A Comparison of Smartphone-based Communication between Germans and U.S.-

Americans. A Qualitative Analysis of Usage and Action Patterns

A thesis presented to

the faculty of

the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University

and the Institute for Communication and Media Studies of Leipzig University

In partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degrees

Master of Science in Journalism (Ohio University),

Master of Arts in Global Mass Communication (Leipzig University)

Peggy Strauchmann

May 2018

© 2018 Peggy Strauchmann. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled

A Comparison of Smartphone-based Communication between Germans and U.S.-

Americans. A Qualitative Analysis of Usage and Action Patterns

by

PEGGY STRAUCHMANN

has been approved for

the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism,

the Scripps College of Communication,

and the Institute for Communication and Media Studies by

Bernhard S. Debatin

Professor of Journalism

Scott Titsworth

Dean, Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University

Christian Pieter Hoffmann

Executive Director, Institute for Communication and Media Studies, Leipzig University

ii Abstract

STRAUCHMANN, PEGGY, M.S., Journalism; M.A., Global Mass Communication,

May 2018

3064002

A Comparison of Smartphone-based Communication between Germans and U.S.-

Americans. A Qualitative Analysis of Usage and Action Patterns

Director of Thesis: Bernhard S. Debatin

Committee Members: Hans-Jörg Stiehler, Benjamin Bigl

Smartphones serve to communicate and help to manage diverse daily activities.

This study examined usage and action patterns of Germans and U.S.-Americans to compare their smartphone use and the way they communicate with their devices.

Qualitative interviews with three Germans and three U.S.-Americans were conducted.

These interviews revealed that they have several usage and action patterns in common.

All participants integrated their smartphones into their daily lives to a high degree of dependence. Further, smartphones have influenced the daily communication of all participants. However, the analysis also revealed minor differences in smartphone and

SCS use between the German and U.S.-American participants, but they mainly differ on an individual basis. Thus, the study found that the development of usage and action patterns mostly depend on the individual user. A discussion of limitations and suggestions of future research are further offered.

iii Dedication

To my parents who have always believed in me and supported me.

And to Thomas who is always there for me.

iv Acknowledgments

First of all, I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Bernhard Debatin,

Prof. Dr. Michael Sweeney, Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Stiehler, and Dr. Benjamin Bigl for their major efforts to establish an international double master's degree program in Journalism and Global Mass Communication. I highly appreciate the opportunity to be part of the first cohort of this program. Thank you for all for your support during the turbulent times of the past semesters.

I also thank all participants of this study for taking their time as well as being open and honest in their interviews.

Further, I take this opportunity to appreciate the work of the writing center of the

Ohio University. I, especially, want to thank Marc, Hayley, and Bob for their constructive and helpful advices.

Last but not least, I want to thank my family and friends for all their love and support.

v Table of Contents

Page

Abstract ...... iii Dedication ...... iv Acknowledgments ...... v List of Tables ...... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1 Structure of the Study ...... 4 Chapter 2: Background ...... 5 Explanation of Key Terms ...... 5 Smartphones in daily life...... 5 Communication in the course of technological progress...... 6 Habits and routines in regard to smartphone use...... 8 Theoretical Approaches ...... 11 Alfred Schutz’s theory of social action...... 11 Karl Erik Rosengren’s concept of lifestyles...... 14 Geert Hofstede’s theory of cultural differences...... 15 Chapter 3: Literature Review and Research Questions ...... 17 Literature Review ...... 17 Smartphone in daily life...... 17 Bhattacherjee’s Expectation-Confirmation Model...... 20 Smartphone-based communication...... 21 Constant availability...... 23 Privacy in regard of smartphone use...... 25 Living without a smartphone...... 25 Cultural comparisons in regard to smartphone use...... 25 Summary...... 27 Research Questions ...... 28 Chapter 4: Method ...... 31 Semi-structured Interviews ...... 31 Ethical Considerations ...... 32 Selection of Participants ...... 35 vi Structure of the Interview Guide ...... 38 Transcription ...... 41 Qualitative Data Analysis ...... 41 Chapter 5: Findings and Analysis ...... 44 Description of the Sample ...... 44 German Interviewees: Usage and Action Patterns in the Context of Smartphone Use and Smartphone-based Communication ...... 45 Smartphone in daily life...... 46 Selection and relevance of applications...... 48 Smartphone-based communication...... 48 Reflecting smartphone-based communication...... 52 Constant availability...... 53 Privacy in regard to smartphone use...... 54 Living without a smartphone...... 55 Summary...... 56 U.S.-American Interviewees: Usage and Action Patterns in the Context of Smartphone Use and Smartphone-based Communication ...... 57 Smartphone in daily life...... 57 Selection and relevance of applications...... 61 Smartphone-based communication...... 61 Reflecting smartphone-based communication...... 63 Constant availability...... 64 Privacy in regard to smartphone use...... 65 Living without a smartphone...... 65 Summary...... 66 Similarities and Differences between the Usage and Action Patterns of Germans and U.S.-Americans in the Context of Smartphone Use and Smartphone-based Communication ...... 67 Similarities...... 67 Differences...... 69 Excessive smartphone use and regulatory measures...... 71 Summary...... 73 Limitations of the Study ...... 75 Chapter 6: Conclusion ...... 77 vii Summary of Findings ...... 77 Implications ...... 80 Future Research ...... 83 Reference List ...... 85 Appendix A: Interview Guide English ...... 93 Appendix B: Interview Guide German ...... 96 Appendix C: Informed Consent English ...... 99 Appendix D: Informed Consent German ...... 102 Appendix E: IRB Approval ...... 105 Appendix F: Thematic Matrix ...... 106 Appendix G: Interview Transcript G_1_F ...... 110 Appendix H: Interview Transcript G_2_F ...... 134 Appendix I: Interview Transcript G_3_M ...... 151 Appendix J: Interview Transcript U_1_F ...... 169 Appendix K: Interview Transcript U_2_M ...... 189 Appendix L: Interview Transcript U_3_M ...... 208

viii List of Tables

Page

Table 1 Key Data for Interviews Done within this Study ...... 45

ix Chapter 1: Introduction

Over the last few decades, rapid technological progress has had an immense impact on various areas of humanity. The evolution of the internet generated a digital era that changed routines and daily lives. Human communication is one of the sectors that changed massively due to the development of information systems. The spread of the internet as well as the fast progress of computers, tablets and smartphones, has had a huge impact on communication. The constant accessibility, which accompanies these developments, implies transition in the way people communicate. Ling and Baron (2013) outline that, “the fact that one is perpetually accessible has led to a new mode of interaction among friends” (p. 195). The continuous use of communication applications on the smartphone provoke new usage and action patterns. This thesis investigates these usages and patterns by conducting qualitative interviews and examining aspects such as the daily usage of smartphones, the benefits and problematics aspects of using these devices, and, in detail, smartphones’ communication aspects in regard to the selection and relevance of applications on the smartphone. Moreover, this study compares the usage behavior of Germans and U.S.-Americans, because a closer look at the worldwide advancement of smartphone-based communication shows numerical differences between the countries.

In January 2017, half of the world’s population, approximately 3.773 billion people, used the internet and 4.917 billion owned a mobile phone. Further, 2.549 billion

(34 percent) were active in social media on their smartphones. This number grew by 30 percent within one year from 2016 to 2017 (Kemp, 2017). The numbers of active user

1 accounts reflect this trend. Facebook had 1.872 billion members in January 2017,

Facebook messenger and WhatsApp follow with one billion subscribers each. Instagram listed 500 million and Twitter 317 million active users. Both Snapchat and Skype had

300 million users and Telegram had 100 million members (Kemp, 2017). These enormous figures and their continuous increase show the significance of social networking services and computer-mediated communication. The internet penetration in

Germany, which is 89 percent, and in the US, which is 88 percent, is nearly identical.

Furthermore, 82 percent of both populations have a mobile phone (Kemp, 2017). While figures of smartphone-based internet use differed, U.S.-Americans on average accessed the internet via smartphone 2.02 hours per day, which was almost twice as much as the

German figure, which amounts to 1.16 hours per day (Kemp, 2017). Additionally, around

35 percent of Germans use social media on their smartphone, whereas the number in the

US is 58 percent, which is significantly higher. The time spent on social media also varies widely. U.S.-Americans on average spend 2.06 hours per day on social media, which is almost twice as much as the German figure, which amounts to 1.09 hours per day (Kemp, 2017). Although a great majority of both countries have access to the internet, the numbers of smartphone use and figures of social networking activity show a difference.

These aspects suggested further research needs to be conducted regarding the impact of information systems on human communication, especially in the way people use their smartphones to communicate. This study focuses on the daily use of smartphones and investigates usage and action patterns users have developed and

2 integrated in their daily life. For this research qualitative interviews and a thematic qualitative text analysis to examine these patterns were conducted, too. Furthermore, this thesis offers a comparison between Germans and U.S.-Americans and examines whether the global spread of smartphone use, and thus mobile communication, developed differently in these two countries. Thus, the project explores similarities and differences between Germany and the US and gives insight into cross-cultural differences. The thesis examines communication-related usage and action patterns of the participants by concentrating on communication aspects in regard to the smartphone but also on factors such as daily smartphone usage and its impact on everyday life. In addition, this project focuses on benefits and problematic aspects of using a smartphone as well as the selection and relevance of applications.

This research contains different facets of interest. It addresses the field of digital communication and, in particular, mobile communication studies. Further, cultural differences in the context of communication play a key role. Many research projects from various perspectives have already been done in the fields of smartphone use and mobile communication. There are also diverse studies regarding cultural differences in digital communication, but comparisons of Germany and the US have rarely been conducted.

The project and its findings contribute to the large research field of smartphone use and its communication aspects because the study examines aspects rarely combined, which gave this project relevance and timeliness.

3 Structure of the Study

Whilst the introduction gave an initial insight into the topic of the study and outlined relevance of the work, the second chapter provides background aspects. These aspects encompass explanation of the key terms and a description of relevant theoretical approaches. Subsequently, the third chapter illustrates a literature review and the research questions, which were compiled with the help of the background section. The fourth chapter explains the methodology employed in this study. The fifth chapter presents the findings and the analysis. In this part, the main findings are described and discussed regarding the research questions. Further, this chapter outlines limitations of the study.

Finally, the conclusion provides a summary of the findings, presents implications and offers suggestions for future research.

4 Chapter 2: Background

This chapter focuses on the necessary background knowledge to lay the theoretical foundations for an examination of the topic of this study. This includes explanations of the key terms and a discussion of several theoretical approaches related to the subjects of the study.

Explanation of Key Terms

This research project combines different aspects, including behavioral research, cultural studies, communication research, and research in the fields of smartphones. An explanation of several key terms and their relation to each other follows to clarify the composition of this study.

Smartphones in daily life. Only ten years ago, the first iPhone entered the market. Since this genuine breakthrough of smartphones, these devices spread enormously worldwide. They have become omnipresent and natural companions (Buck,

Germelmann, & Eymann, 2014, p. 6). The reasons for this phenomenon stem from their characteristics. The affordable multifunctional devices with constant internet connectivity in the size of a pocket serve as miniaturized computers. The success lies in the combination of multiple digital devices such as telephone, messenger, camera, GPS, alarm clock, wristwatch, calculator, mp3 player and more (Wang, Xiang, & Fesenmaier,

2016, p. 53). Due to their multi-functionality and portability, smartphones more and more substitute computers and supplement mental functions (Wilmer, Sherman, & Chein,

2017, p. 1). Due to the vast range of mobile applications, the use of smartphones is personalized to the requirements of the individual user (Peil, 2014, p. 210). Smartphones

5 support in all parts of life and help to manage daily tasks easier (Montag & Walla, 2016, p. 3). Nevertheless, excessive use can result in negative effects. Khang, Han and Ki

(2014) outline that, “individuals’ incessant engagement with digital devices and activities in their daily lives has become a pandemic phenomenon that raises a variety of physical, psychological and social concerns, such as insomnia, high anxiety, and disconnection with physical surroundings” (p. 54).

Communication in the course of technological progress. Although the simple mobile phone has evolved to a multifunctional device, smartphone owners still use communication services most often (Karikoski & Soikkeli, 2013, p. 491). This implies that communication plays a central role in smartphone use. Many researchers examined human communication and its characteristics.1 Thus, countless definitions describe this phenomenon. For instance, Rosengren’s (2000) detail study states that communication is,

interaction (i.e., mutual influence), which is both intersubjective (i.e., mutually

conscious), and intentional, purposive, and which is carried out by means of a

system of signs, mostly building on a system of verbal symbols, characterized by

double articulation, and in its turn building on fully developed systems of

phonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. (p. 38)

Further, Rosengren distinguishes between different levels of communication. Besides intrapersonal communication which occurs within human individuals and is intrasubjective (instead of intersubjective), he explains interpersonal communication by complementing his general definition to communication that occurs between human

1 Merten (1977) compiled 160 different definitions of communication (p. 168). 6 individuals (Rosengren, 2000, p. 74). Another level of communication Rosengren (2000) mentions is group communication, which he defines as “(a) communication within social entities having at most a score or so of members; and (b) communication between such entities and their societal surroundings (including, of course, other groups and individuals, as well as organizations and society itself)” (p. 88). Mass communication, as another level of communication, evolved with the printing revolution in the mid-fifteenth century. Due to the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg, the printed book became the first mass medium (Rosengren, 2000, p. 139). Along with technological progress, different kinds of mass media evolved – from radio to cinema to television and nowadays computers. This development massively changed human communication. The progress of information systems over the last decades, in particular, had a huge effect on the way individuals communicate. The use of these systems includes computer-mediated communication (CMC) as a new form of communication. According to Herring, Stein and Virtanen (2013), “the internet enables new kinds of participation, new kinds of fragmentation, and new ways of co-constructing meaning that transcend traditional notions of conversation, narrative, exposition, and so forth” (p. 9). Although CMC lacks the social presence of face-to-face communication, the progression of this form of communication has worked toward overcoming this deficit (Haslett, 2012, p. 45).

Further, communication via smartphone has generated a variety of different communication channels. Karikoski and Soikkeli (2013) summarize these channels under smartphone communication services (SCS) and define this term as:

7 all smartphone communication services, through which interpersonal

communication is possible. The services are further divided into traditional

operator-provided communication services, such as cellular voice calls, SMSs

(short message service) and MMSs (multimedia messaging service), and mobile

internet (MI) communication services, such as e-mail, instant messaging (IM),

voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and social media. (p. 492)

In the course of this study, the definition of SCS is extended and takes all apps that have a communication aspect into account, specifically those that allow users of these apps to participate and engage via messaging other users, reacting to their postings and creating their own content in a cheap, fast and asynchronous way (Scott, Baj-Cheng, Prince,

Nochajski, & Collins, 2017, p. 317). Thus, this extended definition additionally involves apps of social networking services (SNS)2 as well as apps that serve for mobile instant messaging (MIM).3 Further, this work includes not only these obvious communication apps, but keeps an open mind to all kinds of mobile applications to discover and consider hidden communication aspects.

Habits and routines in regard to smartphone use. The discussion of smartphones and their communication elements aforementioned already showed that these devices and their possibilities to communicate have had a huge impact on all parts of users’ lives. Thus,

2 boyd and Ellison (2008) defined SNS as “Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.” (p. 211) 3 Oghuma, Libaque-Saenz, Wong, and Chang (2016) determine MIM as applications that enable the free sharing of messages, videos, pictures, and audios. Because of mobility and ubiquity, MIM users can communicate independent of time and place (p. 34). 8 this study also considers the influence of smartphones on daily routines. In this context, the terms routines and habits play a relevant role. Habits are described as automatic activities that are present in all spheres of life and pertain to daily actions, motivations, judgments, and emotions (Khang et al., 2014, p. 53). They develop through repeated actions whose outcomes are desirable and thus, are likely to reoccur (van Deursen, Bolle, Hegner, &

Kommers, 2015, p. 412). The establishment of a habit depends on frequency and consistency (Khang et al., 2014, p. 53). This automatic behavior is triggered by certain cues and it is carried out unconsciously. Thus, habits help to accomplish a complex task and allow multitasking. Habits facilitate daily life and permeate all parts of life. However, habits can also have negative effects such as dependence and addiction (van Deursen et al.,

2015, p. 412). Habits become routines when they are carried out on a daily basis.

Smartphones have the potential that their use develops into habitual patterns.

They offer interesting experiences, which potentially function as rewards, and thus, can lead to repeated actions (van Deursen et al., 2015, p. 412). Van Deursen et al. (2015) point out that this automatic behavior “can be triggered by external (ringtone) and internal cues (emotional state, urge)” (p. 412). However, users are not fully aware of these habits (Anshari et al., 2016, p. 720).

According to Wang et al. (2016) smartphone habits develop as the user “learns, adapts, and reinvents the use of smartphones within the context of everyday life wherein smartphones and the smartphone applications provide a series of resources and rules” (p.

54). These habits can consist of checking mails, reading news, listening to music, scroll through social networking services or using GPS for navigation. Some tasks that users

9 perform with their smartphone develop into daily routines such as checking notifications by using the smartphone’s watch or alarm clock. Further, people are engrossed in their smartphones while eating, waiting or traveling. They also complement other daily routines by using the smartphone for activities such as grocery shopping (i.e., using it for a shopping list) or watching TV (i.e., looking up an actor’s name) (Antila, Polet, Lämsä,

& Liikka, 2012, p. 399). However, smartphone owners use their devices in various ways and develop diverse, individual usage patterns depending on their personal background

(Wang et al., 2016, p. 57).

Although the multifunctional devices help to accomplish task in everyday life, these daily routines can lead to dependence on the smartphone (Anshari et al., 2016, p.

723). A good example for this is the widespread replacement of analog alarm clocks and wristwatches. Smartphones have become more and more a necessity that is integrated into daily lives. They permeate all parts of life and thus, blur the lines between private, public, and work spheres. Notifications of apps distract from work, but work similarly invades homes via smartphone (Montag et al., 2015, p. 24).

This section defined relevant key terms of this study and their relation to circumscribe the realms of interest and clarify important aspects. The next section deals with theoretical approaches that are relevant for this study to lay a foundation for the research questions and their analyses.

