PORTABLE COMMUNITIES: THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF ONLINE AND MOBILE CONNECTEDNESS

1. PORTABLE COMMUNITIES: THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF ONLINE AND MOBILE CONNECTEDNESS Mary Chayko, College of Saint Elizabeth RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OVERVIEW INTERNAL DYNAMICS: Inside the Portable Community EXTERNAL DYNAMICS: The Portable Community in the Society What are the social dynamics inherent in online and mobile communities? How does involvement in such groups influence members, and how are our societies, relationships, and selves affected? As wireless technology has become more widely available and affordable, social connectedness has become, literally, untethered….with cell phones, notebook computers, and handheld personal data assistants (PDAs) small and convenient enough to take with us nearly everywhere. Now, technology can be carried with us – even on us – all the time. This means we now have almost unlimited access to dozens, even hundreds, of others, and a variety of groups and communities are almost constantly available to us. Social bonds and communities are now easily made mobile, transported, and accessed from practically anywhere, or, more precisely, they have become portable. This shift in the development and use of these technologies inspired this project, which is, in short, a sociological examination of the portability of social connectedness. The dynamics in and around these portable communities are rich and distinctive and paint a vivid picture of modern life. Cognitive connectedness, emotionality and intimacy, playfulness, social networking, and a variety of practical applications all emerge – often simultaneously! -- when social connections are technologically mediated in this way. (See the box to the left for concepts and sample quotes representing these internal dynamics.) In addition, shifts and changes in our behaviors and norms and, indeed, the entire social landscape, now occur at breakneck speed. We experience the positive and negative effects of constant availability, the harnessing of previously less predictable forms of social interaction, new modes of self-expression and voyeurism, and new social equalities and inequalities. And along the way, we -- our selves, our relationships, our societies and our very humanity -- are changed as well. (See the box to the right for concepts and sample quotes representing these external dynamics.) This project examines all of these internal and external dynamics and is under contract with The State University of New York Press (Albany, NY) for publication; currently, the book is slated to be titled as above. Please contact the author before citing or reprinting. Members are Constantly Available to One Another • Participants feel “plugged-in” and “in touch” in both positive and negative ways “The pro side is I’m available, and that is the down side, also.” • A sense of companionship and belonging is created • Anxiety and a feeling of being overwhelmed can also result • Privacy may be compromised in online and in mobile use Social Interaction is “Harnessed” or Controlled • Time and space are now managed and, to a degree, configured • Other people may be more easily controlled as well “I like to know who is contacting me, and I want to choose when to return the call. It’s all about knowing more about others than they know about me. And choosing when I make contact with them.” • Strategies for controlling social interactions are devised and implemented • Nonetheless, interactions and relationships are often quite authentic People Express, Extend, and Reveal Themselves • People’s needs for self-expression and self-revelation can be met • There is a also strong voyeuristic tendency to watch others as they do so “At times, it becomes an obsession to check out what others are doing.” • Socialization (of the young and the old) occurs • A complex, multi-layered identity or “self” is often the result Equalities and Inequalities are Created • Social power differentials are constructed and reinforced • Crimes, and potentially harmful situations, proliferate • Civil liberties may be endangered • People are learning to mobilize for social change and ensure their rights “I have become unexpectedly galvanized on a lot of issues.” • Cognitive Connectedness • We make the invisible community mentally visualizable or “visible” • The groups can be said to exist in a sociomental space “This is where I speak to friends I have not seen in a while, where we keep each other posted on what’s going on in our lives, or just to talk nonsense; it’s our little gathering place.” • Members feel a sense of the presence and proximity of one another • Cognitive resonance enhances people’s sense of togetherness Emotionality and Intimacy • Anonymity promotes intimacy among connectors “I made some good friends online and sometimes it is easier to tell them your problems.” • Moods are often affected, both positively and negatively • Social support is given and received • Sex and romance, flirting and infidelity, can easily result Fun, Play and “Just Hanging Out” • People relax, hang out, and procrastinate in these spaces • They frequently go online simply to have fun “This is just fun for me and gives me a rush I can’t