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Staying “connected” has become a societal norm and a personal habit. The goal of this article is to explain how individuals internalize—and activate—social connectedness during daily life. As such, we take a sociocognitive approach to integrate perspectives on implicit societal expectations (connection norms) and automatic individual behavior (connection habits). Based on this framework, we present a model for how nonconscious “triggers” to check a mobile device, or connection cues, affect the flow of communication. The model outlines types of connection cues, factors that moderate sensitivity to connection norms, and activation paths for connection habits. Altogether, connection cues determine when and where individuals “connect” through automatic perception.

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This exploratory study seeks to understand the diffusion of disinformation by examining how social media users respond to fake news and why. Using a mixed-methods approach in an explanatory-sequential design, this study combines results from a national survey involving 2501 respondents with a series of in-depth interviews with 20 participants from the small but economically and technologically advanced nation of Singapore. This study finds that most social media users in Singapore just ignore the fake news posts they come across on social media. They would only offer corrections when the issue is strongly relevant to them and to people with whom they share a strong and close interpersonal relationship.

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This paper examines how mobile messaging apps have changed the way that people microcoordinate. It is based on five focus groups of young adults in Singapore and Taiwan. Originally, microcoordination usually assumed dyadic interaction using either SMS or mobile voice calls. Increasingly, mediated communication uses mobile messaging apps that allow multisided interactions that facilitate task-based chat groups. Groups are easily formed but can be difficult to manage. This paper advances our understanding of microcoordination via the use of messaging apps. Specifically, it provides insights into the dual roles of instrumental and expressive interaction integral to the functioning of these messaging groups, ambient-mediated sociation in the form of readily available communication partners in groups, and the emergence of meme-based coordination.

This paper examines the use of mobile telephones by teens in Norway. The data for this study is based on two sources; first I draw on qualitative interviews with a sample of 12 families with teens in the greater Oslo area. In addition, I use a quantitative study of a national sample of 1000 randomly selected teens. This material was gathered in the summer and fall of 1997. The data shows that it is boys, most often those who work, that own mobile telephones. The qualitative analysis shows that the motifs for owning mobile telephones are accessibility, safety and micro-coordination. In addition, the mobile telephone serves as a symbol of emancipation. Metaphors surrounding the telephone allow for discussions of status construction and identification.

SMS has grown to be a common form of interaction in