These explanations of the key terms provide an overview on the relevant aspects that play a key role in this thesis. This section serves to outline in which context and relation this study uses the previously clarified key terms.

10 Theoretical Approaches

Alfred Schutz’s theory of social action.4 As outlined before, smartphones have changed the way we communicate, but also imply new habits and routines and thus, have an effect on daily life. In this context, this study focuses on the work of Alfred Schutz, who has analyzed habits and routines in daily life, but also how people deal with new, unknown situations.

People choose their actions between alternatives. Schutz defines these actions as

“human conduct as an ongoing process which is devised by the actor in advance, that is, which is based upon a preconceived project” (Schutz, 1962, p. 67). Further, he distinguishes an act as “the outcome of this ongoing process, that is, the accomplished action.” (Schutz, 1962, p. 67). However, people’s knowledge, resources and time are limited (Schutz, 1962, p. 90). Thus, in daily life, they rely on habits, rules, and principles

(Schutz, 1976a, p. 73). In ordinary situations, people naturally and unquestionably act by using their available knowledge about lifeworld to minimize effort and avoid undesirable consequences (Schutz, 1976b, p. 95). This knowledge is structured by different relevancies and varying interests. Further, it includes a limited number of rough recipes and rules for typical actions in typical recurring situations (Schutz, 1976b, p. 101). Schutz

(1976a) outlines that “these experiences and rules are sufficient to us for mastering life”

(p. 73). Although knowledge applied in daily life is incoherent, partially unclear and to some extent contradictory, it is sufficient to interpret the social world and to obtain

4 The researcher’s original name is Alfred Schütz. This study cites from his Collected Papers I, II, and III which were published under the name Alfred Schutz. 11 adequate results (Schutz, 1976b, p. 95). In their daily life, people do not have capacities to reflect, rather they are satisfied if they realize their purposes. Schutz (1976a) explains that:

Our knowledge in daily life is not without hypotheses, inductions, and

predictions, but they all have the character of the approximate and the typical. The

ideal of everyday knowledge is not certainty, nor even probability in a

mathematical sense, but just likelihood. (p. 73)

Besides a small sector of clear, distinct and consistent knowledge people possess, they often have to rely on mere belief and apply their unquestioned knowledge as long as it is sufficient in their lifeworld (Schutz, 1975, p. 121). However, people do not have recipes for all situations because their knowledge is not innate. Schutz (1976b) explains that “if we encounter in our experience something previously unknown and which therefore stands out of the ordinary order of our knowledge, we begin a process of inquiry” (p.

105). In this case, the knowledge is no longer given as unquestionable and people have to acquire new or transform knowledge. Thus, people face a decision how to act in this unknown situation (Schutz, 1975, p. 124). This decision process starts with phantasying alternative lines of action of the future conduct. Schutz (1962) explains:

In order to project my future action as it will roll on I have to place myself in my

phantasy at a future time when this action will already have been accomplished,

when the resulting act will already have been materialized. (p. 69)

In their imagination, people select parts of habits and impulses and combine them in various ways. They rely on elements of their knowledge that have been typically relevant

12 in similar situations including features related to their personal biography (Schutz, 1962, p. 69). It is important to note, that the projected alternatives are within the reach of a person. Schutz (1962) explains this kind of projecting as “phantasying within a given or better within an imposed frame, imposed by the reality within which the projected action will have to be carried out” (p. 73).

Further, according to Schutz (1962), an action is motivated behavior, whereby he distinguishes between two kinds of motives (p. 69). First, a person undertakes an action motivated by reaching a goal. This so-called in-order-to motive refers to the future, in which the action is imagined to cause the target state. The second motive, which is called because motive, refers to past experiences. Life history and personal circumstances determine the projected alternatives and thus, the chosen action (Schutz, 1962, p. 70).

In the end, a person weighs all positive and negative aspects of the different possibilities and their combination. This calculation results in the decisive volition.

Schutz (1962) states that “It is this consequent final volition which determines the direction of the act and of which it is said that everyone performs what he is willing to perform provided he can perform it” (p. 90). However, this way to decide for an action is laborious and thus, rather remain the exception in uncommon situations. As outlined above, people usually rely on regular action patterns.

The approach of Schutz can be applied to the use of smartphones as well as to communication via these devices in daily life. Nowadays, people routinely carry out many actions with their smartphone, because of its multifunctional character (Antila et al., 2012, p. 402). However, at the beginning, people are faced with an unknown device,

13 for which they have no sufficient knowledge. Thus, they have to undergo the decision- making process according to Schutz (1962). In this course, they acquire adequate action patterns. After some time, they develop daily routines for their regular smartphone use and the way they normally communicate with their phone. However, the decision-making process starts all over again with every new installed app, at least to some degree. In the context of this study, the analysis focuses on daily routines as well as the way of acquiring new action patterns in regard to communicating via smartphones.

Karl Erik Rosengren’s concept of lifestyles. Another important aspect of this study is the comparison of the examined usage and action patterns between German and

U.S.-American users of smartphone communication services. In the field of computer mediated communication, studies often compare diverse aspects of this topic between different cultures. In the context of communication, Rosengren (2000) developed his concept of lifestyles that determines three different patterns. Firstly, the societal structure, which encompasses characteristics such as industrialization, urbanization, religion and politics, determines forms of life. Secondly, the individual position in the social structure which is defined by age, gender, class, and status determines ways of life. Lastly, individual characteristics and choices determine lifestyles (Rosengren, 2000, p. 62). This approach assumes that communication including computer-mediated communication is influenced by different patterns of action. Rosengren (2000) states that forms of life as one of these patterns of action clearly differ between cultures and countries, which leads to the assumption that the way people communicate via applications on smartphones also varies between countries. This study examines whether this is the case for Germany and

14 the US. However, it is important to keep in mind that ways of life and lifestyles also have an impact.

Geert Hofstede’s theory of cultural differences. Furthermore, in context of the comparison between the U.S. and Germany, this study takes Hofstede’s (1983) theory of cultural differences among nations into account. Researchers who focus on comparisons of CMC between Asian nations and the US, often apply Hofstede’s theory of cultural differences among nations to emphasis the contrast of their comparison. The theory determined power distance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity and uncertainty avoidance as four dimensions.

One of these components is the collectivism-individualism dimension. An individualistic culture focuses on putting the individual before the group. In a collectivistic culture, the group is more important than the individual (Hofstede, 1983).

According to this theory, the US has been considered as one of the most individualistic countries and many Asian countries such as China and South Korea with their Confucian background have been classified as collectivistic cultures (Kim, Sohn, & Choi, 2011, p.

366). Further, this dimension has affected communication styles. High-context communication, which is associated with implicit, indirect, and abstract messages, has been predominant in collectivistic cultures. In individualistic cultures, low-context communication, which is more explicit and direct, has been the predominant style (Kim et al., 2011, p. 367).

Although Hofstede developed his theory several decades ago, the approach is applicable for a cultural comparison of communication via smartphones. While Germany

15 has also been considered as individualistic, the distance to the high level of individualism in the US is still significant (Hofstede, 1983, p. 52). Thus, it is interesting to compare communication via smartphone between two countries with different levels of individualism.

These theoretical approaches lay a foundation for this thesis. Schutz’s theory of social action serves as a basis for examining the interviewees’ usage and action patterns in regard to their smartphone use. Rosengren’s concept assumes that the societal structure influences communication and thus leads to cultural differences. The thesis takes account of this approach in comparing the German and U.S.-American interviews. The theory of

Hofstede which also deals with cultural differences contributes to the foundation for the comparison of the German and U.S.-American interviewees.

16 Chapter 3: Literature Review and Research Questions

Literature Review

As outlined above, the spread of smartphones and SCS have affected the way people communicate. Thus, a new research field in communication and media studies opened up. However, the state of research is constantly moving because of the rapid progress of digital devices. Studies that focus on aspects of mobile communication lose their topicality and significance quickly. Nevertheless, many researchers work in this area and deal with various aspects of smartphone use. This literature review selects several studies from this broad research field and focuses on issues such as habitual patterns, communication and cultural differences.

Smartphone in daily life. As mentioned before, smartphones have had a huge impact on people’s daily routines. Thus, several studies deal with this topic and focus on its various aspects. These studies have been mainly conducted using qualitative methods such as interviews or focus groups, but also by logging the smartphone usage of participants.

Several researchers examined purposes of smartphone use and the realms of daily life that these devices penetrated. Many studies found time-killing and boredom as motives for smartphone use, and these motives were often in connection with waiting times and periods of transit (Montag et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2016; Hurlen, 2013).

Further, a number of studies found that communication has still been the primary motivation to use a smartphone (Davis 2012; Wang et al., 2016; Hurlen, 2013).

Information search and acquisition, entertainment and recreation as well as facilitations

17 were additional factors (Wang et al., 2016; Fullwood, Quinn, Kaye, & Redding, 2017).

Wimmer (2014) assumed in his essay on mobile mediatization that smartphones and their communication features permanently reshape different spheres of life such as work, family, and recreation, and diverse everyday practices. Hurlen (2013) conducted focused interviews on smartphone use in daily life and found that the multifunctional device permeated all spheres of life and has become a natural part of life. Her analysis showed that participants interacted routinely with their smartphones and that they integrated their devices into their daily lives (Hurlen, 2013). Döbler (2014) confirmed this perception and outline that smartphones have found their way into daily life through their ability to manage the increased complexity of modern life. Wang et al. (2016), who conducted in- depth interviews among U.S.-Americans, also found that smartphones had become part of the interviewees’ lives. Further, some of their participants stated that “smartphones enabled them to be more productive because they could complete many tasks such as replying to e-mails, planning upcoming trips, and paying bills while they were waiting for buses or in the line for supermarket cashiers” (Wang et al., 2016, p. 58).

In their examinations, many researchers explicitly investigated usage and action patterns in regard to smartphone use. Most of them found that these patterns were diverse and varied by individual (Kaufmann, 2015; Hurlen, 2013). Antila et al. (2012), whose participants used an app to log their usage patterns, confirmed this result and, additionally, found that while smartphone users usually knew their routines for the most part, the prevalence of these routines surprised them. Fullwood et al. (2017) also concluded that their focus group participants use their smartphone in a unique manner

18 and have individual usage patterns. Further, they found that their participants “reflected upon their Smartphone usage as being largely determined by their immediate context or situation” (Fullwood et al., 2017, p. 353). Wang et al. (2016) also concluded that smartphone-related usage patterns varied among their participants and found that these patterns depended on personal backgrounds. Further, they outlined that some interviewees distinguished their patterns between workdays and weekends (Wang et al.,

2016). Nevertheless, they found some similarities of smartphone-related daily routines between their participants and summed them up in an example by depicting that people who work:

usually were woken up by the alarms of smartphones, and opened their eyes by

checking some of these applications including news, social network apps (e.g.,

Facebook), and e-mails. Then, they listened to radios, news, or music with the

smartphones on their ways to workplaces. During the day, they occasionally used

smartphones to check weather, news and stock prices, found restaurant to dine

out, or even looked for information for shopping and collected travel ideas, […].

In the evening, they sometimes use smartphones to surf online while watching

TV. (Wang et al., 2016, p. 56)

However, Anshari et al. (2016) found that smartphones became integrated to such an extent that users depended on them as a necessity in daily life. Further, several studies found that smartphones are necessary for social participation (Döbler, 2014; Buck et al.,

2014; Schmölz, Demattio, & Graudenz, 2014).

19 Studies that dealt with smartphone-related habits and routines also examined the implications on everyday life. As mentioned above, the smartphone permeated nearly all parts of users’ lives. People use these small devices at work or school, during leisure time, while eating and often in the bedroom. Several studies found that the line between on- and offline and the line between free time and job have become blurred (Müller-

Lietzkow, Ganguin, & Hoblitz, 2014; Schmölz et al., 2014; Linke & Schlote, 2014).

Further, many people have used the smartphone’s alarm clock in the morning or they have used the device before they go to bed. Thus, demanding and potentially stressful realms of life such as work or school as well as social interaction have infiltrated the bedroom (Montag & Walla, 2016; Wilmer et al., 2017). Moreover, smartphones also have distracted from work or school due to notifications, with people almost always reporting to have spent more time on their smartphone than initially intended. Using the phone’s watch has been a good example for this (Montag & Walla, 2016).

Bhattacherjee’s Expectation-Confirmation Model. Researchers also often examined reasons for initial and continuing intention to use information systems. Studies that concentrated on the latter often dealt with factors responsible for continued usage of systems such as SNS and mobile applications. In this context, many researchers applied

Bhattacherjee’s (2001) Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM).5 According to

Bhattacherjee (2001), a user’s continuance intention to use IS depends on satisfaction and perceived usefulness. These two factors are determined by confirmation of expectation.

5 Min and Shenghua (2007) explained that “The ECM posits that a user’s intention to continue IS usage is influenced by three variables: the user’s level of satisfaction with this IS; the extent of user’s confirmation of expectations; and post-adoption expectation, represented by perceived usefulness” (p. 3880). 20 Further, perceived usefulness also has an effect on satisfaction. Moreover, some researchers extended the model and found additional factors for continuance intention such as enjoyment, subjective norms, number of peers and technology readiness (Basak

& Calisir, 2015; Mouakket, 2015; Oghuma et al., 2016)

Smartphone-based communication. Several researchers that examined smartphone use concentrated on the communication aspect. As aforementioned, communication features have been the most used smartphone attributes. Participants used them to stay in contact with their families and friends (Hurlen, 2013; Anshari et al.,

2016). They wanted to inform themselves about their acquaintances’ lives, but they also wanted to notify their social environment about their circumstances (Wang et al., 2016).

Scott et al. (2017) examined social media use among 18 to 26 year old U.S.-Americans and found that “frequent posting about one’s own experiences or commenting on friends’ posts, as in the case of the highly engaged users in our study, are meaningful and gratifying forms of social interaction, information exchange, and self-expression” (p.

318).

Hurlen (2013) found that the use of SCS (smartphone communication services) depends on an user’s level of activeness. Scott et al. (2017) confirmed this result in regard to social media use and pointed out that “two individuals with equivalent, near- constant social media access might both log significant time on SNS, but while one might habitually engage, another might lurk” (p. 312).

Davis (2012) conducted in-depth interviews and found that computer-mediated communication promoted participants’ sense of belonging and self-disclosure. Cho

21 (2015) dealt with the use of smartphone apps and social capital. He differentiated between communication and SNS applications. Further, he distinguished between bridging and bonding social capital. His survey, which he conducted in South Korea, revealed that only communication apps and not SNS apps have had a positive effect on both forms of social capital. Further, he confirmed his assumption that social capital reduced social isolation. Additionally, this study found that the results especially applied to younger people, the so-called millennial generation. He explained this finding by saying, “This generation is characterized by their active adoption of new digital media.

Indeed, their lives can hardly be separated from these new media, particularly smart media, in this contemporary era” (Cho, 2015, p. 354).

Further, Karikoski & Soikkeli (2013) examined the use of different SCS in regard to place-related contexts. They found that “although voice calls are used least intensively in the Home context, the length of the voice calls is the longest there. Moreover, the length of the voice calls is the shortest in the Office context” (p. 501). The researchers also pointed out that e-mail and SMS are used mostly in work-related contexts while social media as well as mobile instant messaging occur mainly in leisure time contexts.

Furthermore, they found that the way a user communicates via smartphone depends on the user’s purpose. Lietzkow et al. (2014) mentioned that more and more people use the internet on a mobile device instead of through stationary access. Further, they stated that the primary feature of the mobile phone, making a call, is being quickly replaced by a variety of communication applications. The results of the study of Fullwood et al. (2017) confirmed this finding.

22 Church and de Oliveira (2013), who conducted qualitative and standardized interviews, compared the use of WhatsApp and SMS in Spain. They found that messaging practices differ between those SCSs. Participants perceived WhatsApp as more immediate in comparison to SMS. Church and de Oliveira (2013) outlined that

“WhatsApp messages tend to be more social, informal and conversational in nature, while SMS is seen as more privacy preserving, more formal and generally more reliable.

Our evidence shows that neither technology is a substitute for the other” (p. 361).

Furthermore, they found that social influence was mainly responsible for the significant migration from SMS to WhatsApp.

Constant availability. Davis (2012) found that communication via smartphone maintained a sense of connection regardless of place and time. Wang et al. (2016) confirmed this finding and traced this sense of connection to ubiquitous internet connection. Döbler (2014) came to the same conclusion. Further, he found that the sense of connection arose by only knowing that it is possible to communicate and that constant availability conveyed the feeling of closeness. Further, he mentioned that participants experienced this instant connectivity as greater freedom and increased flexibility. Choi

(2016), who conducted an online survey in South Korea among students, examined enjoyment as key determinant and social presence as well as privacy concerns as consequences of ubiquitous connectivity. The study revealed that smartphone-based SNS enabled users to perceive higher levels of psychological closeness irrespective of time and place because of ubiquitous connectivity. Thus, using SNS enhanced social presence.

At the same time, these mobile technologies increased privacy concerns. Nevertheless,

23 these concerns did not decrease enjoyment in this context. However, along with this ubiquitous connectivity, users expected their acquaintances to be available at any time

(van Deursen et al., 2015).

Moreover, several researchers examined the implications of communication via smartphone on daily life. Many studies found that SCS shaped and transformed daily communication (Wimmer, 2014; Lingenberg, 2014; Wang et al., 2016; Döbler, 2014).

Anshari et al. (2016) stated that communication via SCSs replaced traditional communication to some extent. Wang et al. (2016) and Döbler (2014) found that the participants of their studies perceived that they communicate more because of new possibilities and spaces for daily communication, such as during downtimes. Döbler

(2014) also outlined that smartphones could lead to a higher level of independence to maintain and strengthen relationships. Some studies revealed that interpersonal organization has become more flexible due to mobile communication because of real- time coordination and ad hoc arrangements. (Lietzkow et al., 2014; Döbler, 2014; Linke

& Schlote, 2014). Moreover, Schmölz et al. (2014) determined that the definition of a friend has changed. Due to social networking services, the term now has several meanings and qualities. The adolescents of this study confidently made distinctions between close friends, personal acquaintances, and friends on social networks.

