Pub Date : 2024-04-17DOI: 10.1177/20501579241246722
Yutian Xiong
This article rethinks digitally mediated family, contending that WeChat facilitates the integration of digitally mediated Chinese family units and family practices into an entire system within traditional patterns. WeChat can serve as the hub for this kind of family mediation, since it is the dominant mega-platform in the smartphone-based Chinese polymedia environment, possessing superior technological convergence and sociocultural affordances. Based on qualitative data from 48 Chinese internal migrants, this article characterizes the entire system of the traditional Chinese family mediated by WeChat. First, the static Chinese family units converged on WeChat inherit spatial and hierarchical structures from the traditional models. Second, individuals’ WeChat usage for dynamic family practices is guided by Chinese family ethics, particularly those related to intergenerational and gendered ethics. Lastly, intimacy practices within Chinese families are digitally mediated to maintain ethically guided features in the Chinese style. This article emphasizes the role of polymedia-mediated ambient co-presence in activating implicit Chinese-style intimacy practices in the digital family spheres. Overall, when Chinese people log in to WeChat, they experience a return to traditional Chinese families, playing roles that contribute to the continuity of the entire traditional Chinese family system. This article suggests that the digitally mediated traditional family system ensures family stability in a highly modernized society where population mobility has become normalized.
{"title":"Returning to and continuing the traditional Chinese family system via WeChat: Digitally mediated families in liquid China","authors":"Yutian Xiong","doi":"10.1177/20501579241246722","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579241246722","url":null,"abstract":"This article rethinks digitally mediated family, contending that WeChat facilitates the integration of digitally mediated Chinese family units and family practices into an entire system within traditional patterns. WeChat can serve as the hub for this kind of family mediation, since it is the dominant mega-platform in the smartphone-based Chinese polymedia environment, possessing superior technological convergence and sociocultural affordances. Based on qualitative data from 48 Chinese internal migrants, this article characterizes the entire system of the traditional Chinese family mediated by WeChat. First, the static Chinese family units converged on WeChat inherit spatial and hierarchical structures from the traditional models. Second, individuals’ WeChat usage for dynamic family practices is guided by Chinese family ethics, particularly those related to intergenerational and gendered ethics. Lastly, intimacy practices within Chinese families are digitally mediated to maintain ethically guided features in the Chinese style. This article emphasizes the role of polymedia-mediated ambient co-presence in activating implicit Chinese-style intimacy practices in the digital family spheres. Overall, when Chinese people log in to WeChat, they experience a return to traditional Chinese families, playing roles that contribute to the continuity of the entire traditional Chinese family system. This article suggests that the digitally mediated traditional family system ensures family stability in a highly modernized society where population mobility has become normalized.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":" 14","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140691820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-11DOI: 10.1177/20501579241232035
Vojtěch Dvořák
Roofless people are among the most vulnerable, marginalized, and silenced societal groups. However, access to social media through mobile devices may provide opportunities for battling their stigmatization, social exclusion, low self-esteem, and self-acceptance. This study aims to explore how people who are experiencing rooflessness use and represent themselves on social media. This qualitative study, using thematic analysis of 16 in-depth interviews, reveals that roofless people may use social media to increase their social capital, advocate for other homeless people, and, most importantly, escape or reconstruct the reality of life on the street through continuous online social interaction and revalidation of oneself.
