Smartphones, mobile social space, and new sociality in Korea

Abstract

As mobile phones evolve into smartphones equipped with mobile operating systems, the modes of mobile communication are changing. When smartphones incorporate the Internet into their multimedia functions, they enable people to access various mobile social communication spaces in which existing forms of mobile communication, such as calls and text messages, coexist with forms of Internet communication such as instant messengers, emails, and social networking sites (SNSs) on the move. This study attempts to focus on the newly emerging mobile communication practices that have resulted from smartphones allowing people to access their SNSs anytime and anywhere. To understand how the mobility and immediate accessibility of smartphones have affected the communication practices of SNS, the study will pay particular attention to the use of Twitter via smartphones. This study will explore this through 49 Korean Twitter users' everyday practices of communication and social interaction via their smartphones. Based on qualitative interview data, this study discusses how mobile social media forms a pseudo-aural space for volatile but self-expediential social networks and how it shapes a new sociality. It suggests that this sociality strays from existing social practices and has a new cultural significance.

Reading and company: embodiment and social space in silent reading practices

“…The impact of mobile phones on public spaces, and changing norms and conventions, has been exhaustively researched (Fortunati, ; Ling, ). Currently, smartphones and other portable devices are fully integrated in daily routines and are frequently used in social situations (Lee, ). Our participants recognise disadvantages, such as the small screen, or their potential for distractions, but they also stress the embodied versatility, mobility and convenience afforded by smartphones.…”

Permanently online and permanently connected: Development and validation of the Online Vigilance Scale

“…Many users of mobile online devices are involved in a large amount of continuing flows of communication (such as conversation groups in messenger apps) and connected to various streams of information (such as social media, news websites, or location-based games) (e.g., [ 34 ]). Through instrumental learning, they have established practices of using their mobile device to create a “pseudo-aural space” (p. 275, [ 35 ]) that allows them to access an entire personal universe of relevant people, messages, events, and the associated gratifications. The POPC technology makes rapid and frequent switching of attention between the online world and the offline physical reality easy and convenient.…”

How's Life in the Digital Age? (Summary in Spanish)

“…In 2013, 75% of Facebook users logged in to the site using a mobile device (OECD, 2016a). Smartphones have simplified the way people maintain personal relationships by allowing constant and instant access and are increasingly essential in participating in society (Lee, 2013). The degree to which smartphones are becoming a necessary element of modern life is highlighted by a recent PEW Research Center study, which found that 46% of smartphone owners say they could not live without their phone (Smith et al, 2015).…”