Keppler (2014) found that smartphones influenced face-to-face communication in various ways such as a topic of conversation, but has also acted as a disruptive factor.

The excessive use could become annoying or inappropriate in social contexts. Döbler

(2014) confirmed that the interruption of a face-to-face conversation due to using a

24 smartphone could have negative effects on social relationships. However, Fullwood et al.

(2017) found that their “participants were aware of the social etiquette associated with

Smartphone use and reflected upon particular situations in which they would avoid using their phones” (p. 353).

Privacy in regard of smartphone use. Privacy is another issue that revealed problematic aspects. Schmölz et al. (2014), who conducted a study that mixed qualitative and standardized interviews of people under the age of 25 in Germany, discovered that their participants have a new comprehension of privacy. Because openness is required in social networks to a certain degree, they care less about personal data, but they consider their social reputation to be important. Furthermore, these participants mentioned security holes and bullying as additional problematic aspects.

Living without a smartphone. Several researchers examined the impacts of a life without smartphones. Anshari et al. (2016) found that the majority of their participants thought they could not live without their devices. Some studies determined anxiety, stress, discomfort, or panic attacks as possible implications of going without a smartphone (Davis, 2012; Fullwood et al., 2017; van Deursen et al., 2015; Wilmer et al.,

2017). Some participants said that they would feel lost or out of touch (van Deursen et al., 2015; Fullwood et al., 2017). These findings emphasized the previously mentioned results which revealed that smartphones have been integrated into daily life on an indispensable level.

Cultural comparisons in regard to smartphone use. Another important aspect of this study was the comparison of the usage patterns between German and U.S.-

25 American users of smartphones and SCS. In this context, current research lacks a comparison of these two nations. Studies that compared usage behavior between two countries often concentrate on comparisons of the US with Asian countries, because many researchers in this field come from these regions.

Researchers who focused on comparisons of mobile communication between

Asian nations and the US, often applied Hofstede’s theory of cultural differences among nations to emphasis the contrast of their comparison. Kim et al. (2011) surveyed U.S.-

American and South Korean students about motives for and patterns of using social networking services. They compared these aspects on the basis of Hofstede’s theory.

They found seeking friends, social support, entertainment, information, and convenience to be major motives for using SNS in both countries. However, the motives weighed differently. The U.S.-American students emphasized entertainment and seeking friends while the South Korean students focused on social support and maintaining existing relationships. Further, U.S.-Americans had far more friends in their SNS than the South

Koreans, but the time spent on SNS was similar between both groups.

Jackson and Wang (2013) also applied Hofstede’s theory to compare time spent, importance and motives for use of SNS between Chinese and U.S.-American students.

Their survey revealed that U.S.-Americans spent more time on SNS and their number of friends in SNS is higher. Further, SNS was more important to students from the US than to Chinese students. The researchers traced these findings to the differences between collectivistic and individualistic cultures, as posited by Hofstede (1983).

26 These studies revealed differences in SNS use between collectivistic and individualistic countries. Although Germany has also been considered as individualistic, the distance to the high level of individualism in the US remains significant (Hofstede,

1983, p. 52). Thus, it was interesting to compare people’s use of smartphone-based communication in two countries with different levels of individualism.

Summary. This literature review provided an overview of the existing research on smartphone use and smartphone-based communication. The qualitative and quantitative studies that examined various aspects showed that many researchers from different countries are engaged in this research field. However, this chapter also revealed that the combination of the aspects this study is looking at, specifically the comparison between the U.S. and Germany, has not yet been examined. Thus, this work provides an original contribution to the large research field of smartphone use and its communication aspects.

The overview of the current state of research presents insightful aspects that were examined in regard to smartphone use and smartphone-based communication, but also reveals a lack of focus in examining usage and action patterns of German and U.S.-

American smartphone users as well as in comparing of both nationalities. The identification of these lacks helps to compile the research questions, which is explained in detail in the next section. Furthermore, the literature review served as an initial point and inspiration for the interview guide. The discussed studies serve as a basis for the development of the interview guide by pointing out important aspects that should be considered. On the basis of the literature review, this researcher takes such factors into

27 account as smartphone use in daily life, the wide range of the communication aspect, constant availability and privacy. The development of the interview guide is discussed in detail in the method section.

Research Questions

This study focuses on smartphone-based communication and its impacts on daily life. In sum, the literature review demonstrates that many researchers from diverse countries have examined various aspects of smartphone use and smartphone-based communication. Their findings reveal that smartphones have an impact on everyday life and that daily communication has been shaped by SCS. However, these studies rarely concentrate in detail on usage and action patterns of using a smartphone to communicate.

Several German studies are discussed in the literature review; each takes interesting aspects into account. Keppler (2014) dealt with the presence of smartphones in face-to-face-communication and how they impact these conversations. Montag et al.

(2015) examined whether the use of wristwatches and analog alarm clocks reduces smartphone use. Montag and Walla (2015) recorded how much the time their participants spend on the diverse apps on their smartphone. Buck et al. (2014) conducted interviews to find reasons for smartphone use. Döbler (2014) examined the influence of mobile communication on social relationships. Although all of these studies dealt with interesting aspects in the research fields of smartphone use and smartphone-based communication, they do not explicitly focus on usage and action patterns in smartphone- based communication of German smartphone users. Further, the most recent studies are

28 from 2015 which can be seen as outdated in regard to the rapid progress of smartphones.

These points lead to the first research question:

RQ1: Which usage and action patterns are identifiable in smartphone-based

communication of Germans?

The studies on U.S.-American smartphone users discussed in the literature review also focused on relevant topics. Wang et al. (2016) conducted in-depth interviews to explore smartphone use and focused on the aspect of travel. Wilmer et al. (2017) gathered findings of diverse studies that dealt with links between smartphone use and cognitive functioning. Khang et al. (2014) examined social cognitive determinants that influence social media use. Scott et al. (2017) recorded the time emerging adults spend on social media. These studies revealed interesting insights into smartphone use and smartphone- based communication of U.S.-Americans but they lack a focus on usage and action patterns in smartphone-based communication of U.S.-American smartphone users. This discussion leads to the second research question:

RQ2: Which usage and action patterns are identifiable in smartphone-based

communication of U.S.-Americans?

The first and the second research questions focus separately on usage and action patterns in smartphone-based communication of Germans and U.S.-Americans. The third research question intends to compare the findings of these two nations because the literature review demonstrates a lack of this comparison:

RQ3: Which similarities and differences appear between the usage and action patterns of

Germans and U.S.-Americans in the context of smartphone-based communication?

29 Answers to the first and the second research question require the collection of meaningful and descriptive data. The researcher compiles this data by conducting semi- structured interviews with Germans and U.S.-Americans. Afterwards the researcher analyzes the material by applying a thematic qualitative text analysis. The third research question requires a critical-analytical approach. Therefore, the researcher compares and contrasts the data and findings of RQ1 and RQ2. The following chapter explains the methodological issues in detail.

30 Chapter 4: Method

This study deals with people’s usage of their smartphone in respect to their communication behavior. The relatively new phenomenon has infiltrated people’s everyday lives to an enormous extent and in various ways. Many different possibilities to communicate with smartphones imply diverse usage patterns. Thus, the focus is on subjects’ point of views. To discover these aspects, it is necessary to understand this phenomenon from people’s own perspectives. Moreover, this examination requires openness and the tabling of presuppositions (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p. 31).

Semi-structured Interviews

An appropriate way to meet the aforementioned requirements is a qualitative approach. Thus, the study employes qualitative interviews as its main instrument for data gathering. This method enables participants to describe their experience of this phenomenon within their lived worlds (Kvale, 2007, p. 8). Qualitative interviews elicit subjective perspectives and experiences of the interviewees. Further, unprejudiced descriptions and trivial details in respect to their context evoke an insight into differences and varieties of the phenomenon (Bryman, 2012, p. 401). In contrast, a quantitative approach would limit insights and prevent deeper investigation because of hypotheses constructed by conductors of a study and predefined answer options. Standardized interviews preset a narrow margin focused on the research question (Bryman, 2012, p.

470). Holstein and Gubrium (2016) describe the qualitative process as follows:

“Questions were designed to elicit respondents’ answers in an anticipatable form. The respondent’s job was to provide information pertinent to the research object” (p. 68).

31 However, the wide range of aspects the topic involves requires a basic frame that guided the course of the interview to ensure obtaining relevant aspects that are essential for the research interest. Thus, this study selects a semi-structured guideline interview, in particular, as its qualitative research instrument. As a definition for these semi-structured interviews Bryman (2012) explain:

The researcher has a list of questions or fairly specific topics to be covered, often

referred to as an interview guide, but the interviewee has a great deal of leeway in

how to reply. Questions may not follow on exactly as they are outlined on the

schedule. Questions that are not included in the guide may be asked as the

interviewer picks up on things said by interviewees. But, by and large, all the

questions will be asked and a similar wording will be used from interviewee to

interviewee. (p. 471)

This form of a qualitative interview enables the interviewer to adapt and adjust to the prepared questions, change their order, ask additional questions, and add significant aspects (Bryman, 2012, p. 471). The open-ended questions leave room to cover important issues in detail and enhance comparability (Mayring, 2016, p. 68), but semi-structured interviews also reduce the openness, and they are not completely free from presuppositions in comparison to unstructured interviews (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p.

29).

Ethical Considerations

Before conducting interviews, the researcher has to consider ethical and moral concerns. The researcher should be aware of the dilemma between the wish to obtain

32 significant results and the risk to break ethical principles (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p.

84). According to Brinkmann and Kvale (2015), “Ethical issues go through the entire process of an interview investigation, and potential ethical concerns should be taken into consideration from the very start of an investigation and to the final report” (p. 84).

It is important that the researcher pays attention to issues such as informed consent, confidentiality and consequences. The informed consent apprises the participants of the main topic of the study and clarifies benefits, risk sand harms. In this study, the form states that the participants do not anticipate risk or harm, but also no personal benefits. Brinkmann and Kvale (2015) explain that, “Informed consent further involves obtaining the voluntary participation of the people involved and informing them of their right to withdraw from the study at any time” (p. 93). Moreover, the interviewer informs the participants that the interview will be recorded but assures anonymity and data confidentiality (Rapley, 2007, p. 18). Because of these criteria, a signature is not required in this case. Some days before the interview, the interviewee receives this form via e-mail and was requested to read it beforehand. However, the researcher takes into account that the assurance of confidentiality could reduce the intersubjective control because the lack of the necessary specific information (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p. 95).

Furthermore, it is important to consider that the researcher not only constructs knowledge, but h/she is also a part and parcel of this process (Bryman, 2012, p. 394).

Thus, the researcher should reflect on biases and values as well as methods and analytical decisions. Another ethical issue a researcher should take into account is that an interview is a social situation because interviewer and interviewee interact with each other. This

33 inevitably leads to the fact that the personality of the interviewer and the interviewer’s style of questions will influence the results (Holstein & Gubrium, 2016, p. 77). Social similarities and differences between interviewer and interviewee can also have an effect on the interviews (Holstein & Gubrium, 2016, p. 56). Moreover, the interviewer should be aware of potentially being occupied by presuppositions (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p.

34). In daily life, everyone more or less pigeonholes people. The interviewer should overcome these preformulated categories and interpretation schemes. Instead the interviewer should be curious and sensitive to obtain detailed descriptions from the interviewee. This enhances the openness to new and unforeseen phenomena (Brinkmann

& Kvale, 2015, p. 33). The researcher should also consider the level of empathy in the in- depth conversations. Empathy can lead to a lack of professional distance. Also, empathy shown in intimate interviews can circumvent ethical boundaries, which can result in answers that disclosure information a participant later regrets (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p. 96).

Another factor to consider is that the interviews are always fragments of the whole story. Moreover, the analysis reinforces this process. Holstein & Gubrium (2016) outline that “Numerous levels of representation occur from the moment of ‘primary experience’ to the reading of researcher’s textual presentation of findings, including attending to the experience, telling it to the researcher, transcribing and analyzing what is told, and the reading” (p. 54).

In the course of these ethical considerations, the researcher is required to submit the interview project, including a project description, recruitment of subjects, the

34 informed consent form, and the interview guide, to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) before the implementation of the study.6 The members of this board inspect the material in the context of ethical issues and approve the project. This research followed the standards of ethical research established by the Institutional Review Board of Ohio

University. 7

Selection of Participants

The selection of participants is crucial for the study, because their answers contain the relevant information to analyze usage and action patterns (Rapley, 2007, p. 17). This study deals with smartphone use and its communication aspects. Since not everyone uses a smartphone to communicate, especially on a daily basis, a strategic way to sample participants is needed. This purposive sampling is based on the research questions and selected interviewees because of relevant criteria in this context. Bryman (2012) explain that, “the researcher establishes criteria concerning the kinds of cases needed to address the research questions, identifies appropriate cases, and then samples from those cases that have been identified” (p. 422).

In this case, the sample is based on three criteria. First, this study requires respondents, who use smartphones and SCS to communicate on a high level. This means that the smartphone plays an important role in a person’s life and is a fixed component in his or her everyday life. In other words, daily routines are influenced by smartphone use.

Furthermore, this criterion requires a participant who uses several social networks on an

6 See Appendix C for the English informed consent form. See Appendix D for the German informed consent form. 7 The IRB approval was issued at September 1st, 2017 under the project number 17-E-222 (see appendix E). 35 active level. A second criterion restricts the selection to people in their twenties, because they are statistically the group that uses smartphones and social networks the most. In

2017, 92 percent of U.S.-Americans between 18 and 29 owned a smartphone, followed by age group 30 to 49 with 88 percent (Pew Research Center, 2017). In 2016, 95 percent of German population between 14 and 29 were users of mobile internet, followed by age group 30 to 49 with 86 percent (Koch & Frees, 2016, p. 423). These figures indicate that more than 95 percent of the German population between 14 and 29 own a smartphone.

Moreover, a worldwide statistic from 2015 revealed that 89 percent of people between 18 and 29 were active social media users, followed by age 30 to 49 with 82 percent

(Parcells, 2015). These two criteria that focus on smartphone and SCS use increase the chance to find rich descriptions of the phenomenon. Lastly, the study compares Germans and U.S.-Americans, which form the third criterion. This criterion applies to citizens of these countries speaking English or German as their native language, respectively. No one is excluded because of race, gender or occupation. People to whom all three criteria apply are deemed appropriate for the interview. However, the researcher strives to ensure diversity in gender and occupation. As seen in the literature review, often only students participated in some of the existing studies.

The researcher interviewed a total of six people. Three of them are Germans and the other three are U.S.-Americans. The number of participants resulted from the presumed quantity necessary to obtain significant results. These few interviews offer the advantage that the single interviews can be interpreted in great detail, and it was possible to find relevant results from the analysis of this small number of participants. Also, time

36 available to conduct and analyze the study appropriately limited the number of participants (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p. 140). However, the interviewer took into account that the two cultures implied differing norms of interaction. It was important to consider aspects such as initiative, directness and non-verbal expression (Brinkmann &

Kvale, 2015, p. 168).

All interviews were conducted via video conference. The main reasons for this decision were the distance to the U.S.-Americans and maintaining a high level of comparability. Although the study did not conduct unmediated face-to-face interviews, the video conferences still generated a sense of presence and immediacy. The interviewer could perceive facial expressions and gestures. Nevertheless, it was important to consider that the screen used for the video conference only shows a part of both parties. Moreover, the researcher had to deal with minor technical problems. Occasional poor internet connections or even interruptions disrupted the flow of the interview and disturbed the recordings a few times. However, scheduling was easier because both parties only had to agree on a time and not on a place.

The researcher recruited appropriate interviewees by asking acquaintances to connect the researcher with people who were interested in participating and who met the requirements. It was important that the interviewer had no previous relationship with any of the potential participants. The interested people received a request that only named communication via smartphone as the topic of the study. They did not receive detailed information about the content of the interview to ensure intuitive answers. In case they agreed to participate, they scheduled an appointment with the interviewer. In accordance

37 with the IRB approval, they were provided with appropriate information to make an informed decision about their participation.

Structure of the Interview Guide

The construction of the interview guide is crucial because this basic frame depicts an instruction to obtain the relevant information. The guide consists of several subject areas and is organized from general to specific (Przyborski & Wohlrab-Sahr, 2014, p.

129). All questions are chosen with the research questions in mind. The structure of the interview guide is explained in detail further down and can be found in the appendix.8

In preparing the interview guide, several kinds of questions that had different purposes were considered. The beginning of one section started with an introductory question that provoked the interviewees to describe the topic in detail. All interviewees received these key questions, which focused on the relevant aspects. Further, the interview guide suggested questions that could expand on a topic, such as questions that asked for examples or specific information (Kvale, 2007, p. 60). These additional questions were asked situationally depending on the participants’ answers to the key questions. Besides these pre-formulated questions, it was important that the interviewer interacted individually and spontaneously with every single participant. The interviewer asked additional questions of understanding or showed interest in any relevant aspects interviewees mentioned, but were not foreseen in the construction of the interview

(Przyborski & Wohlrab-Sahr, 2014, p. 130). Further, direct and indirect questions as well as rephrasing answers into questions were important to discover attitudes and to interpret

8 See Appendix A for the English interview guide and Appendix B for the German Interview Guide. 38 answers. Also agreeing gestures and silence were tools that enabled detailed descriptions as well as associations and reflection (Kvale, 2007, p. 60). However, the researcher was aware of using simple language to encourage the participants to describe their thoughts in detail. Brinkmann and Kvale (2012) explain that, “The questions should be easy to understand, short, and devoid of academic language” (p. 157).

The interview started with an introduction phase. First, the interviewer welcomed the interviewees. After a short chat used to generate a comfortable atmosphere, the interviewer gave an overview of the research project and mentioned some notes on the participation in the interview.

The second part dealt with topics that were relevant for the research project, which were deduced from the literature review (Rapley, 2007, p. 17). The first aspect focused on the smartphone in everyday life. The interviewer asked the participants to describe the use of the smartphone on an ordinary weekday. The smartphone was the central element in this study. Hence, this request served to delve into the subject matter, and these initial descriptions already gave detailed insights. Nevertheless, questions about differences between work and free time as well as asking for routines and habits served to expand on this topic. Direct questions on feelings about constant availability and privacy revealed further information.