{"title":"Escaping the rough life of the street: Roofless people and mobile social media","authors":"Vojtěch Dvořák","doi":"10.1177/20501579241232035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579241232035","url":null,"abstract":"Roofless people are among the most vulnerable, marginalized, and silenced societal groups. However, access to social media through mobile devices may provide opportunities for battling their stigmatization, social exclusion, low self-esteem, and self-acceptance. This study aims to explore how people who are experiencing rooflessness use and represent themselves on social media. This qualitative study, using thematic analysis of 16 in-depth interviews, reveals that roofless people may use social media to increase their social capital, advocate for other homeless people, and, most importantly, escape or reconstruct the reality of life on the street through continuous online social interaction and revalidation of oneself.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"41 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139845825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-11DOI: 10.1177/20501579241232035
Vojtěch Dvořák
Roofless people are among the most vulnerable, marginalized, and silenced societal groups. However, access to social media through mobile devices may provide opportunities for battling their stigmatization, social exclusion, low self-esteem, and self-acceptance. This study aims to explore how people who are experiencing rooflessness use and represent themselves on social media. This qualitative study, using thematic analysis of 16 in-depth interviews, reveals that roofless people may use social media to increase their social capital, advocate for other homeless people, and, most importantly, escape or reconstruct the reality of life on the street through continuous online social interaction and revalidation of oneself.
{"title":"Escaping the rough life of the street: Roofless people and mobile social media","authors":"Vojtěch Dvořák","doi":"10.1177/20501579241232035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579241232035","url":null,"abstract":"Roofless people are among the most vulnerable, marginalized, and silenced societal groups. However, access to social media through mobile devices may provide opportunities for battling their stigmatization, social exclusion, low self-esteem, and self-acceptance. This study aims to explore how people who are experiencing rooflessness use and represent themselves on social media. This qualitative study, using thematic analysis of 16 in-depth interviews, reveals that roofless people may use social media to increase their social capital, advocate for other homeless people, and, most importantly, escape or reconstruct the reality of life on the street through continuous online social interaction and revalidation of oneself.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"105 30","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139786170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In 2014, a non-governmental organization called HOGAR SÍ initiated the Hábitat program as a pioneer attempt to implement the Housing First model in Spain. The present study is part of the evaluation of this program, which was carried out from May 2015 to February 2020 using a form of a randomized controlled trial. The treatment group was compared with a control group (people experiencing homelessness but not selected as Hábitat users), keeping track of their evolution over 18 months. Among the many dimensions that were evaluated (coverage of basic needs, life satisfaction, victimization, physical and mental health, etc.), the study analyzed social support and leisure activities involving the use of mobile media and other communication technologies—along similar lines to some previous research. The main results show that participating in the Hábitat program brought a few improvements in digital inclusion. That is the case of the higher use of mobile phones to receive calls, to connect to the Internet, or to have contact with relatives, partners, or friends. These gains seem to be significant for the increase in perception of available social support by Hábitat users, whereas these changes did not occur in the comparison group to the same extent. Additionally, participating in the program enhances satisfaction with leisure time, as well as the frequency of carrying out some activities such as shopping, watching TV, or doing a pastime or hobby. It could be concluded that the Hábitat program achieved significant improvements in areas beyond specific housing services. The positive effects regarding social support and leisure activities seem to be partly channeled through mobile phones and digital applications; nevertheless, we are aware that further research and discussion on the active role of these technologies in helping people experiencing homelessness is still necessary.
