Navigating Tensions Associated with Smartphone Use in Outdoor Recreation Settings

Smartphones are increasingly appearing in outdoor recreation settings despite controversy surrounding their appropriateness. This study examined the perceptions of eight instructors of an outdoor leadership development program regarding appropriate and inappropriate smartphone use, tensions and boundaries that arise during outdoor activities, and how those tensions are navigated. Results indicate that instructors often welcomed smartphones for photography, navigation, and limited communication. In addition to travel and down time, instructors allowed those who participated in program activities to use smartphones during main activities so long as it did not interfere with program goals, distract others, or present safety concerns, even in high-risk and back-country areas. When uses were deemed inappropriate, reminders of established policies, increased communication, and social policing by other group members often resolved concerns.