After the participants answered sufficiently in the first part, the researcher focused on the second subject area which dealt with benefits and problematic aspects of using a smartphone. While describing their smartphone use in daily life, the interviewees often

39 already mentioned beneficial or negative aspects. Thus, the researcher often picked up these earlier mentioned points to start this second section.

In the third section, the interviewer asked to have a look at the participants’ smartphones and wanted the interviewees to describe their apps and how they use them.

Further, the participants were asked to rank the apps in their subjective order of priority.

To expand on this topic, the interviewer could ask for typical situations in which participants use a favored app or how they decide for an app.

The next section comprised the communication aspect of smartphone use. The interview guide distinguished between maintaining relationships and establishing new contacts. Subsequently, obtaining information, observing other users and self-expression were topics of interest in this section. Further, the interview partners discussed topics such as the community aspect of social networks and points on authenticity, openness and expression of emotions as well as self-reflection of using a smartphone served to reveal detailed information on this topic. Lastly, the interviewer asked whether the participants could imagine to give away their smartphone. This last question helped to reflect the responses given before.

In the end, the participants had room for questions, notes, and complements, which increased the openness and provided the participants with the feeling they had mentioned all important aspects. Afterwards, socio-demographic factors like age, gender and occupation were surveyed to enhance the contextualization of the participants’ answers (Bryman, 2012, p. 488). Finally, the interview ended with a thank-you for the conversation and a goodbye.

40 A pretest was conducted to inspect comprehensibility and to train the interviewer.

Based on this, the researcher corrected some minor discrepancies, such as deleting some redundant questions and rephrasing some wordings.

Transcription

After the interviewing, the recorded interviews were transcribed in common written English or German, because the analysis of the material was based on a thematic and content-related level. The transcription corrected grammar, syntax and phrasing errors. Further, fillers such as ‘mhh’ as well as nonverbal expressions such as laughter, stutter or cough were excluded (Mayring, 2016, S. 91). To maintain confidentiality, the transcripts were anonymized by coding personal characteristics such as names and places

(Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p. 206).

Qualitative Data Analysis

The transcribed texts contain the relevant information. Thus, the researcher analyzes the interviews based on the research questions by applying a thematic qualitative text analysis according to Kuckartz (2016). Thematic qualitative text analyses compile summaries and reduce complexity. This case and theme-oriented form of analysis serves to identify themes and subthemes as well as mutual relations between these themes (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 123).

In this case, the researcher started to read the interviews thoroughly with the research questions in mind to generate an overall understanding of the text (Kuckartz,

2016, p. 56). During the whole process of reading, the researcher used memos to note thoughts, ideas, and presumptions (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 58).

41 During this thematic qualitative text analysis, the researcher constructed two kinds of categories. At first, deductive categories arose from the interview guide. The first coding process focused on these main thematic categories (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 64).

After reading one interview, the researcher wrote a case summary which was structured by the main thematic categories. This systematic summary of one case focused on usage and action patterns of smartphone and SCS use. At this stage, the researcher avoided interpretations (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 58).

Second, these main codes were developed and refined by reading the material again. Due to this process, inductive codes were actively created by working on the material (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 64). The construction of these categories required sensibility and creativity (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 73). Using deductive and inductive categories ensured capturing every important aspect in regard to the research questions (Brinkmann &

Kvale, 2015, p. 229). The processes of reading and coding repeated several times in the respect of comparing and contrasting Germans’ and U.S.-Americans’ usage and action patterns of using their smartphones to communicate. Subsequently, the researcher coded the whole material again on the basis of all main and sub codes (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 100).

After the reading process, the researcher wrote thematic summaries of all main and subthemes, which included initial interpretations of single interviews. Also, the researcher generated a thematic matrix, consisting of themes in the columns and the interviews in the rows (Kuckartz, 2016, p. 112).9 On the basis of this matrix, an analysis of main and sub categories and their relations to each other followed (Kuckartz, 2016, p.

9 See appendix F 42 118). Subsequently, the analysis examined correlations and common characteristics as well as differences in the material (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015, p. 235). In the end, the researcher summarized her findings with regard to the research questions and developed thoughts about limitations and suggestions for future research.

43 Chapter 5: Findings and Analysis

This chapter presents the findings of the qualitative text analysis. First, a description of the sample follows. Second, in regards to the first and second research questions, this chapter contains separate analyses of the Germans’ and the U.S.-

Americans’ interviews. Subsequently, similarities and differences between both nationalities were compiled with regard to the third research question. It is important to note, that although the research questions focused on smartphone-based communication in the participants’ daily lives, the researcher also considered their general smartphone use to some extent, because both aspects mutually influence each other.

Description of the Sample

The researcher interviewed six people. Three Germans and three U.S.-Americans between 21 and 28 years old agreed to participate in the study.10 The German interviewees are two females (code names: G_1_F, G_2_F) and one male (code name:

G_3_M).11 The U.S.-American participants are one female (code name: U_1_F) and two males (code names: U_2_M, U_3_M).12 G_1_F is a student with a part time job, on which she spends more time than on studying. G_2_F is employed as a social media manager. G_3_M is a freelancer. U_1_F is a student with a part time job. U_2_M is employed as a social media manager. U_3_M is a student.

The interviews took 61 minutes on average and ranged from 45 minutes to 93 minutes. They were conducted via video conference platforms between September 6th

10 See Appendices F to K for all transcribed interviews. 11 G refers to Germany, F refers to female, M refers to male. 12 U refers to the USA. 44 and October 1st, 2017. The researcher took the preferences of the interviewees into account and used Skype, FaceTime, or Facebook Messenger. The interviews were recorded and afterwards stored password-protected. However, during some interviews, the internet connection was occasionally poor, which led to some difficulties in the transcription of the interviews, but no significant data were lost.

Table 1

Key Data for Interviews Done within this Study

Code name Country Date Duration Channel Occupation

PRE U US 09/04/17 00:57:00 FB Messenger Student

PRE G GER 09/04/17 01:04:28 FB Messenger Student

G_1_F GER 09/06/17 01:06:19 Skype Student

G_2_F GER 09/13/17 00:48:47 Skype Employee

G_3_M GER 09/13/17 00:45:07 FaceTime Freelancer

U_1_F US 09/08/17 01:06:00 Skype Student

U_2_M US 09/18/17 01:33:00 FaceTime Student

U_3_M US 10/02/17 00:45:00 FB Messenger Employee

German Interviewees: Usage and Action Patterns in the Context of Smartphone Use and Smartphone-based Communication

G_1_F is a 28-year-old female undergraduate student who also works part time at a local newspaper. She lives in an east German mid-size city with a population of ca. 45 580.000. G_2_F is a 26-year-old female employee. She works as a social media manager in the toy sector. She lives in an east German mid-size city with a population of ca.

580.000. G_3_M is a 26-year-old male freelancer who works in the gaming industry. He lives in an east German mid-size city with a population of ca. 580.000.

Smartphone in daily life. Firstly, the interviews revealed that all three participants use their smartphone throughout the day. They use diverse features of their phones and mentioned the benefit of this multi-functionality. All three participants also pointed out that they take advantage of the immediacy of their device and appreciated its fast way to access diverse information. G_2_F said, “I always have it on me.”13 Further, they all emphasized the importance of the communication aspect and helpful tools such as the calendar and weather app to manage daily activities. G_2_F and G_3_M also mentioned music and online shopping as important factors. This indicated that the smartphone plays an important role in their daily life and facilitates many activities.

Besides this general assessment, it is noteworthy that all three interviewees use the alarm clock of their smartphone and thus, their first action after waking up in the morning is looking at their smartphone. All three also admitted that they simultaneously check the displayed notifications and their messages, but only G_2_F said that she replies immediately from her bed. G_1_F stated that she only replies immediately in urgent cases, but normally she takes care of it later. G_3_M said, “I am really the kind of person who just quickly checks new messages when I am still in bed. […] I don’t reply or do

13 Original quote: “Ich habe es ja immer bei mir.” 46 anything until I am on the streetcar or on my way to work.”14 Further, all German participants reported that they use their smartphone while they are on their way to work or university. They all routinely use their phone on public transport and at the latest they reply to their messages during this commute. Further, G_1_F and G_3_M said that they take advantage of this time to check the latest news by scrolling through Twitter. Twitter is in general the first source of news for both and they emphasized the importance of their smartphone in staying informed about news. G_2_F did not talk about using her smartphone as primary news source.

However, they differed in their statements in regard to work or university in comparison with free time. G_1_F said that she does not use her smartphone at work, but during class or working at home the smartphone is present. However, in these cases, she only reads messages and texts back after some time. In contrast, in her free time she replies much faster. In general, she could not draw a clear line to her free time on the grounds that she has no nine-to-five-job. G_3_M also mentioned that he only uses his smartphone to reply to messages at work. However, later he stated that he also takes pictures at work to post them in his Instagram stories. In general, he clearly distinguished between week days and weekends. On the weekend, his smartphone use is significantly higher and he is more active on social networks. He said, “I am also such an Instagram and social media guy, who is only active on the weekend. During the week I rather swim

14 Original quote: “Ich bin wirklich nur der Typ, der kurz nach Nachrichten guckt, wenn ich noch im Bett liege […]. Ich antworte erst und mache erst alles wenn ich in der Bahn sitze oder auf dem Weg zur Arbeit bin.” 47 below the radar.”15 G_2_F, who worked as a social media manager, said that her private and job-related smartphone use is similar. The only difference is that she analyzes social network statistics only for her job.

Selection and relevance of applications. In terms of factors for their app selection, they mentioned aspects such as trends, interest and usability. G_2_F said that it is important to her that she intuitively understands how an app works, otherwise she deletes it immediately. G_3_M confirmed this statement. Further, they all prefer free apps. G_2_F spent money on apps in the past and G_3_M once bought a photo editing app for three Euro. Although all three said that they delete unsatisfactory apps, G_1_F listed many apps that she almost never used or she does not use anymore.

Smartphone-based communication. As mentioned before, all three Germans emphasized the importance of the communication features of their smartphone. Although the interviews revealed that they all have their individual communication habits, some similarities could be analyzed.

The interviews revealed that the German interviewees mainly communicate via

SCS with their existing relationships. This form of communication is part of their daily lives. They also communicate with acquaintances but on an irregular basis. They mostly only observe these acquaintances in social networks. They all also reported that they establish new contacts via their smartphone, but on different levels. G_1_F spoke of dating apps and interest groups on Facebook, but mentioned that this happens

15 Original quote: “Ich bin auch so ein Instagram und Social Media Typ, der eigentlich nur am Wochenende aktiv ist und unter der Woche eher so unterm Radar schwimmt.” 48 sporadically and that these contacts rarely last. She said, “When I moved to another town last year for example, I just used Lovoo to get to know new people. I had a whole weekend of spare time, I knew nobody, and so, I got to know people there [via Lovoo].”16

G_3_M said that he sometimes has conversations with other users on Instagram and occasionally they exchange numbers and meet in real life. G_2_F mentioned two examples. First, she got to know her boyfriend via Instagram and Snapchat, where they followed each other and used the messenger feature for an interpersonal communication until they met in real life. Second, she also got to know a person via Instagram who is now a close friend of hers.

They all use several SCS, but rarely SMS. All of them have an Instagram and

Facebook account and use WhatsApp, but to varying degrees. G_2_F and G_3_M talked the most time about Instagram. Both of them use this app actively to post their own content. G_2_F mentioned that she uses the story feature to present purchases or activities. G_3_M recently changed the focus of his profile from lifestyle and self- portrayal to more work-related content. Further, both revealed that they routinely watch the Instagram stories of their friends every day. G_1_F mostly observes, but rarely posts her own pictures on Instagram. She is more active on Facebook. She said that she posts content that she considers funny or important. Her friends and she often use the comment section to make fun of the content or each other. She thought that discussions on serious topics are a waste of time. She explained that she prefers to discuss opinions with her

16 Original quote: “Als ich letztes Jahr in eine andere Stadt bin z.B., dann habe ich halt explizit Lovoo dafür genutzt, neue Menschen kennen zu lernen. Ich hatte ein Wochenende lang Zeit, ich kannte niemanden, also habe ich da Leute kennen gelernt.” 49 friends. She also said that the internet often provides input for face-to-face- communication with her friends. However, in terms of posting and commenting on social networks, she said she is a passive observer on a daily basis and an active user occasionally. G_3_M, who also mentioned that he occasionally comments in a funny and sarcastic way, disagreed with this. He posts or comments his opinion and discusses with other users on Facebook or Twitter. Elsewhere he stated that he almost never uses

Facebook, which reveals inconsistency to some extent. However, both G_1_F and

G_3_M said that they often use Twitter to check news, retweet other users’ content and post their own tweets. They agreed on stating that they depict themselves as serious on this platform. Moreover, all three participants use WhatsApp. While G_2_F preferred the asynchronous but still personal voice mail feature, the other two focused on negative aspects of this app. G_1_F said that she uses this app most frequently, but is annoyed by all the group chats. She said that she uses WhatsApp, “because there are so many people, that is the reason I cannot get rid of it. Of course, I would prefer it if people would switch to Telegram or Signal.”17 She appreciates encrypted messengers such as Signal. G_3_M said that he muted all but three chats (two group chats of friends and his mother), but checks the app and replies to messages regularly. All three also talked about phone calls.

G_1_F and G_2_F appreciate this feature, but the former recognized a downward trend.

Fewer and fewer people use a smartphone to make calls and G_3_M confirmed this observation. He stated that he only calls friends in urgent cases, but he still calls his

17 Original quote “, weil da einfach ganz viele sind, deswegen komme ich davon nicht los. Mir wäre natürlich lieber, wenn die Leute zu Signal und Telegram wechseln.” 50 girlfriend and mother regularly. The three interviewees also said that they have the

Snapchat app on their phone, but they use it insignificantly or not at all anymore. All three also mentioned e-mail as an important communication channel, but only G_2_F uses an app on her smartphone to manage them. The others use their computers in this case. Nevertheless, the three individuals talked about other communication apps and their characteristics, but not on a significant level. A good example are the statements of

G_1_F, who mentioned many apps such as Periscope, Jodel, Pinterest, and Tinder that she downloaded because of a trend, but does not use them anymore.

The aspect of community on social networks was seen differently. G_1_F said that she sees social networks as communities of her friends and family. Everyone who has an account is part of the community and cannot avoid being part of it. She said,

“When you are registered and maybe you use it only passively or not at all, you still take part in it, because I am visible to other people.”18 G_2_F said that she does not see herself as part of a community on social networks. In regards to her job, she sees herself on the other side and privately she said that her community consists of her close relationships, with whom she is also interlinked on social networks. She mentioned, “These are also not my friends on Facebook. These are friends and acquaintances plus X, a mix of people whose profiles I know.”19 This statement is in line with the finding of Schmölz et al.

18 Original quote: “Also dass man angemeldet ist und vielleicht nur passiv das Ganze nutzt oder gar nicht nutzt, dann nimmt man ja trotzdem irgendwie Teil, weil ich bin ja für andere Menschen sichtbar.” 19 Original quote: “Bei Facebook, das sind auch nicht meine Freunde. Das sind Freunde und Bekannte plus X, ein Gemisch an Leuten, deren Profile ich kenne.” 51 (2014), who determined that the definition of the term friend has changed due to social networks.

Reflecting smartphone-based communication. Another important part of the interviews was a reflective section. The interviewer asked the participants to reflect on their actions on SCS. All three of them stated that they are rarely open and emotional on public and semi-public platforms. G_2_F said that all users play a role on social networks and cited Goffmann’s (1959) “The presentation of self in everyday life” to emphasize that a person’s presentation on social network is only a part of them. She mentioned that people present only positive aspects of their life on Instagram, which can be highly frustrating for her as an observer. Further, she stated that social networks are not the right place for emotional disclosure and vulnerability because too many nasty people comment in a harmful way on these platforms. Besides this, she and G_1_F said that different parts of life are encountered on social networks. People related to her job are also part of her social networks and thus, they do not post sensitive content. Further, G_1_F said that she reflects before she posts publicly. She said:

Of course, when I post publicly – as mentioned before publicly means my

Facebook timeline, Instagram, Twitter, such stuff – then of course I really think

about which image of myself do I want to present, how much insight do I want to

give, which contents are appropriate for that.20

20 Original quote: “Wenn ich natürlich öffentlich poste – also öffentlich ist für mich, wie gesagt, meine Facebook-Pinnwand, Instagram, Twitter, solche Sachen – dann überlege ich natürlich schon sehr stark, welches Bild möchte ich überhaupt von mir abgeben, wieviel Einblick möchte ich anderen Menschen gewähren, welche Inhalte passen dazu.” 52 G_3_M mentioned that he often reacts impulsively and comments on Facebook or posts

Instagram stories without thinking it through. He only picks the content for his Instagram feed thoughtfully on the grounds that this appears permanently. In regard to other users’ openness, all three agreed that this depends on the topic. Individual stories could attract attention to important issues, but most regular users should not be too open.

Constant availability. In terms of constant availability, all three interviewees found themselves between positive and negative aspects. They all appreciate the possibility to reach out to people and access information regardless of place and time.

However, they were all also aware of negative impacts. Although G_3_M mentioned constant availability as the most important benefit of using his smartphone, he described only problematic aspects after directly being asked for his feelings on this topic. He stated that he feels the urge to check his notifications and cannot put it away. This stresses him and he feels a lack of concentration. However, he said that he does not expect immediate answers from others. In case of urgency, he calls people. G_2_F confirmed this lack of concentration because smartphone use interrupts her daily activities. Further, she mentioned that she fears that she will miss out when she does not use her smartphone. She said,

You cannot escape this vicious circle because I cannot say, for example, that I

turn off my phone at 6 p.m., then you would be socially excluded. Maybe it would

53 be easier if everybody would do it but we are too stuck in this spiral of being

constantly available.21

She also felt the pressure to reply quickly to messages and thus, fulfills this perceived expectation. Although these are often small and important issues, she stated that in sum they can be seriously harmful. G_1_F saw more advantages of constant availability, but she also stated that it can be annoying. However, she said she still can decide whether she replies or not.