{"title":"The effect of “Housing First” on mobile and digital media usage by people experiencing homelessness: A program evaluation based on a randomized controlled trial in Spain","authors":"José-Luis Martínez-Cantos, Juan‐Ángel Martín‐Fernández, Sonia Panadero","doi":"10.1177/20501579231216670","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231216670","url":null,"abstract":"In 2014, a non-governmental organization called HOGAR SÍ initiated the Hábitat program as a pioneer attempt to implement the Housing First model in Spain. The present study is part of the evaluation of this program, which was carried out from May 2015 to February 2020 using a form of a randomized controlled trial. The treatment group was compared with a control group (people experiencing homelessness but not selected as Hábitat users), keeping track of their evolution over 18 months. Among the many dimensions that were evaluated (coverage of basic needs, life satisfaction, victimization, physical and mental health, etc.), the study analyzed social support and leisure activities involving the use of mobile media and other communication technologies—along similar lines to some previous research. The main results show that participating in the Hábitat program brought a few improvements in digital inclusion. That is the case of the higher use of mobile phones to receive calls, to connect to the Internet, or to have contact with relatives, partners, or friends. These gains seem to be significant for the increase in perception of available social support by Hábitat users, whereas these changes did not occur in the comparison group to the same extent. Additionally, participating in the program enhances satisfaction with leisure time, as well as the frequency of carrying out some activities such as shopping, watching TV, or doing a pastime or hobby. It could be concluded that the Hábitat program achieved significant improvements in areas beyond specific housing services. The positive effects regarding social support and leisure activities seem to be partly channeled through mobile phones and digital applications; nevertheless, we are aware that further research and discussion on the active role of these technologies in helping people experiencing homelessness is still necessary.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"2 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139150733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-21DOI: 10.1177/20501579231221069
Daniëlle N. M. Bleize, Aart van Stekelenburg, S. Tamboer
Connecting with others through mobile dating apps has become one of the most popular ways for people to meet. These apps might help people find a suitable partner and, thus, achieve a satisfactory love life. To examine whether mobile dating apps deliver on their potential for positive relationship outcomes, this study investigates if and how the use of these apps is related to satisfaction with one's relationship status. In a survey study, we compared previous and current users of mobile dating apps with people who have never used such apps ( n= 1,054, from the United States or United Kingdom, younger than 35). Results showed that dating app users score lower on satisfaction with their relationship status than non-users. This negative association between dating app use and satisfaction was stronger for women than it was for men. The most crucial factor in relationship status satisfaction, however, is whether people are in a relationship or not. Future research should aim to disentangle the causal order of the association between mobile dating app use and relationship status satisfaction, and investigate if these apps have the potential to improve users’ satisfaction with their relationship status in the long term through facilitating romantic relationships.
{"title":"The association between mobile dating app use and relationship status satisfaction: A survey study","authors":"Daniëlle N. M. Bleize, Aart van Stekelenburg, S. Tamboer","doi":"10.1177/20501579231221069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231221069","url":null,"abstract":"Connecting with others through mobile dating apps has become one of the most popular ways for people to meet. These apps might help people find a suitable partner and, thus, achieve a satisfactory love life. To examine whether mobile dating apps deliver on their potential for positive relationship outcomes, this study investigates if and how the use of these apps is related to satisfaction with one's relationship status. In a survey study, we compared previous and current users of mobile dating apps with people who have never used such apps ( n= 1,054, from the United States or United Kingdom, younger than 35). Results showed that dating app users score lower on satisfaction with their relationship status than non-users. This negative association between dating app use and satisfaction was stronger for women than it was for men. The most crucial factor in relationship status satisfaction, however, is whether people are in a relationship or not. Future research should aim to disentangle the causal order of the association between mobile dating app use and relationship status satisfaction, and investigate if these apps have the potential to improve users’ satisfaction with their relationship status in the long term through facilitating romantic relationships.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"58 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138947992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-18DOI: 10.1177/20501579231219353
J. Verhoef
Despite having been extremely popular in the 1980s and 1990s, the pager has received scant academic attention. Drawing on speed theory, this article provides a discourse analysis of popular representations of the beeper in the Netherlands between 1987 and 1999. It shows that it was first merely “emergency professionals” who were expected to be reachable whenever, wherever. However, the 1990s saw a growing number of occupations adopt the pager, which, additionally, was deployed to speed up tasks. Pagers enabled but also required people to work more efficiently and be more flexible. Articles and advertisements helped naturalize the idea that this was commonsensical. After 1994, an unprecedented pager marketing campaign sold the wider populace on the expectation of continuous reachability, which rapidly became the new norm. Advertisements successfully presented the pager as a communication technology that enabled reachability, yet—unlike its main competitor, the mobile phone—shielded users from constant availability. It thus offered autonomous reachability. All the same, journalists took issue with the reachability boom and flexibilization that pagers helped bring about. They criticized that pagers helped usher in a 24/7 economy, which in turn led to a stress society. Ultimately, then, this article demonstrates that the provenance of our sped-up society—or at least the pervasive idea that we live in one—is to be found before mobile phones and the Internet became ubiquitous.