explain.” • They often go online or use cell phones to alleviate boredom • Such activities, games, and gambling can become compulsions Social Networking • Old friends are easily found, and new friends made, online • Networks and communities are formed, expanded, and strengthened “(My listserv) is an extremely tightly bonded community that simply cannot be found in normal daily life and that would do just about anything for each other -- I sometimes describe my listserv as an electronic equivalent to the French Foreign Legion.” • Cell phones become indispensable to social life and networking • Online/mobile relationships are sometimes moved into literal space Convenience and Practicality • Information is easily and efficiently gathered and shared • Sales and commerce are increasingly transacted • School and work are facilitated, along with other interests/tasks “I’m one of those people who, once a face-to-face discussion is over, thinks of a million things I should have said. When I e-mail someone, I know that the e-mail I send will communicate exactly my intent (maybe not my emotional intent, but at least my factual intent).” METHODOLOGY An e-mail “electronic interview” was designed and administered in what is generally called a “snowball sample,” which generates qualitative research data suitable for identifying and describing specific social forms and for examining certain social phenomena in depth. Six individuals familiar with online and mobile connecting and the formation of such communities agreed to pilot the interviews, and then referred additional subjects to the project. In addition, I elicited subjects in online and mobile communities subjects recommended by subjects, and in face-to-face groups in which the topic of online connecting was germane (following a lecture or talk on my research, for example). The interview began with eight or so open-ended, multi-part questions probing people’s feelings and experiences of connecting and forming communities online. Subjects were encouraged to respond in as much depth as they wish; most wrote at great length. In addition, I followed up with subjects in additional e-mails, requesting further detail and asking additional questions. 87 individuals completed the interview: overall the sample is primarily female (72%), white (69%), and under age 30 (65%), though several subjects did not feel comfortable supplying demographic information, and it should be noted that the qualitative data are neither suitable nor intended to be generalized to a population. Contact the author for more methodological and demographic specifics. BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR SELECTED REFERENCES I received my M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University, M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers University, and B.A. in Communication and Psychology from Seton Hall University. Since 2001 I have been Chairperson of the Sociology Department at the College of Saint Elizabeth (NJ), where I am also Associate Professor of Sociology. I am most interested in the impact of technology on society. My doctoral dissertation Technology and Togetherness: How we Create and Live in a World of Mental Connections examines the cognitive foundation of social connectedness and what I call the “mental infrastructure” of society. I have researched patterns of television use and how they vary by age, the formation of primary groups and primary group ties in mass media use, the ways that virtual reality has influenced our ability to determine what is “really” real, and the intersection of science and culture (among other topics) for articles which have appeared in Sociological Forum, Symbolic Interaction, Communication Research, Humanity and Society, and The International Journal of Web-based Communities, among others. My book Connecting: How We Form Social Bonds and Communities in the Internet Age (2002, State University of New York Press) examines how people use a variety of technologies to form social connections, bonds, and communities without ever having face-to-face contact. In it, I demonstrate that physically separated people often can feel undeniably and genuinely bonded in the course of creating online (and other types of distant) connections and communities. I can be reached via e-mail at mchayko@cse.edu. • Boase, J., Horrigan, J., Wellman, B., and Rainie, L. 2006. “The Strength of Internet Ties.” Pew Internet and American Life Project, www.pewinternet.org. • Castells, M, Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Qiu., J. and Sey, A. 2004. "Social Uses of Wireless Communications: The Mobile Information Society", paper prepared for the • International Workshop on Wireless Communication Policies and Prospects: A Global Perspective, USC, October 8-9, 2004. • DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Neuman, W.R., and Robinson, J.P. 2001. “Social Implications of the Internet.” Annual Review of Sociology. 27: 307-336. • McKenna, K.Y.A., Green, A.S. and Gleason, M. 2002. “Relationship Formation on the Internet:  What’s the Big Attraction?”  Journal of Social Issues. 58:1:9-31. • Rheingold, H. 2002. Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Perseus. • Turkle, S. 1995. Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon and Schuster.