All three participants mentioned strategies to fight these negative aspects of constant availability. G_1_F and G_3_M turn on flight mode at night because they do not want to be disturbed while they are sleeping. Further, G_3_M and G_2_F turned off push notifications for many apps to reduce the level of distraction from their daily activities.

Privacy in regard to smartphone use. Privacy was another topic discussed in the interviews. All participants were aware of problematic aspects of this topic. They knew that it is necessary to disclose personal data to use a smartphone (at least register with an e-mail address) and participate in social networks. They agreed that there is no way around this. G_3_M said, “I gave up a long time ago on keeping my data as secure as possible, because it is not actually realistic nowadays.”22 However, he and G_1_F mentioned that they register for diverse platforms with an e-mail address they especially

21 Original quote: “Man kommt halt aus diesem Teufelskreis nicht mehr raus, weil ich kann jetzt z.B. nicht sagen, ich mache ab 18 Uhr mein Handy aus, dann ist man eben sozial ausgeschlossen. Wenn das mehr Leute machen würden, wäre es vielleicht einfacher, aber wir sind da viel zu tief drin in so einer Spirale, dass alle immer erreichbar sind.”

22 Original quote: “Ich habe es schon lange aufgegeben, meine Daten irgendwie so sicher wie möglich zu halten, weil so richtig machbar ist es nicht mehr heutzutage.” 54 created for these instances, or they do not disclose all data. G_1_F said that she also created fake identities and uses fake data (e.g. birth date). Further, she prefers to use encrypted messengers and she pays attention to the background of the photos she posts to avoid the unintentional disclosure of personal data. G_2_F said that she is aware of her transparency in regard to criminality and governmental monitoring, but she also said,

“You cross a border […] and then you say, okay, it is too late anyway. Now I take advantage of the benefits from it.”23 Nevertheless, she and G_3_M mentioned that they worry most about their banking data.

Living without a smartphone. Finally, all interviewees were asked to imagine living without their smartphone. All the Germans said that they do not want to live without it and that their everyday lives would change enormously. G_1_F stated that she does not see it as a necessity and that she relies on her smartphone particularly in the context of her work. In terms of private communication, she thought she could possibly get used to it. G_2_F emphasized that she would feel inefficient and that everything would change. She was torn between positive and negative impacts. She said:

I probably would have more time to read intently, to relax, and I would probably

feel better after some time. I can picture that but you also would be excluded from

many circles and you would not have the possibility to react quickly and then I

would miss opportunities.24

23 Original quote: “Man übertritt halt mal so eine Grenze […] und sagt sich dann, naja gut, es ist jetzt eh zu spät, ich nutze jetzt die Vorteile die ich davon habe.” 24 Original quote: “Ich hätte wahrscheinlich viel mehr Zeit mal zu lesen, konzentriert, mal abzuschalten und wahrscheinlich würde ich mich nach einer Zeit lang besser fühlen. Das könnte ich mir schon vorstellen, 55 G_3_M said that he would get lost in his own hometown and could not call anyone because he did not memorize the numbers of his friends and family. He also said, “I would be too lazy to write. If I had to write my mother a postcard or a letter, I think she would never hear from me again.”25

Summary. This analysis showed that the German interviewees all developed significant usage and action patterns in regard to their smartphone. They all integrated the device into their daily lives to a high extent. One of the most important features is the communications aspect of the smartphone. Smartphone-based communication has a considerable share of their total daily communication. Furthermore, the participants use their smartphone to manage daily activities, from alarm in the morning, to weather forecast, to calendar, to GPS and so on. All in all, the smartphone takes up so much space in the daily lives of the German interviewees that they hardly could manage their daily activities without their device. To maintain their daily routines, they would have to organize many alternative tools that are now combined in one device. Further, they could not react as quickly as before to messages and would have to change the way they communicate enormously.

aber man würde auch aus vielen Kreisen eben rausfallen […] und man halt nicht mehr die Möglichkeit hätte, so schnell zu reagieren und dass mir dann Chancen entgehen.” 25 Original quote: “Ich wäre zu faul zu schreiben. Also, wenn ich dann eine Postkarte oder einen Brief an meine Mutter schreiben müsste, würde die glaube ich nie wieder was von mir hören.” 56 U.S.-American Interviewees: Usage and Action Patterns in the Context of

Smartphone Use and Smartphone-based Communication

U_1_F is a 21-year-old female undergraduate student who also works part time as a research scholar in environmental studies. During the last two summers she worked as a social media coordinator at a conference. She lives in a small-size city with a population of ca. 25,000 in Ohio. U_2_M is a 24-year-old male graduate student. He lives in a small- size city with a population of ca. 25,000 in Ohio. U_3_M is a 23-year-old male employee. He works as a social media manager in the sports industry. He lives in a mid- size city with a population of ca. 250,000 in Florida.

Smartphone in daily life. The U.S.-American interviewees stated that they all use their smartphones throughout the day. They all said that they connect with other people and retrieve news through their smartphones. U_1_F said, “I keep it with me, on my person at all times or at least I try to have it in a pocket or somewhere close.” Further, they stated that they have diverse apps to manage daily activities and they all appreciated the audio features as well as the camera function. The three interviewees also said that they use their smartphones while they are on their way to activities or during waiting times. However, while U_3_M talked mostly about the benefits he perceives, U_1_F and

U_2_M mentioned that they have dealt with different problematic aspects such as distraction and wasting time. Thus, they have tried to reduce their smartphone use by different measures such as the “Do Not Disturb” mode or deleting certain apps. This initial overview shows that the smartphone accompanies the daily lives of the U.S.-

American interviewees as a multifunctional device, and they accomplish many daily

57 activities with the help of their phones. However, two of three interviews revealed perceptions of problematic issues because of their excessive smartphone use.

In detail, the interviews revealed that all three U.S.-Americans use their smartphone immediately after waking up. They all check their messages and notifications as well as the weather. U_2_M and U_3_M said that they additionally scroll through different social networking platforms. U_1_F stated that she also used to do this in a habitual way. She said, “It was every time I woke up. I would have checked all my social media like in an order, like I would do Instagram first, then Facebook, then Snapchat and

I would do that at seven a.m. every day.” However, she perceived this as a waste of time and, thus, policed herself to break this habit. She decided to just check her messages and notifications and to only reply in urgent cases after waking up. After that she does not use her phone again before 8.30 a.m., whereas U_2_M and U_3_M mentioned that they use their smartphones during breakfast. During the day, they all use their devices for different reasons and in a variety of situations. U_3_M communicates with his friends during dinner. U_2_M developed some routines: He said that throughout the day, he routinely checks Twitter, Instagram and his e-mails even he has no notifications. Further, he uses

Groupme and iMessage in case of notifications. He also said:

Before I go to sleep, I definitely often have my phone next to me and do another

Twitter check and Instagram scroll and I often have my headphones in, usually for

Spotify or the podcasts. I think I usually spend like 30 minutes on my phone and

eventually I get tired and put my phone down.

58 Both male participants emphasized that they listen to music or podcasts through their movements during the day. U_1_F also mentioned that she uses the music feature but not as frequently as the other U.S.-Americans.

In the context of work and university, they differ in their statements. U_3_M said that he depends on his smartphone at work since he is a social media manager, but he has a scarce tendency to work with his computer. Nevertheless, he reported that he has set up job-related push notifications to stay informed about trends and news in his field. He also uses his smartphone at work to access Twitter and Instagram. However, he also said:

I might be at work and, honestly, you have text communications throughout the

day. I have a girlfriend, we live together and we just got a dog, so I also use

texting to communicate pretty frequently about personal things or anything of that

nature.

U_2_M said that he uses the “Do Not Disturb” mode or leaves his phone in his car during class or while studying. He easily gets distracted by the notifications on his device and cannot focus on his tasks. However, he also said, “I would say every 20 minutes I open up my phone when it is on “Do Not Disturb” as well to see if I have any messages.”

U_1_F distinguished between university and two different jobs. She said that she also often uses the “Do Not Disturb” mode in the context of studying as well as during her current job. However, during the last two summers, she worked as a social media coordinator and used her smartphone all day long. She was dependent on her device to do her job.

59 All of the interviewees mentioned that their smartphones help them to manage different aspects of their daily lives. They all check the weather forecast through their device, and they all use a GPS app for navigation. U_1_F and U_3_M stated that they schedule their day by the help of their calendar app. U_3_M, in particular, emphasized his dependence on the calendar app and its reminder feature. He also stated that his smartphone plays an important role in organizing his daily activities. He said, “A lot of my life kind of functions through my phone. And I have a lot linked up through it, and it is just a lot of day to day activities.” In general, U_3_M spoke almost only positively about using his smartphone throughout the interview. He only mentioned that due to heavy smartphone use, some other people are at risk to lose connections with their personal relationships and ignore the world around them. However, in the context of his own use, he thought he does well and said, “I really try to do my best to realize that I don’t need to be constantly engaged with the phone.” This statement is in line with the findings of Fullwood et al. (2017), whose participants also stated that they are aware of social etiquette. However, U_1_F and U_2_M had a rather negative attitude towards their smartphone use during the whole interview. Both participants talked about being overwhelmed and being too attached to their devices. They felt that their smartphones are often a distraction and a waste of their time. They also attributed an addictive characteristic to smartphones. As a preventative measure, both participants use the “Do

Not Disturb” mode regularly. U_1_F reported about health problems, which although she did not directly attribute to her smartphone use, led her to delete the apps of Twitter,

Facebook, and Instagram from her phone in order to focus more on herself. U_2_M also

60 stated that he uses his smartphone too often. Thus, he deleted his Facebook and Snapchat account. However, their interviews revealed that they still use their smartphones on a regular basis and that their devices are intimately integrated in their daily lives.

Selection and relevance of applications. In terms of their app selection, all U.S.-

Americans rated communication apps as most important. Personal management apps were the second most-used apps reported. These apps help to organize their daily lives.

However, they all also have apps that they rarely use such as different pre-installed apps.

They all preferred to download free apps. Further, U_3_M stated that he only has apps that he needs and uses, otherwise he deletes an app. U_1_F and U_2_M said that recommendations and online reviews play an important role in deciding on an app.

U_2_M also said, “I like it when it is kind of easy to use and I figure it out quickly.”

Smartphone-based communication. As mentioned above, all three interviewees stated that the communication aspect is one of the most important features of their smartphones. They all appreciated the possibility to communicate with their friends and families. All of them use smartphone-based communication to stay in contact with the people who matter much to them on a regular basis. Less often, they directly communicate with acquaintances. They mostly observe these people on social networks.

U_1_F and U_3_M mentioned that they occasionally comment to congratulate on birthdays, marriages or new jobs. U_3_M said that in some cases, these occasions also serve as a stimulus to start a conversation. However, U_1_F and U_2_M said that they muted or unfollowed, but did not delete some people on their social networks, because on

61 the one hand, they do not care about the daily lives of these people, but on the other hand they want to be polite.

The interviews revealed that the use of SCS is diverse. All of three interviewees use Twitter, mainly to check the news and post their own content. U_1_F, who blogs personally, uses Twitter and other social networks as outlets for her blog content.

US_2_F mostly retweets sports or news content and occasionally tweets GIFs, video messages or screenshots of books or articles. U_3_M said that he uses Twitter mainly to gather and spread news. Further, they all have an Instagram account. U_1_F said that she post pictures and follows her close friends. U_2_M said that he mostly observes other users and watches their stories, although he does not like this feature. He said that he does not care about these trivial stories. Further, he stated that he scrolls through the explore page, but he rarely posts his own pictures. This depends on the situation. He stated that during vacation, he posts more often, but U_2_M also said, “I recently had a good two months maybe where I didn’t post anything. I guess my life was just uninteresting then or

I was just at school.” U_1_F and U_3_M also have Facebook accounts, which they also mostly use to see what their friends are up to.

In terms of interpersonal communication, they all mainly use SMS and phone calls as well as e-mails. U_3_M also mentioned Snapchat and Facebook Messenger.

U_1_F and U_2_M additionally talked about WhatsApp, which they both used in the context of communication with people abroad. Further, both of them mentioned that they use Groupme for group communication with other students.

62 In terms of establishing new contacts, U_3_M said that he uses social media platforms as networking tools for his job. He stated, “It is a good way to connect with professionals within my field, to share ideas and make connections for my personal benefit. […] I have got jobs from internships because of the connections I have made through social media.” U_1_F said that she rarely establishes new contacts through her smartphone, but the device helps to communicate with people she gets to know in real life. U_2_M confirmed this statement and added that the smartphone helps as an extension to real life to intensify relationships.

U_3_M who recently moved to a new place also said that his smartphone helps him to stay in contact with his close friends who are spread all over the country. Social networks help him and his friends to maintain their community. U_2_M also felt a sense of community in regard to smartphone-based communication. He said that the Groupme chat for his cohort “is a good way to participate and feel together with the community.”

Another example he mentioned was his community of friends who separately watch NBA games but tweet about it at the same time.

Reflecting smartphone-based communication. The interviewer asked the three

U.S.-American interviewees to reflect on the way they communicate via their smartphones. All of them answered questions about openness and expression of emotions as well as authenticity. In case of the latter, U_1_F and U_2_M stated that social networks lack authenticity and too much self-portrayal of other users bothers them. Thus, they unfollow or mute these people. Further, they all agreed on not posting controversial topics. U_1_F added that she rather discusses controversial topics in face-to-face-

63 conversations. U_3_M said, “I tend to stay away from more controversial topics because

I don’t have the energy to dig into that online.” They also all stated that they think through what they are going to say before they post their own content on social networks.

However, U_2_M said that he already posted content that he regretted afterwards.

U_3_M stated that he knows that he is responsible for his own reputation because actions on social networks are consciously and voluntarily. He and U_2_M also agreed on that they do not express their emotions on social networks, whereas U_1_F reported that she writes a blog about her former eating disorder and her recovery from this illness. In this context, she opens up on her feelings. Although she started this blog as a personal healing process, she gets a great amount of positive feedback, which she did not expect. This experience encouraged her to only share positive thoughts on social networks, an action for which she also received many positive reactions. She stated, “I can’t believe that I’m the only one or one of the only ones doing that. That astounds me that something that I said, like one positive quote is like the one in a hundred that would do that.” She also mentioned that this mentality is a reaction to the cynical people and the great amount of negative energy she perceives on social networks. U_3_M saw this issue also as problematic. Although he mentioned that it is important to encourage people to use the internet as an open forum for opinions, he thought that free speech has its limits, particularly in cases of hate speech.

Constant availability. Another section of the interview dealt with the aspect of constant availability. U_3_M mentioned that he sees this as a necessity in his daily life, otherwise he fears missing out on information and he also could not do his job. He added

64 that he nevertheless does not connect constantly, but the ability to use his smartphone any time gives him a feeling of security. U_1_F and U_2_M rated constant availability negatively because they both felt that they spend too much time on their devices and cannot focus on their tasks. Thus, both participants use the “Do Not Disturb” mode repeatedly during the day. U_1_F stated that, “I definitely believe you don’t have to be available all the time because that is a really hard expectation.”

Privacy in regard to smartphone use. All three U.S.-American interviewees were aware of privacy issues in regard to their smartphone use. However, they all revealed that the rarely took actions to increase their digital security. U_3_M said that already participating in social networks is a consent to give up privacy to some extent.

U_2_M stated similarly, “I guess just the fact that I have a smartphone kind of shows that

I’m not as worried about my privacy as I could be.” He and U_1_F said that they consider which apps use their location services. U_1_F additionally mentioned that she is cautious with her private settings on Facebook, whereas her Twitter and Instagram account are public. She said that she uses these platforms as outlets for her blog. Thus, she is less open on these social networks than on Facebook. U_3_M mentioned that he perceives a dangerous line between the dependence on the internet and uncertainty with personal data. Thus, he demanded security measures that help to protect sensitive data, but he does not mention by whom he expects these measures. He just distanced himself from the responsibility.

Living without a smartphone. At the end of the interview, all three participants were asked to imagine living without their smartphone. In several earlier instances,

65 U_3_M clearly stated that he would not give away his smartphone and confirmed this statement by answering this specific question. He said that he would be lost without it in his private life and in the context of his job. He said that it would be especially hard for him when he would be the only one without his smartphone. Otherwise, he said, “If you took everyone’s smartphone away, maybe we could learn to adjust and learn to work around it.” However, U_1_F and U_2_M were kind of torn answering this question.

Both participants said that they are aware of their heavy smartphone use and that they already thought about switching to a flip phone. Both of them eventually have stuck to their smartphones because of their multi-functional qualities. They both would need additional devices such as a camera or a GPS. Further, they said that it would be more difficult to contact people. Instead of switching to a flip phone, U_1_F said that she started to think about an alternative to her smartphone because of personal health problems. To focus on her health and to take more care of herself, she took the measure to delete the apps of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Summary. This part of the analysis illustrated that the U.S.-American interviewees habitually use their smartphones throughout the day. They all have developed diverse smartphone-based routines integrated into their daily lives. All three interviews revealed significant usage and action patterns in regard to the smartphone use of the participants. Further, they all agreed on determining smartphone-based communication as one of the most used features of their devices. Thus, they perform a great amount of their daily communication via their smartphones. Moreover, all three

U.S.-Americans could not manage their day to day activities without their smartphones.

66 They would need alternative devices and tools to organize their daily lives. However, two of the participants mainly reflected negatively on their smartphone use and already implemented measures to reduce the time they spend on their smartphones.

Similarities and Differences between the Usage and Action Patterns of Germans and

U.S.-Americans in the Context of Smartphone Use and Smartphone-based

Communication

The two previous parts of the analysis focused in detail on the German and U.S.-

American interviews, respectively. The analysis outlined usage and action patterns in regard to smartphones and concentrated on smartphone-based communication activities.

This third part combines the two previous parts by pointing out similarities and differences between the German and the U.S.-American interviewees. This way, the third research question can be answered.