{"title":"The rise of chronic reachability and the accelerated, flexible society: The social construction of the pager, 1987–1999","authors":"J. Verhoef","doi":"10.1177/20501579231219353","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231219353","url":null,"abstract":"Despite having been extremely popular in the 1980s and 1990s, the pager has received scant academic attention. Drawing on speed theory, this article provides a discourse analysis of popular representations of the beeper in the Netherlands between 1987 and 1999. It shows that it was first merely “emergency professionals” who were expected to be reachable whenever, wherever. However, the 1990s saw a growing number of occupations adopt the pager, which, additionally, was deployed to speed up tasks. Pagers enabled but also required people to work more efficiently and be more flexible. Articles and advertisements helped naturalize the idea that this was commonsensical. After 1994, an unprecedented pager marketing campaign sold the wider populace on the expectation of continuous reachability, which rapidly became the new norm. Advertisements successfully presented the pager as a communication technology that enabled reachability, yet—unlike its main competitor, the mobile phone—shielded users from constant availability. It thus offered autonomous reachability. All the same, journalists took issue with the reachability boom and flexibilization that pagers helped bring about. They criticized that pagers helped usher in a 24/7 economy, which in turn led to a stress society. Ultimately, then, this article demonstrates that the provenance of our sped-up society—or at least the pervasive idea that we live in one—is to be found before mobile phones and the Internet became ubiquitous.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"120 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139174682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-18DOI: 10.1177/20501579231220847
Rich Ling, L. Fortunati
{"title":"The origins of mobile communication research","authors":"Rich Ling, L. Fortunati","doi":"10.1177/20501579231220847","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231220847","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":" 47","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138964476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since Tinder's worldwide popularity, location-based dating apps have become widespread. The existing literature mainly focuses on a single app in European and US contexts and pays little attention to other cultural contexts. This paper addresses this gap by examining dating app choices and motivations of young adults (18–29 years old) in Turkey. It examines the intersectionality of socio-demographic variables in a cultural setting that is quite different not only from European and US contexts but also from other Muslim-majority contexts. Deriving from the nationally representative survey ( n = 1,498), our research finds statistically significant differences in dating app preferences and adults’ motivations regarding location, sexual, gender, and religious identities. This study underlines the crucial role of cultural geography and its social fabric in mobile dating, even within the same national setting .
{"title":"Nationwide research on the uses and motivations of dating apps by young adults in the cultural environment of Turkey","authors":"Aylin Sunam Audry, Ozen Bas, İrem İnceoğlu, Yiğit Bahadır Kaya, Gözde Cöbek, Saygın Vedat Alkurt","doi":"10.1177/20501579231215709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231215709","url":null,"abstract":"Since Tinder's worldwide popularity, location-based dating apps have become widespread. The existing literature mainly focuses on a single app in European and US contexts and pays little attention to other cultural contexts. This paper addresses this gap by examining dating app choices and motivations of young adults (18–29 years old) in Turkey. It examines the intersectionality of socio-demographic variables in a cultural setting that is quite different not only from European and US contexts but also from other Muslim-majority contexts. Deriving from the nationally representative survey ( n = 1,498), our research finds statistically significant differences in dating app preferences and adults’ motivations regarding location, sexual, gender, and religious identities. This study underlines the crucial role of cultural geography and its social fabric in mobile dating, even within the same national setting .","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"91 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138606034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-28DOI: 10.1177/20501579231215678
Anisha Arenz, Anna Schnauber-Stockmann
Phubbing (i.e., snubbing someone in face-to-face interactions by focusing on one's phone instead of those present) has increased enormously in recent years and has become a widespread usage phenomenon that is associated with negative consequences, for instance for relationships and friendships. To better understand the predictors of phubbing behavior, the present paper provides a systematic overview of the growing research field. Based on a meta-analytic review of 79 studies and 526 effect sizes, we identified 10 higher-level predictor categories of phubbing behavior: sociodemographics, personality, technology-related norms & experiences, technical equipment, (smart)phone & Internet use, problematic use, well-being, psychopathology, and resilience as well as risk factors. The results of the three-level meta-analysis models indicated that the strongest predictors were problematic use patterns.
