,
Mobile
likeminded
communication Dialogic
enclaves
disruption
12. Measures
Criterion variables
– Political participation (attending events, petitioning,
contacting political official)
– Political openness (interest in listening to alternative
viewpoints, enjoy talking politics with others who may not
disagree, enjoy talking politics with others don’t know)
Predictor variables
– Mobile phone use: social & informational (informational will
be focus here)
Moderating variables: social network size &
homogeneity
Control variables: age, gender, education, income,
political interest
13. Findings
Monadic clusters
Size matters: larger networks better for
political life
Network diversity
• Bad for involvement
• Interpersonal level - conflict avoidance
• Intrapersonal level - ambivalence
• But good attitudinally
Bottom line: social context!
15. Considerations for design
“Content is not king”
Increasing role & importance of
information exchange
Comfort with the technology
significantly affects social capital