Similarities. The comparison of the German and U.S.-American interviews revealed a number of similarities. All participants use their smartphones throughout the day and integrated their devices into their daily lives, which confirms the findings of

Hurlen (2013). All of the interviewees start their day with their smartphones. They all check notifications and messages while they are still in bed. These results contribute to the findings of Montag and Walla (2016). Further, they all use their smartphones while they are on their way to various everyday activities. Moreover, all interviewees said that they manage daily activities with the help of the smartphone and benefit from its multifunctional character, which is in line with the findings of Wang et al. (2016). They all have a weather app, rely on the navigation system of their phone and use a music app.

67 Further, the comparison of the app selection revealed that the participants prefer free applications and that trend plays a vital role in deciding to download an app.

In line with previous studies (Wang et al., 2016; Davis, 2012; Hurlen, 2013), the participants agreed that the communication aspect of their devices is the most important and most frequently used feature. They all mentioned that they mainly use smartphone- based communication to help maintain their existing relationships. This result contributes to the findings of Hurlen (2013) and Anshari et al. (2016). All participants said that among others they are on Instagram mainly to stay in contact with their friends. However, the majority stated that they rarely use smartphone-based communication to establish new contacts. Beside this, all of them also appreciated the possibility to access information anytime and anywhere, which confirms the findings of Wang et al. (2016) and Fullwood et al. (2017). Almost all of them mentioned that they mainly use Twitter to check the news. Furthermore, the interviews revealed that the majority of the interviewees do not or hardly express emotions or opinions on social networks. To communicate more openly, they use messenger apps that serve to connect on an interpersonal level.

They also agreed on several negative aspects. The interviews revealed that the participants thought that they depend on their smartphones and that the devices have a distractive character, which Anshari et al. (2016) also found. Although some of the interviewees confirmed the findings of several former studies (Davis, 2012; Wang et al.,

2016; Döbler, 2014) by saying constant availability conveys the possibility to communicate regardless of place and time, they almost all assessed this availability as a

68 partially negative characteristic of smartphone use. The majority of the participants said that they use features that interrupt this constant availability such as the flight mode or the “Do Not Disturb” mode. Besides this, all participants mentioned that they are aware of privacy issues, but they do not really see a solution for the dilemma of using a smartphone without disclosing personal data to a certain extent.

Differences. Nevertheless, the interviews also revealed differences between the

Germans and the U.S.-Americans. The most significant contrast is the way the participants communicate interpersonal via their smartphones. The U.S.-Americans agreed that they still use SMS and phone calls to a significant degree, whereas the

Germans said that they rarely write SMS and make phone calls. Instead, they all use

WhatsApp frequently. In contrast, only two of the U.S.-Americans said they used

WhatsApp, but mainly in the context of communication with people abroad. In regard to the main function of SMS and WhatsApp, they are functional equivalents. Both apps initially served to exchange text messages, but they use different systems to transmit the data. While SMS is transmitted via the mobile network, WhatsApp uses the internet access of a smartphone. The interviews revealed that the popularity of WhatsApp in

Germany is related to previous contracts that often only offered a limited amount of free

SMS. At this time, mobile providers charged about 20 cent per SMS. Subsequently, the advent of smartphones and the offering of new contracts including sufficient mobile data enabled alternative ways of exchanging text messages through apps, such as WhatsApp.

This app offers unlimited text messages via mobile data or WiFi. The spread of the smartphone led many Germans to use WhatsApp instead of SMS. In recent years,

69 WhatsApp has evolved into a multifunctional app which includes group chats, video calls and a status function, whereas the SMS feature has remained uni-functional. On the other hand, the U.S.-Americans reported that they are used to unlimited SMS. Thus, they never felt the urge to search for an alternative. Nevertheless, two of the Americans mentioned that they use Groupme in context of their studies primarily to communicate in groups, whereas none of the Germans mentioned this app. Thus, the group chats which are the key feature of Groupme seem to serve as an extension to SMS for the participants from the U.S., while the German participants do not need this additional app because

WhatsApp already offers this function.

All participants talked about different apps they have on their phone which they use more or less frequently. Two of the U.S.-Americans mentioned that they have the

Venmo app and the Ticketmaster app. Two Germans said that they use the app of eBay.

Nevertheless, as mentioned before, the participants have primarily the same apps such as

Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and they also use them equivalently to a high degree.

Besides the different usage patterns of interpersonal smartphone-based communication, no significant differences could be found between both nations in terms of app selection and the way they use. They rather differ on an individual level.

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the Germans stated that they reduced their push notifications to limit their use and to lower potential distractions whereas the U.S.-

Americans did not mention that they deactivated any push notifications. However, two of them mentioned that they assess their smartphone use as too high and try to reduce their attachment to their devices. They deleted several social network apps or accounts. This

70 shows that both participant groups attempt to reduce their self-identified excessive use, but they differ in the choice of their measures.

In terms of posting and commenting on social networks, the Germans said that they mainly act funny, ironic and cynical, whereas U_1_F criticized cynical people and negative energy. The U.S.-Americans in general focused more on positive comments such as congratulations for life events of fellow users. However, although the Germans also stated that they mostly criticize other people that are too open and emotional on social networks, they also appreciated individuals that raise awareness for serious topics with their personal stories. This could be applied to U_1_F who blogs about her former eating disease and received much positive feedback for her openness.

Although all participants are aware of privacy issues and agreed that disclosing private data is part of using smartphones and social networks, they deal with it in different ways. Two of the Germans talked about using fake data to register for their diverse accounts. Two of the U.S.-Americans mentioned that they consider the settings of location services when they download an app.

Although they all mentioned problematic aspects in regard to their smartphone use, the Germans agreed that they could not live without their device. In contrast, at least two of the U.S.-Americans considered their smartphone use as excessive, and they already thought about switching to a flip phone. However, they both did not take this step, but as aforementioned, they deleted several social network apps or accounts.

Excessive smartphone use and regulatory measures. Although this study did not focus on the topic of excessive smartphone use and smartphone addiction, the

71 interviews revealed that the majority of the participants have questioned their smartphone use and often assess that they spend too much time on their devices. Several participants even spoke of the smartphone’s addictive character. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that five of six participants have taken measures to create a distance between themselves and their phones. Some of the participants use the flight mode or the “Do Not Disturb” mode, some of them deleted social network apps on the phone or their whole accounts. In the end, all of the participants realized that they depend too much on their multifunctional smartphones because of the diverse features they use throughout their everyday lives.

Thus, this result corresponds with the findings of other researchers whose participants revealed that they could not live without their smartphone (Anshari et al., 2016; Fullwood et al., 2017; van Deursen et al., 2015; Davis, 2012).

This shows that several researchers already focused on the aspect of excessive smartphone use (van Deursen et al., 2015; Montag et al., 2015; Wimmer, 2014).

However, they differ in their conclusions. Van Deursen et al. (2015) found that:

habitual smartphone use is an important contributor to addictive smartphone

behavior. Smartphone habits cause unintended behavior activated by internal or

external cues. Automatic urges in which the smartphone is unlocked to check for

notifications increase the chance to develop addictive behaviors. (p. 417)

Further, Montag et al. stated that replacing the wristwatch leads to addictive smartphone behavior because people look at their smartphone to only check the time, but get easily distracted by notifications on their device and spend more time than initially thought.

However, Hurlen (2013) and Wimmer (2014) mentioned that it is important to take into

72 account that smartphones are multifunctional devices that combine many features. The majority of this study mentioned that they only use their smartphones’ camera, alarm clock, and GPS. They replaced the devices for these features, thus they automatically use their smartphone more often. Hurlen (2013) stated “It is only natural to assume that a multi-purpose device is used more frequently than a single-purpose device, especially when the multi-purpose device always is within reach.”

The perception of excessive smartphone use and smartphone addiction imply new societal trends such as mindfulness and digital detox which are discussed in many journalistic articles (Gren, 2016; Smith, 2013; von Rutenberg, 2015) and non-fiction books (Otto, 2016; Sieberg, 2011). Also, these issues opened up a new research field.

Some researchers (Bachler, 2016; Rauch, 2014; Morrison & Gomez, 2014) had already examined people’s overuse of smartphones and their measures to reduce the attachment to the devices such as apps that allow users to set up rules for their smartphone use

(Löchtefeld, Böhmer, & Ganev, 2013

Summary. This analysis showed that the German and U.S.-American interviewees similarly integrated their smartphones into their daily life to the extent that they cannot imagine managing their everyday lives without their devices. These findings confirm that the theory of Schutz also applies to smartphone use. The participants rely on habits, rules and principles to facilitate daily life (Schutz, 1976a). They want to minimize effort (Schutz, 1976b). Thus, the interviewees integrated their smartphones to improve their efficiency. They all take advantage of the multifunctional character of the smartphone to manage personal day to day activities and to communicate in diverse

73 ways, primarily to maintain their existing relationships. The interviews also revealed differences in the usage and action patterns between Germans and U.S.-Americans. They clearly differ in their use in some points, such as the way they communicate interpersonally via their smartphones. The interviews revealed that the U.S.-Americans mainly use SMS as well as phone calls, whereas the Germans emphasized that they meanwhile use these features rarely. Instead, they all primarily talked about WhatsApp in terms of interpersonal communication. This indicates that the Germans have switched from the basic features of texting and calling to a more multifunctional channel. The

U.S.-Americans instead use additional apps such as Groupme to use features SMS and phone calls do not offer.

However, the comparison of the German and U.S.-American participants, who are from countries that are individualistic to different degrees according to Hofstede (1983), did not indicate general differences that distinguish the smartphone use in terms of the participants nationality. The interviews rather pointed out that all participants developed their individual usage and action patterns. Thus, the findings of this analysis indicate that these patterns might be diverse regardless of the nationality of the participants. This indication is in line with the findings of many other researchers, who also found that smartphone owners use their devices in individual and diverse ways (Kaufmann, 2015;

Hurlen, 2013; Antila et al., 2012; Fullwood et al., 2017, Wang et al., 2016). Nevertheless, it is important to note that this analysis is by no means representative because of the small sample of this thesis. Among other points, this problematic aspect is discussed in detail in the next section.

74 Limitations of the Study

Qualitative research concentrates on small samples. Thus, the small sample of three German and three U.S.-American heavy smartphone users does not allow the researcher to draw general statements regarding the population of average smartphone users. Further, in terms of race and education, the sample was highly homogenous. All participants were white and students or graduates. Nevertheless, this method provides rich descriptions of the participants’ subjective views, which offers a thorough insight into smartphone use and smartphone-based communication. Further, the similar characteristics of the participants facilitated the comparisons of the participants. The study also benefited from the fact that all of the interviewees answered comprehensively and they reflected on their responses to a significant degree, which could be traced back to the high level of education as well as their heavy use. Additionally, the participants’ self-identification as heavy smartphone users, which was part of the initial selection criteria, could be seen as critical. However, the analysis of their smartphone usage habits based on information provided in interviews confirmed their self-identification as heavy smartphone users. However, several other studies that did not exclusively select heavy users for their sample came to a similar conclusion (Hurlen, 2013; Döbler, 2014; Wang et al., 2016). This raises the question of whether the average smartphone user is a heavy user.

Another limitation to take into consideration is the fact that the researcher of the study is a German fluent in English but not an English native speaker. This language barrier and subliminal cultural differences influenced how the interviews were conducted

75 to some extent. However, in regard to comprehensiveness, the English interviews were in no way inferior to the German interviews.

It is worth noting that the interview with U_3_M took 50 percent longer on average than the other interviews. This is because this interviewee took significant time to think about his answers and paused often in his speech. He was also somewhat unfocused and often veered off topic.

Additionally, all interviews were conducted via video conference which also presents some limitations. First, in comparison to face-to-face conversations, video conferences lack the social presence, and the screen only shows a part of the interview partners. Further, facial expression and gestures cannot be observed in detail.

Nevertheless, this technology has made it possible to compare Germans and U.S.-

Americans in a convenient and uncomplicated way. Furthermore, the video conferences could have led to more detailed and open answers because all participants were in their comfort zones and alone in the room while they answered the questions. All interviewees gave deep and personal insights into their daily lives. However, during some interviews, technological problems arose. Occasional poor internet connection led to interruptions and partially poor audio quality of the recordings. These problems disrupted the flow of the interviews to some extent and made it difficult to transcribe some parts of the conversations. However, the participants could answer to all significant questions and the transcription included all relevant statements.

76 Chapter 6: Conclusion

This study investigated usage and action patterns of smartphone use and smartphone-based communication and compared these patterns between Germans and

U.S.-Americans. The researcher interviewed three Germans and three U.S.-Americans with the help of an interview guide.

Summary of Findings

The first research question focused on the smartphone use and the smartphone- based communication of the German participants. Their interviews revealed that all of them use their smartphone throughout the day and depend on their device to a high extent. They take advantage of its multifunctional character to manage diverse daily activities. All three German participants also emphasized that they use their smartphone often to communicate. They do so in order to maintain their existing relationships, but they all occasionally established new contacts via their smartphone. In terms of interpersonal communication, the participants agreed that they primarily use WhatsApp, and that they all hardly use SMS or phone calls. They all use several social networks mainly to observe the activities of their friends. G_2_F and G_3_M also post regularly on

Instagram. G_1_F rarely posts her own content on any social networking platform. In terms of commenting on posts, the participants reported that they often respond in a funny or cynical way. They do not show emotions on social networks and agreed that other people’s openness depends on the individual’s situation. The also differ in terms of opinion and reflection. While G_1_F and G_2_F think about their actions before they post content on social networks and do not disclose their opinions, G_3_M occasionally

77 discusses controversial topics and often posts intuitively. Although all of the German participants use their smartphone extensively, they are aware of privacy threats that smartphone and SCS use imply. Two of them use fake data about themselves as a security measure. They all also mentioned problematic aspects of smartphone use and two of them even talk about addiction in regard to their smartphone use. However, they agreed that they cannot imagine to live without their smartphone.

The second research questions concentrated on the usage and action patterns of the U.S.-American participants in regard to their smartphone use and the way they communicate with their device. The interviews of these participants showed that they have integrated their smartphones into their daily lives to a great extent. They have developed usage and action patterns in regard to their smartphone use to a degree of dependence. They use their multifunctional devices to manage daily activities and communicate mainly with their friends and family. U_3_M also establishes new contacts in the field of his profession, while the other two participants rarely get to know new people via their devices. In terms of interpersonal communication, they agreed that they primarily use SMS and phone calls. U_1_F and US_2_F also use Groupme, mainly for group chats, and they both rarely use WhatsApp in the context of international communication. All of the participants use several social networks They observe the activities of their friends, they like other people’s posts, and they use Twitter, in particular, as a news source. U_1_F uses social networks as outlets for her blog posts, while these networks serve for U_3_M as an important tool for his work. In terms of commenting on posts, the U.S.-Americans in general focused more on positive comments

78 such as congratulations for life events of fellow users. They all agreed that they do not discuss controversial topics and that they think about their actions before they post on social networks. Both male participants do not show emotions on social networks, whereas U_1_F expresses her emotions in her blog which she shares on several social networks. Although all of the U.S.-American participants are aware of privacy threats, they do not regulate their smartphone in this regard. Both male interviewees think that using a smartphone and social networks is a voluntary decision to relinquish privacy to some extent. They all are also conscious of problematic aspects of smartphone use. While

U_3_M mainly talked about excessive smartphone use by other people, U_1_F and

U_2_M estimate their own use as too high and have implemented measures to reduce their attachment to their device. Although these two participants had already thought about switching to a flip phone, all three interviewees agreed that they cannot imagine to live without their smartphones.

The third research question collected the findings of the first two research questions by requiring a comparison of the participants of both nations. This comparison revealed that the Germans and U.S.-Americans have several usage and action patterns in common. They all have integrated their smartphones into their daily lives to a high degree. All participants revealed that they depend on their smartphones to manage their daily activities and could not imagine to live without their devices which corresponds with the findings of other researchers (Anshari et al., 2016; Fullwood et al., 2017; van

Deursen et al., 2015; Davis, 2012). Further, their smartphone use has had an impact on their daily communication. All participants emphasized that they value smartphone-based

79 communication as one of the most important features of their device which is in line with previous studies (Wang et al., 2016; Davis, 2012; Hurlen, 2013). They all use their phones mainly to maintain their existing relationships with the help of a variety of SCS.

However, the comparison also revealed some minor differences. The U.S.-

Americans stated that they post and comment mostly in a positive way, while the

Germans spoke mainly of funny and cynical posts and comments. In terms of interpersonal communication, the U.S.-Americans prefer to use SMS and phone calls, whereas the Germans said that they rarely use SMS and hardly make phone calls. Instead, they predominantly use WhatsApp.

Implications

A number of similarities and some differences between both participants groups could be found, but the interviews revealed that all participants use their smartphones individually and in diverse ways. Thus, the interviews of this study indicate that the interviewees have developed their usage and action patterns on an individual basis which is in line with the findings of many other researchers (Kaufmann, 2015; Hurlen, 2013;

Antila et al., 2012; Fullwood et al., 2017, Wang et al., 2016).

The analysis of the interviews showed that the participants depend on their smartphone and that they have integrated it into their daily lives. This finding confirms that the theory of Schutz can be applied to smartphone use because the interviewees developed habits, rules and principles in regard to their devices to facilitate their everyday lives (Schutz, 1976a). They minimize effort, especially due to the multifunctional character of their smartphones. The smartphone wakes up the

80 interviewees and memorizes a great deal of information. It serves as a camera, a wristwatch and a music player. The participants check their weather apps to know what to wear and use the GPS of their device for navigation. Besides this, the interviewees use diverse apps to communicate and to inform themselves. Throughout the interviews the facilitation is readily apparent, but especially the question of what would change in the participants’ lives without their smartphones evidently showed the interviewees’ dependence on their devices. Many of the participants would struggle with the management of several ordinary activities and they often listed devices they would additionally need to buy. These aspects mirror Schutz’s explanations that people rely on their recipes and rules to efficiently mastering life.

The analysis of the interviews not only shows that the participants use their smartphones to manage existing habits more efficient, but also reveal that the participants developed routines for which they previously had no need, such as watching Instagram stories of other users. Thus, the smartphone use of the participants requires additional capacities in daily life.