{"title":"Who “phubs”? A systematic meta-analytic review of phubbing predictors","authors":"Anisha Arenz, Anna Schnauber-Stockmann","doi":"10.1177/20501579231215678","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231215678","url":null,"abstract":"Phubbing (i.e., snubbing someone in face-to-face interactions by focusing on one's phone instead of those present) has increased enormously in recent years and has become a widespread usage phenomenon that is associated with negative consequences, for instance for relationships and friendships. To better understand the predictors of phubbing behavior, the present paper provides a systematic overview of the growing research field. Based on a meta-analytic review of 79 studies and 526 effect sizes, we identified 10 higher-level predictor categories of phubbing behavior: sociodemographics, personality, technology-related norms & experiences, technical equipment, (smart)phone & Internet use, problematic use, well-being, psychopathology, and resilience as well as risk factors. The results of the three-level meta-analysis models indicated that the strongest predictors were problematic use patterns.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139220812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-21DOI: 10.1177/20501579231214898
Anna Xymena Tissot, Frank Sowa
This contribution sheds light on how people experiencing homelessness in Germany make sense of an app designed with them in mind and whether using it would be of benefit to them. However, it must be acknowledged that the app has yet to be developed. “Urban figurations of social control,” a term we use to refer to the social conditions of homelessness in Germany, give rise to a significant loss of trust as well as a state of vulnerability, feelings of loneliness, and limited agency for people experiencing homelessness. Drawing on a group discussion with 12 people experiencing homelessness that took place in Germany in 2019, our findings demonstrate that the respondents project particular fears and desires onto the use of the potential app. Whenever they fear surveillance and institutional control, they wish to be invisible to the app. On the other hand, their desire to access resources and information (food, places to sleep, housing) and to meet with peers in order to create meaningful social relationships requires their visibility. Thus, navigating between visibility and invisibility by way of a smartphone involves situationally and strategically constructing a safe environment for their digital participation, helping them to reduce their vulnerability and loneliness and restore their agency. Moreover, in that the app is used as a means of rendering assistance to homeless people (and highlighting the grievances associated with this) that is visible to others, the respondents challenge the current framing of homelessness. The supposed system of help is revealed to be the social problem itself.
{"title":"(In)Visibility and the smartphone: Experiencing homelessness as dictated by urban figurations of social control","authors":"Anna Xymena Tissot, Frank Sowa","doi":"10.1177/20501579231214898","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231214898","url":null,"abstract":"This contribution sheds light on how people experiencing homelessness in Germany make sense of an app designed with them in mind and whether using it would be of benefit to them. However, it must be acknowledged that the app has yet to be developed. “Urban figurations of social control,” a term we use to refer to the social conditions of homelessness in Germany, give rise to a significant loss of trust as well as a state of vulnerability, feelings of loneliness, and limited agency for people experiencing homelessness. Drawing on a group discussion with 12 people experiencing homelessness that took place in Germany in 2019, our findings demonstrate that the respondents project particular fears and desires onto the use of the potential app. Whenever they fear surveillance and institutional control, they wish to be invisible to the app. On the other hand, their desire to access resources and information (food, places to sleep, housing) and to meet with peers in order to create meaningful social relationships requires their visibility. Thus, navigating between visibility and invisibility by way of a smartphone involves situationally and strategically constructing a safe environment for their digital participation, helping them to reduce their vulnerability and loneliness and restore their agency. Moreover, in that the app is used as a means of rendering assistance to homeless people (and highlighting the grievances associated with this) that is visible to others, the respondents challenge the current framing of homelessness. The supposed system of help is revealed to be the social problem itself.","PeriodicalId":350930,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":"49 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139251221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：