An exploratory comparative analysis of the use of metaphors in writing on the Internet and mobile phones

Abstract

Scant attention has been paid to the use of figures of speech in describing mobile telephony and how it is used. While there are isolated cases, as yet there is no study of metaphor use across a larger corpus of mobile phone research. This paper addresses this gap by developing a preliminary survey, or mapping, of the use of metaphors and other discursive figures and tropes in the available literature on mobile phones. It does this by using metaphors in internet literature as a springboard for comparative analysis, as a comparable communications medium. Both for their general role as communications technologies, and their specific historicized position as "new media", and with their capacities increasingly overlapping, mobile phones and the internet form a useful counterpoint. The paper summarizes the key findings from earlier work mapping and critiquing the use of metaphor in the critical and popular writing on the internet. It then compares and contrasts these internet-based metaphors against those in the mobile literature. The paper concludes with a discussion of the perils and the promise of metaphor use in writing on communications technologies.

User Perceptions and Experiences of an Interactive Voice Response Mobile Phone Survey Pilot in Uganda: Qualitative Study

“…This goes to confirm that in a software-based interface, programming, testing, and verifying appropriateness is important before roll-out of a software mobile health program, in this case the IVR-mobile phone survey platform. Contrary to the Janus-faced theory, which anticipates varied responses for each scenario [ 32 , 36 , 37 ], for the case of errors in the platform development, the resulting unintended errors elicited laborious encounters with the IVR survey for participants. Essentially, irrespective of the participant or their phone type, it appeared that errors in IVR delivery elicited annoyance and a poor experience with the IVR.…”

“…The Janus-faces model proposed by Arnold [ 32 ] is derived from the metaphor of the Roman deity Janus who was cursed and blessed with 2 faces—each facing a different direction (backward and forward at the same time) [ 32 , 36 ]. The significance is that, while mobile phones and other technologies are designed and built to direct a specific purpose, in reality, a growing evidence base reports sociotechnical system of interaction findings that people’s reactions to technology, its use, and adoption can be ironic and paradoxical rather than unified and purposeful [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Understanding Online Safety Through Metaphors: UK Policymakers and Industry Discourses About the Internet

“…Metaphor frames issues by selectively highlighting some of their aspects and concealing others and these frames can influence thinking within political and social institutions (Ryall 2008). Metaphors about technology have the potential to set the direction and the agenda for internet research and policy (Wilken 2013). For this reason, “it is crucial to re-examine our use of particular linguistic constructions in policy making” (Markham 2003, 14).…”

“…Similarly, the metaphoric construction of the internet as a platform, which is common in the discourse of social media companies, emphasizes its empowering, democratizing role and, at the same time, limits these companies’ liability for what is published on their “platforms,” thus averting external regulation (Gillespie 2010). Indeed, as the above authors demonstrate, “in so far as metaphor is intertwined with rhetoric, metaphor is never innocent” (Wilken 2013, 642) because it is part of an attempt to persuade. Internet services that position themselves as platforms are not necessarily successful in avoiding regulation when political pressures prevail; indeed social media platforms are currently being targeted by European regulation.…”

“…Nunes (1995, 317) goes further to suggest that the internet will one day replace real place and become "more real than real," as our experience of life is increasingly mediated through it. Mobile smart technology providing constant online access is already contributing to this (Wilken 2013).…”