The majority of the participants emphasized the importance of being informed about current news and communicating throughout the day. This indicates that the smartphone satisfies new needs that have arisen in the context of globalization and the communication society.

In terms of downloading a new app, the interviews show that the participants indeed undergo a process of acquisition as described by Schutz (1962) and integrate this app into daily life by developing a new habit. The majority of the participants named

81 need and ease of use as important selection criteria for downloading a new app. The interviewees need a new app to increasingly facilitate daily life, but the new app may require additional capacities to acquire new knowledge or transform the existing one. To minimize effort, the participants prefer apps that are easy to use. These aspects indicate that the participants intend to accomplish more and more tasks in less time. This recurring procedure of selecting new apps accumulates a great deal of habits combined in one device. The participants use their smartphone to manage a vast number of daily activities and a large amount of their daily communication.

These aspects indicate a focus on efficiency in daily life, but all interviewees also revealed that they depend on their devices and cannot imagine to live without their devices. This indicates that the habits, rules and principles described by Schutz have taken on huge dimensions. The majority of the participants are concerned about their smartphone use and several of them implemented some regulatory measures. This suggests that the smartphone can be seen as both a curse and a blessing for the interviewees.

The huge number of smartphone habits, however, raises the question of whether the participants perceive a dependence on their devices or on their habitual smartphone use. It could be assumed that it is less of a problem for the interviewees to live without their smartphone than to abandon the habits and routines they carry out by their smartphone. At the same time it could be supposed that the social contacts that are enabled by these habits and routines generate this dependence. This assumption is supported by some interviewees saying that they could imagine living without their

82 smartphone in the case that no one else has one. This notion further indicates that the establishment of the smartphone in society implies more a social rather than a purely functional dependence of the interviewees.

This study contributes to the research field of smartphone use and smartphone- based communication and provided a rich account of the impact of smartphones on daily lives and their effects on daily communication. The results lay a foundation for future research and, in particular, provide a basis for the field of excessive smartphone use and self-defined regulatory measures. These aspects are discussed in the next section.

Future Research

The findings of this study provided a detailed account of the participants’ relation to their smartphones and their communicate behaviors via their devices. Future research could draw upon this foundation. Researchers could create a more heterogeneous sample to increase the variety. People with lower education could be recruited as well as people who use their smartphone relatively rarely. Further, other age groups could be considered. Although current figures, as mentioned before, showed that the age group of

18 to 29 has the highest numbers of smartphone owners and social media users, the figures of other age groups, such as people between 30 and 49 years, are increasingly catching up (Pew Research Center, 2017; Koch & Frees, 2016; Parcells, 2015).

Additionally, this study could be used as a basis to create a quantitative analysis.

A survey on smartphone use and smartphone-based communication could enable a researcher to draw general statements on this topic. Moreover, a quantitative analysis facilitates a better control for individual factors such as gender, nationality, education,

83 and age. Furthermore, the qualitative interviews could be combined with apps that track the participants’ usage and action patterns. Kaufmann (2015) emphasized the potential of this method, and researchers such as Antila et al. (2012) and Montag et al. (2015) already used this method, but not in combination with comprehensive interviews. This combination enables researchers to compare the actual smartphone use with the subjective view of the user. This comparison could find conformity or reveal inconsistencies.

Besides this, single parts of the interview guide such as privacy could be examined in more detail. In particular, an interesting aspect the interviews of this study point out is a privacy paradox. The participants revealed that they use their smartphone although they are aware of a threat to their privacy. Further research could tie to this paradox and examine reasons and implications of this phenomenon.

Another point that could be examined in greater detail is the phenomenon of excessive smartphone use. The participants self-identified that they use their smartphones to a high degree and the majority of them has implemented regulating measures. This indication shows that self-identified excessive smartphone use and regulating measures are interesting connecting points for future research.

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92 Appendix A: Interview Guide English

A) Introduction 1. Welcome and introduce the interviewer

2. Warm-up • Smalltalk to generate a comfortable atmosphere

3. Overview on the research project and notes on the participation in the interview • You participate in a study which is part of my master thesis. The study examines the use of smartphones in everyday life. • Your personal data will be anonymized. The recorded interview will be transcribed and anonymized by coding your personal characteristics such as names and places. • Do you agree with recording the interview? • You got an informed consent form via e-mail from me. Did you read it? Do you have any questions on this form? • The interview is intended to be an open conversation. All of your thoughts and aspects are relevant. I mostly hold back and just ask some questions here and then. • Do you have any questions before we start?

B) Topics relevant for the research project

1. The smartphone in everyday life • Can you please describe how you use your smartphone on an ordinary weekday? What have you done with it yesterday? Are there differences in your use on weekends? • Follow-up questions • In which situations do you use your smartphone? How important is your smartphone to you? Can you describe which impacts your smartphone has on

93 your daily life? What role does your smartphone play within free time and work/ university? • Did you develop habits or routines in regard to your smartphone use? • When do you use your smartphone? Where and how long do you use your smartphone? • Why do you use your smartphone and your chosen apps continuously? • How do you feel about constant availability and ubiquitous connectivity? • There is a huge public debate about privacy. How do you feel about this topic?

2. Pros and Cons • How do you benefit from using your smartphone? • Which problematic aspects do you see? • Follow-up questions • Did you have any experiences in regard to your concerns?

3. Selection and relevance of apps • Let’s have a look at your smartphone. Can you please describe which apps you have and show in which way you use them? Can you please rank your apps by relevance? Which app do you like the most? Which one do you like less? Which do you use the most? Which do you use less often or not at all? • Can you describe a typical situation in which you use your favorite app? • Follow-up questions • How do you decide for an app? In context of your selection of apps, what role do user interface, accessibility, usability, monetary aspects and features play?

4. Social aspects and communication • In the context of your smartphone use, can you please describe in which ways you communicate with other people? 94 • Follow-up questions • How do you use your smartphone • to maintain relationships? • to establish new contacts? • How do you use your smartphone • to obtain information? • to observe other users? • to express yourself and to comment? • The aspect of community is one important characteristic of Social Networking Services. What do you think about this aspect? Do you see yourself as part of the community? In which way do you contribute to and profit from the community? • What do you think how open and emotional you are? What do you think about other people’s authenticity, openness, and expression of emotions? What do you think about how other people depict themselves on social networking services? • Do you think about your actions in regard to using your smartphone and apps? • Can you imagine to give away your smartphone? What would be different in your daily life? What would you miss the most?

C) Ending • Do you have any questions? • Sociodemographics (age, position, gender) • Thank you and goodbye

95 Appendix B: Interview Guide German

A) Einleitung 1. Begrüßung und Vorstellung der Interviewerin

2. Aufwärmphase • Smalltalk zur Herstellung einer angenehmen Gesprächssituation

3. Hinweise zum Forschungsprojekt und zur Befragung • Du nimmst an einer Studie teil, die die Nutzung des Smartphones im Alltag untersucht. • Die Studie führe ich im Rahmen meiner Masterarbeit durch. • Deine persönlichen Daten werden anonymisiert. Das aufgezeichnete Interview wird transkribiert und persönliche Merkmale wie Namen und Orte werden durch Codes ersetzt. • Bist du mit der Aufzeichnung des Gesprächs einverstanden? • Du hast eine Einwilligungserklärung von mir per E-Mail erhalten. Hast du diese gelesen? Hast du Fragen dazu? • Das Interview ist als offenes Gespräch gedacht. All deine Gedanken und Anmerkungen sind wichtig für die Studie. Ich halte mich eher zurück und stelle hier und da Fragen. • Hast du noch Fragen bevor wir mit dem Interview beginnen?

B) Für das Forschungsinteresse relevante Themenbereiche

4. Smartphone im Alltag • Erzähl mir bitte, wie du dein Smartphone an einem gewöhnlichen Wochentag benutzen. Was hast du gestern damit gemacht? Unterscheidet sich die Nutzung am Wochenende? • Nachfragen

96 • In welchen Situationen benutzt du dein Smartphone? Wie wichtig ist dir dein Smartphone? Welche Rolle spielt dein Smartphone in der Freizeit & auf der Arbeit/ in der Uni? • Gibt es Gewohnheiten und/oder Routinen, die du im Umgang mit deinem Smartphone entwickelt hast? • Wann benutzt du dein Smartphone? Wo und wie lang nutzt du dein Smartphone? • Warum nutzt du dein Smartphone und die Apps kontinuierlich? • Wie bewertest du ständige Erreichbarkeit, Konnektivität? • Es wird viel über Privatheit im Zusammenhang mit den sozialen Netzwerken diskutiert. Wie denkst du darüber?

5. Vor- und Nachteile • Welche Vorteile bringt dir dein Smartphone und deine Apps? • Welche problematischen Aspekte siehst du im Umgang mit deinem Smartphone? • Nachfragen • Hast du bereits Erfahrungen hinsichtlich deiner Bedenken gemacht?

6. Selektion und Relevanz der Apps • Lass uns einen Blick auf dein Smartphone werfen. Kannst du mir bitte beschreiben, welche Apps du haben und zeigen, wie du diese benutzt? Kannst du deine Apps nach Relevanz sortieren? Welche App nutzt du am liebsten? Welche benutzt du nicht so gern? Welche nutzt du am häufigsten? Welche nutzt du selten oder gar nicht? • Kannst du eine typische Situation beschreiben, in der du deine Lieblings-App verwendest? • Nachfragen • Wie entscheidest du dich für eine App? Inwiefern spielen Benutzeroberfläche, Zugänglichkeit, Benutzerfreundlichkeit, monetäre Aspekte und Funktionen eine Rolle, wenn du dich für eine App entscheidest? 97

7. Soziale Aspekte und Kommunikation • Bitte beschreibe mir, wie du mithilfe deines Smartphones mit anderen Menschen kommunizierst. • Nachfragen • Wie nutzt du dein Smartphone, • um bestehende Beziehungen zu pflegen? • um neue Kontakte zu knüpfen? • Wie nutzt du dein Smartphone, • um dich zu informieren? • um andere Nutzer zu beobachten? • um dich mitzuteilen und zu kommentieren? • Soziale Netzwerke zeichnen sich unter anderem durch den Aspekt der Gemeinschaft aus. Wie bewertest du diesen Gemeinschaftsgedanken? Siehst du dich als der Teil der Community? Was trägst du zu dieser bei, welchen Nutzen ziehst du als Mitglied für dich daraus? • Was denkst du, wie offen und emotional bist du selbst in sozialen Netzwerken? Was denkst du über die Authentizität, Offenheit und Emotionalität anderer Nutzer? Was denkst du darüber, wie andere Nutzer sich in sozialen Netzwerken darstellen? • Denkst du über deine eigenen Handlungen hinsichtlich deines Umgangs mit deinem Smartphone und den Apps nach? • Könntest du dir vorstellen, dein Smartphone abzugeben? Was würde sich in deinem Alltag ändern? Was würdest du am meisten vermissen?

C) Verabschiedung • Bestehen noch Fragen deinerseits? • Danksagung und Verabschiedung

98 Appendix C: Informed Consent English

Ohio University Adult Consent Form Without Signature

Title of Research: Comparison of Smartphone-based Communication between Germans and US Americans Researcher: Peggy Strauchmann, graduate student at E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Advisor: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Debatin

You are being asked to participate in research. For you to be able to decide whether you want to participate in this project, you should understand what the project is about, as well as the possible risks and benefits in order to make an informed decision. This process is known as informed consent. This form describes the purpose, procedures, possible benefits, and risks. It also explains how your personal information will be used and protected. Once you have read this form and your questions about the study are answered, you will be asked to participate. This will allow your participation in this study. Please keep a copy of this document for your files.

Explanation of Study This study investigates how you use your smartphone to communicate and investigates the impact of this device on your daily life. If you agree to participate, you will be asked to do a semi-structured interview that will take about an hour. You should not participate in this study if you have no smartphone or do not use social networking services.

Risks and Discomforts No risks or discomforts are anticipated.

99 Benefits This study is important to science because the results can give insight in the impact of the development of smartphones and the internet have had on communication in our daily lives. You may not benefit, personally by participating in this study. Confidentiality and Records All information you will provide in the course of this study will be kept confidential by the investigator Peggy Strauchmann. Personal data, such as your name or any other data that might allow to identify you, will be anonymized. Additionally, while every effort will be made to keep your study-related information confidential, there may be circumstances where this information must be shared with: * Federal agencies, for example the Office of Human Research Protections, whose responsibility is to protect human subjects in research; * Representatives of Ohio University (OU), including the Institutional Review Board, a committee that oversees the research at OU;

Contact Information If you have any questions regarding this study, please contact investigator Peggy Strauchmann, [email protected], +49(162)9138375, or advisor Prof. Bernhard Debatin, [email protected], (740)593-9809. If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact Dr. Chris Hayhow, Director of Research Compliance, Ohio University, (740)593-0664 or [email protected].

By agreeing to participate in this study, you are agreeing that: 1. you have read this consent form (or it has been read to you) and have been given the opportunity to ask questions and have them answered; 2. you have been informed of potential risks and they have been explained to your satisfaction; 3. you are 18 years of age or older; 4. your participation in this research is completely voluntary; 100 5. you may leave the study at any time; if you decide to stop participating in the study, there will be no penalty to you and you will not lose any benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

101 Appendix D: Informed Consent German

Ohio University Einwilligungserklärung für Erwachsene ohne Unterschrift

Titel der Forschungsarbeit: Vergleich der Kommunikation mittels Smartphone zwischen Deutschen und US-Amerikanern

Forscherin: Peggy Strauchmann, Masterstudentin an der E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Debatin

Sie wurden gebeten, an einer wissenschaftlichen Studie teilzunehmen. Damit Sie entscheiden können, ob Sie an diesem Projekt teilnehmen wollen, ist es wichtig, dass Sie wissen, um was es in dieser Studie geht sowie mögliche Vorteile und möglichen Risiken zu kennen. Diese Kenntnisse sollen Ihnen helfen, Ihre Entscheidung zu fällen. Dieser Vorgang nennt sich Einwilligungserklärung. Dieses Formblatt beschreibt den Zweck, das Vorgehen sowie mögliche Vorteile und mögliche Risiken. Weiterhin wird Ihnen erklärt, wie Ihre persönlichen Daten genutzt und geschützt werden. Nachdem Sie dieses Formular gelesen haben und Ihre Fragen zum Projekt beantwortet sind, sind Sie gebeten, der Teilnahme an der Studie zuzustimmen. Dies ermöglicht dann Ihre Teilnahme an der Studie. Bitte behalten Sie eine Kopie für Ihre Unterlagen.

Erläuterung der Studie Diese Studie untersucht, wie Sie mit Ihrem Smartphone kommunizieren und ermittelt den Einfluss dieses Gerätes auf Ihren Alltag. Wenn Sie der Teilnahme an diesem Projekt zustimmen, werden Sie gebeten an einem Leitfaden- Interview teilzunehmen, welches etwa 60 bis 90 Minuten dauern wird. Sie sollten nicht an dieser Studie teilnehmen, wenn Sie kein Smartphone besitzen und keine soziale Netzwerke benutzen.

Risiken und Unannehmlichkeiten Risiken und Unannehmlichkeiten sind nicht zu erwarten.

102 Nutzen Diese Studie ist in wissenschaftlicher Hinsicht wichtig, da die Ergebnisse Einblick geben können auf den Einfluss von Smartphones und dem Internet auf unsere alltägliche Kommunikation. Ihre Teilnahme an der Studie wird möglicherweise keinen Nutzen für Sie persönlich haben.

Vertraulichkeit und Aufzeichnung Alle Informationen, die Sie im Rahmen dieser Studie zur Verfügung stellen, werden von der Forscherin Peggy Strauchmann vertraulich behandelt. Persönliche Daten, wie Ihren Namen oder andere Daten, die Hinweise auf Ihre Identität geben, werden anonymisiert. Während alle Vorkehrungen getroffen werden, um Ihre studienrelevanten Daten vertraulich zu behandeln, kann es unter Umständen dazu kommen, dass die Informationen an folgende Institutionen weitergegeben werden: * Bundesbehörden, wie das Office of Human Research Protections (Amt für Schutz in der Forschung am Menschen), welches verantwortlich ist, menschliche Probanden in der Forschung zu schützen. * Vertreter der Ohio University (OU), einschließlich des Institutional Review Board (Ethikkommission), ein Ausschuss, der die Forschung an der OU beaufsichtigt.

Kontaktinformationen Wenn Sie noch offene Fragen zu dieser Studie haben, kontaktieren Sie bitte die Forscherin Peggy Strauchmann, [email protected], +49(162)9138375, oder den Betreuer Prof. Bernhard Debatin, [email protected],+1(740)593-9809. Wenn Sie Fragen zu Ihren Rechten als Forschungsteilnehmer haben, kontaktieren Sie bitte Dr. Chris Hayhow, Director of Research Compliance, Ohio University, +1(740)593-0664 or [email protected].

Mit der Zustimmung zu Teilnahme an der Studie, erklären Sie sich damit einverstanden, dass 6. Sie diese Einwilligungserklärung gelesen haben (oder Ihnen vorgelesen wurde) und dass Ihnen die Möglichkeit gegeben wurde, Fragen zu stellen, die Ihnen adäquat beantwortet wurden; 7. Sie auf mögliche Risiken hingewiesen wurden und diese zu zufriedenstellend beantwortet wurden; 8. Sie 18 Jahre oder älter sind; 9. Ihre Teilnahme an dieser Studie vollkommen freiwillig ist;

103 10. Sie Ihre Teilnahme jederzeit beenden können. Wenn Sie sich dazu entschließen, abzubrechen, wird dies keine Nachteile für Sie haben und Sie werden keine Vorteile dadurch einbüßen.

104 Appendix E: IRB Approval

01.09.17, 17(34

Project Number 17-E-222 Project Status APPROVED Committee: Office of Research Compliance Compliance Contact: Rochelle Reamy ([email protected]) Primary Investigator: Peggy Strauchmann Project Title: Comparison of Smartphone-based Communication between Germans and US Americans Level of Review: EXEMPT

The Ohio University Office of Research Compliance reviewed and approved by exempt review the above referenced research. The Office of Research Compliance was able to provide exempt approval under 45 CFR 46.101(b) because the research meets the applicability criteria and one or more categories of research eligible for exempt review, as indicated below.

