Family Communication: Exploring the Dynamics of Listening with Mobile Devices

Influence of professional mobile device usage on Work/Family Border Theory

“…The evolving relationship between humans and mobile media communication tools has resulted in researchers investigating how mobile device usage shapes relationships, household dynamics, household boundaries, and work-life balance (Hall et al, 2014;Miller-Ott & Kelly, 2015;Silverstone, 2006;Stafford & Hillyer, 2012;Storch & Ortiz Juarez-Paz, 2017;Villegas, 2013;Wajcman et al, 2008), to name a few. The unparalleled connectivity is perhaps the open door by which people are forced to blend the boundaries between home and work.…”

“…The “smartphone is conceived as a boundary-spanning medium between present-day mobile media and the still-forming world of dispersed media functionalities” (Miller, 2014, p. 211). Research has explored decisions to adopt the device (Olmstead, 2017; Sarker & Wells, 2003), the everyday incorporation of mobile devices (domestication) (Pierson, 2006; Storch, 2018), individual and familial usage patterns and engagement decisions (Dunn, 2014; Hughes & Hans, 2001; Khan & Markopoulos, 2009; Rendle-Short, 2015; Villegas, 2013), and the influence that decisions made about mobile device communication ultimately has on interpersonal, familial, and organizational communication and relational quality (Hall et al, 2014; Storch & Ortiz Juarez-Paz, 2017; Taylor, 2013; Villegas, 2013). We also know “that the impact of mobile applications on people’s daily routines varies strongly for different types of technologies and services” (de Reuver et al, 2016, p. 361).…”