Interaction rituals and technology: A review essay

Abstract

This article aims to advance research on interaction rituals (IR) and technology. Its starting point is interaction ritual theory, a key micro-sociological approach that postulates IRs as the micro-interactional glue that holds social life together. This approach sees IRs as requiring bodily co-presence among interactants, thus casting doubt over the ritual potential of technology-mediated interaction. In recent years, however, studies have begun problematizing this view through investigations of technology-mediated IRs (TMIR). Counter to IR theory, these studies show that IRs can take place in lieu of bodily copresence and that technologies offer new opportunities for and create distinctively novel forms of rituals and communities. Crucially, however, this emerging literature has an under-theorized understanding of user-technology relationships, which leaves significant gaps in our understanding of IRs and technology. To advance the field, it is suggested that future research should consider: a broader ecology of technologies; heterogeneous users, uses, and circumstances; cultural coding and domestication; and the technologies of face-to-face interaction. This can facilitate a more fundamental reappraisal of the relationship between IRs and technology, which, in turn, can improve our understanding of both TMIR and IR more generally.