IRB Approval: 09/01/2017 09:54:13 AM Review Category: 2

Waivers: Waiver of signed consent

If applicable, informed consent (and HIPAA research authorization) must be obtained from subjects or their legally authorized representatives and documented prior to research involvement. In addition, FERPA, PPRA, and other authorizations must be obtained, if needed. The IRB-approved consent form and process must be used. Any changes in the research (e.g., recruitment procedures, advertisements, enrollment numbers, etc.) or informed consent process must be approved by the IRB before they are implemented (except where necessary to eliminate apparent immediate hazards to subjects).

It is the responsibility of all investigators and research staff to promptly report to the Office of Research Compliance / IRB any serious, unexpected and related adverse and potential unanticipated problems involving risks to subjects or others.

This approval is issued under the Ohio University OHRP Federalwide Assurance #00000095. Please feel free to contact the Office of Research Compliance staff contact listed above with any questions or concerns.

https://leo.research.ohio.edu/secure/leo/IRB/viewApprovalLetter.leo?formID=7760 Seite 1 von 1

105 Appendix F: Thematic Matrix

106

107

108

109 Appendix G: Interview Transcript G_1_F

G_1_F: Hallo Peggy.

I: Ich sehe dich zumindest. Hallo. Ich glaub, die Kamera ist sauber genug.

G_1_F: Okay, gut, sonst hätte ich noch mal nachgeputzt, weil ich habe das sonst immer abgeklebt.

I: Ich eigentlich auch, aber ja, nö.

G_1_F: Gut.

I: Es geht ja auch hauptsächlich um das, was wir besprechen.

G_1_F: Okay.

I: Ja, genau. Erstmal danke, dass du dir die Zeit dafür nimmst. Es geht ja hier um eine Studie über die Nutzung des Smartphones im Alltag für meine Masterarbeit.

G_1_F: Ja.

I: Dabei werden deine persönlichen Daten dann aber anonymisiert, also das aufgezeichnete Interview wird dann transkribiert und dann werden deine persönlichen Merkmale wie Name und Orte mit Codes versehen, so dass das wirklich anonymisiert ist. Hier noch mal die Frage, die Aufzeichnung des Gesprächs, dass du damit einverstanden bist.

G_1_F: Ja, ich bin einverstanden.

I: Sehr schön. Die Einwilligungserklärung hatte ich dir ja auch zugesendet. Hast du dir die durchgelesen?

G_1_F: Genau habe ich gelesen.

I: Hattest du da noch irgendwelche Fragen dazu?

G_1_F: Nein, alles gut.

110 I: Gut. Das Interview ist als ein offenes Gespräch gedacht, also alle deine Gedanken, Anmerkungen, Aspekte sind wichtig und relevant für mich. Ich stell immer Fragen und hoffe von dir erstmal viel Input zu bekommen und dann frag ich nach an den Stellen, wo ich noch was wissen möchte.

G_1_F: Ja. Mir fällt grad ein, ich habe meinen Telefonton noch an. Ich würde das mal grad ausmachen. Damit es nicht reinklingelt oder so.

I: Ja klar.

G_1_F: So.

I: Das ist eine gute Idee, das habe ich auch schon gemacht. Hast du jetzt erstmal noch Fragen, sonst geht es dann los.

G_1_F: Ich habe keine weiteren Fragen.

I: Okay. Dann beginnen wir jetzt mit dem Interview. Und zwar möchte ich erstmal, dass du mir mal erzählst, wie du dein Smartphone an einem gewöhnlichen Wochentag, wie du es z.B. gestern benutzt. Also was hast du gestern so damit gemacht?

G_1_F: Ich benutze es direkt morgens beim Aufstehen als Wecker. Dabei stelle ich mir mehrere Wecker und bin auch großer Fan der Snooze-Funktion. Das heißt, da begleitet mich mein Smartphone quasi schon. Dann schaue ich, bevor ich rausgehe, wie das Wetter ist, damit ich mich passend anziehe. Manchmal mache ich das auch auf dem Rechner. Also ich habe meinen Rechner und mein Smartphone meistens zusammen mit. Also mein Smartphone eigentlich immer und meinen Rechner sag ich mal zu 90 Prozent auch. Deswegen, Sachen, die mir auf dem Smartphone zu klein sind, da benutze ich dann gleich meinen Rechner. Ist auch relevant für dich was ich habe? Für ein Smartphone?

I: Wenn das irgendwie in deiner Nutzung wichtig ist.

G_1_F: Nö, weiß nicht, ob du erhebst, ob jemand ein Samsung benutzt oder ein iPhone oder…

I: Ist jetzt nicht vorrangig das Interessanteste.

G_1_F: Gut. Ja. Dann fahre ich meistens Straßenbahn und auch wenn ich laufe. Ich benutze es während ich entweder auf Arbeit fahre oder in die Uni fahre oder 111 Besorgungen mache, um mich währenddessen über Nachrichten auf dem Laufenden zu halten, mit Freunden zu kommunizieren, noch Sachen zu organisieren. Dass ich, wenn ich unterwegs bin und noch mal in eine E-Mail gucken muss, wo genau ich jetzt hinmuss, dann mache ich das auch mit meinem Smartphone. Das ist das einzige wofür ich es benutze. Ich höre keine Musik unterwegs, ich gucke mir auch keine Videos an, ich mache keine Spiele oder irgendwas damit. Ich benutze es mehr oder minder, um mich zu informieren und um mich, ja, auf dem Laufenden zu halten mit Freunden und Nachrichten. Wofür benutze ich es noch? Um Fotos zu machen, falls mir unterwegs irgendwas auffällt, oder was ich witzig finde oder generell, um zu fotografieren. Ich habe momentan keine Kamera, das heißt, ich mache das alles mit dem Smartphone. Ich schaue natürlich auch vorher, wann die Bahn kommt. Ich guck mal grad auf mein Telefon, was ich noch so nutze.

I: Ja, gerne.

G_1_F: Wann die Bahn kommt, dafür, also wann die Straßenbahn und der Bus kommen und welche Verbindung da die günstigste ist. Dann wenn ich, ich benutze ein Carsharing- Service und wenn ich mir da ein…die Katze wollte nur kurz aufs Sofa… wenn ich da mir ein Auto gebucht habe oder noch eins buchen will oder gucken möchte, inwieweit was verfügbar ist, dann mach ich das. Ebay-Kleinanzeigen gucke ich ab und zu, also wenn ich da grad was abhole, dann gucke ich da auch mal nach, wieviel Uhr wollten wir uns treffen und wie sieht derjenige aus. Dann, was benutze ich noch so tagsüber? Die Wetter- App habe ich schon erwähnt, den Kalender benutze ich nicht, weil der aus irgendeinem Grund sich selbst löscht. Den Taschenrechner benutze ich, großer Fan von, die Taschenlampe ab und zu auch und dann natürlich Social Media Sachen wie WhatsApp, Instagram und Twitter, Facebook, diverse Kommunikationskanäle, Tinder habe ich auch, ein Kommunikationskanal. Ab und zu höre ich auch Radio damit, wenn ich mich in meiner Wohnung bewege, dass ich halt nicht irgendwo ganz laut was anmachen muss, dann nehme ich es mit ins Bad und benutze es von dort aus. Was ich auch mittracke, ist mein Gewicht und mein Zyklus, also wenn da irgendwie was passiert, dann zeichne ich das per App auf. Das mache ich aber auch nicht jeden Tag, das mache ich eher so einmal die Woche, mich wiegen und so weiter. Was benutze ich noch? Ja und halt Push- Meldungen, also wenn Nachrichten reinkommen, dann gucke ich mir auch solche Apps an. Ich glaube, das wäre es gewesen.

I: Und jetzt hatte ich dich ja nach einem Wochentag an sich gebeten. Jetzt hast du ein bisschen reflektiert, welche Apps du alle benutzt. Gibt es einen Unterschied zur Nutzung am Wochenende? Nutzt du es da anders als in der Woche?

112 G_1_F: Nein, weil ich gar nicht so dieses 9 to 5 Montag bis Freitag Arbeitsmodell habe, sondern auch viel am Wochenende arbeite. Also heute habe ich z.B. frei, es ist mitten in der Woche und deswegen unterscheidet sich das bei mir nicht groß. Ich schlafe auch nicht länger am Wochenende.

I: Okay.

G_1_F: Manchmal vergesse ich auch, welcher Wochentag ist.

I: Du arbeitest ja und Uni bist du schon fertig, richtig?

G_1_F: Ich bin noch im letzten Semester, ich schreibe meine Bachelorarbeit jetzt.

I: Okay.

G_1_F: Und arbeite aber viel von zu Hause aus.

I: Ja. Also die Rolle des Smartphones mal im Vergleich zwischen Freizeit und Arbeit bzw. Uni. Wie unterscheidet sich da die Nutzung?

G_1_F: Zur Arbeitszeit benutze ich es fast gar nicht. Es sei denn, es ist wirklich nichts los oder mal in der Pause, das schon. In der Uni ist es eigentlich permanent, also es lag halt immer vor mir in Vorlesungen usw. Das ist bei immer so ein bisschen ein fließender Übergang, weil ich es ja permanent mithabe und im Homeoffice arbeite. Und dann ist es eigentlich auch, also wenn eine Nachricht reinkommt, glaube ich, beantworte ich die, wenn ich arbeite ein bisschen langsamer, einfach weil ich dann was zu tun habe, in meiner Freizeit geht das ein bisschen fixer. Das stimmt schon. Also in der Freizeit kommuniziere ich mehr persönlich mit Menschen und auf Arbeit dauert das ein bisschen länger.

I: Aber du nutzt es in beiden Kontexten? Also du nutzt es auch für die Arbeit, um da zu kommunizieren oder für die Uni. Oder nutzt du es im Arbeitskontext nicht? Also jetzt zum Nachrichten schreiben oder dich informieren machst du ja sicherlich auch teilweise für den Job?

G_1_F: Genau.

I: Also du nutzt das für beide Seiten, privat und…

113 G_1_F: Wir kommunizieren auch von der Arbeit aus sehr viel über Facebook und Facebook Messenger, weil es einfach das schnellste ist. Es ist sogar schneller als wenn ich jetzt die drei Meter weiter zum nächsten Schreibtisch laufe, weil ja Gewusel in der Redaktion entsteht und im Großraumbüro machen wir da viel über Messenger.

I: Okay.

G_1_F: So ist das bei uns.

I: Ja jetzt hast du ja schon, wie gesagt, auch einiges erzählt, was du benutzt und so. Wenn du jetzt mal darüber nachdenkst, wie du das benutzt, denkst du oder siehst du bei dir Gewohnheiten oder Routinen. Also dein Wecker wäre jetzt z.B. so eine Routine, den du ja jeden Morgen stellst, aber so im Kontext auf Kommunikation, gibt es da Routinen oder Gewohnheiten, die sich da mit dem Smartphone in deinen Alltag eingeschlichen haben?

G_1_F: Ja, ich mache mittlerweile nachts das Telefon auch in den Flugmodus, also das ich da nicht erreichbar bin. Auch wenn ich bei Freunden übernachte oder bei Menschen generell zu Hause, da will ich nicht gestört werden, denn ich bin jemand, der wacht sofort davon auf. Also ich habe dann auch dieses innere Bedürfnis schon, oh es ist irgendwas passiert, ich muss nachgucken, ich habe eine Nachricht bekommen. Ich glaube das haben sehr viele meiner Generation. Dadurch das da, andersrum. Ich möchte halt einen ruhigen Schlaf haben und dass ich da nicht gestört werde, mache ich es in den Flugmodus. Abends stelle ich mir meinen Wecker für morgens, morgens mache ich ihn dann aus, das ist eine Routine. Bevor ich losgehe, schaue ich wann die Bahn kommt und wie das Wetter draußen ist, ob ich einen Regenschirm mitnehmen muss z.B. Und morgens mache ich es dann natürlich aus dem Flugmodus raus und gucke erstmal welche Nachrichten sind reingekommen, was ist super dringend zu beantworten und was hat ein bisschen Zeit.

I: Machst du das gleich schon mit Ausschalten des Weckers oder später erst, dass du den Flugmodus rausnimmst?

G_1_F: Später erst, weil ich es meist vergesse.

I: Es ist ja so, dass das Smartphone an sich jetzt noch nicht so lange, also ein relativ neues Gerät, was sich bei uns im Alltag mit eingeschlichen hat. Durch das WLAN und die mobilen Daten, Flatrates und so ist es ja, gibt es ja eine sogenannte ständige Erreichbarkeit, die du ja grad schon gesagt hast, die du durchbrichst durch den

114 Flugmodus z.B. Aber tagsüber ist es ja immer noch so. Wie bewertest du diese ständige Erreichbarkeit?

G_1_F: Einerseits als angenehme, weil ich natürlich nicht zu Freunden, im Kindesalter musste ich halt zu Freunden gehen und klopfen und fragen, weiß ich nicht, kann Freundin 1 mit rauskommen spielen? Oder man wusste, also ich wusste auch noch ganz viele feste Telefonnummern auswendig. Ich weiß die auch heute noch, aber das beschränkt sich halt auf fünf, weil mehr Leute kein Festnetztelefon haben. Insofern empfinde ich es als positiv, auch irgendwie immer erreichbar zu sein, wenn ich jetzt z.B. von einem Unfall lese in meiner Heimat und das Alter und das Auto passt irgendwie zu dem meiner Eltern, dann ist es natürlich, viel fixer hat man mal kurz rübergetickert oder sich mit Geschwistern ausgetauscht, ob alles zu Hause okay ist, denn es könnte ja immer sein. Andererseits ist man natürlich auch selber erreichbar. Ich glaube, das sagen viele, ich kann viel damit machen, aber mir geht es manchmal ein bisschen auf den Sack. Das stört mich aber nicht, denn ich kann ja trotzdem noch entscheiden, wann ich darauf reagiere. Und ich finde auch diesen Trend, den ich nach und nach in sozialen Medien mitbekommen, dass junge Menschen gar nicht mehr so gern telefonieren und vielleicht sagen so “Hä, bist du aus den 90igern, warum rufst du mich an?” Das kann ich z.B. gar nicht nachvollziehen. Also wenn es wirklich richtig wichtig ist oder wenn es sich um einen relevanten Termin handelt oder so offizielle Sachen, was weiß ich, Nachzahlungen, Zahnarzttermin usw., da könnte ich mir nicht vorstellen auf die Telefonierfunktion zu verzichten. Und das ist halt so was sehr Unmittelbares, womit man vielleicht auch nicht direkt rechnet, aber ich gehe gleichzeitig auch immer ans Telefon, wenn mich jemand anruft. Da bin ich, glaube ich, old school genug. Einerseits schätze ich das, dass alle Menschen irgendwie immer erreichbar sind, aber ich akzeptier es und respektier es auch, wenn ich mal nicht direkt eine Antwort bekomme. Und wenn ich direkt eine Antwort möchte, dann rufe ich an.

I: Jetzt haben wir schon über einiges gesprochen, was das Smartphone im Alltag so macht. Um es jetzt noch mal auf den Punkt zu bringen, welche Vorteile bringt dir dein Smartphone in deinem Alltag?

G_1_F: Ich wohne in der Stadt, das heißt ich habe immer eine Internetverbindung und ich kann prinzipiell immer auf alles zugreifen. Das finde ich super, sowohl Wissen als auch Kontakte, Menschen. Das ist, glaube ich, der sehr große Vorteil. Der große Nachteil daran ist natürlich, dass man immer auf Strom und Internet angewiesen ist. Und der Nachteil natürlich auch es gibt ein paar Cafés, die kein WLAN anbieten und das dann draußen auch entsprechend kommunizieren. Das finde manchmal ein bisschen schade, wenn man so in einer Freundesrunde sitzt oder ich unterwegs bin und junge 115 Menschengruppen sehe, die sich alle mit ihrem Telefon beschäftigen. Also die direkte Kommunikation mit Menschen ziehe ich dann, wenn Menschen da sind, schon vor. Ich finde das persönlich auch anstrengend, wenn ich jetzt ein Date habe und der andere dauernd auf seinem Handy darauf rumtippt.

I: Da bist du jetzt gleich schon zu einem Nachteil gekommen. Und gibt es noch andere problematische Aspekte, die du im Umgang mit deinem Smartphone siehst?

G_1_F: Wenn ich nachts z.B. unterwegs bin, gut ich habe ein altes Telefon und was auch noch ein bisschen kaputt ist, dann habe ich irgendwie das Gefühl trotzdem so ein bisschen so Angriffsfläche zu sein, weil man schon viel liest und viel hört von wegen Smartphone oder Portemonnaie usw. geklaut. Das ist aber glaube ich was, was man überall hat, egal ob man jetzt seinen Rechner so rumträgt oder sein Smartphone oder sein Portemonnaie. Das mache ich ja auch damit nicht. Ja und es ist in manchen Altersgruppen glaube ich so eine Art Status, also welches Telefon hat wer. Nachteil? Ja, man ist ständig auf Strom angewiesen. Man muss es ja einmal am Tag im Schnitt laden. Es sei denn man hat eine Powerbank, die man ja auch laden muss. Mehr fällt mir grad nicht ein. Ja und, da fällt mir noch ein Vorteil ein. Man verzichtet auf ganz viele Sachen, also einen Wecker z.B., der ja auch ohne Strom funktioniert, zumindest wenn man so einen altmodischen hat. Man spart auch ganz viel gleichzeitig ganz viele Geräte, was auch wieder ein Vorteil ist, finde ich. Also ich habe jetzt z.B. kein eigenes Radio, kein eigenen Wecker, ich weiß nicht was noch, meinen Kalender spar ich mir, man kann auf ganz viel verzichten, weil man alles in so einem kleinen Ding drin hat.

I: Kamera hast du ja auch schon gesagt, nutzt du jetzt hauptsächlich von deinem Telefon.

G_1_F: Stimmt.

I: Navigationsgerät z.B., da gibt es ja auch viele, die jetzt mittlerweile nur noch das Handy benutzen.

G_1_F: Ja, ja, aber ich fahre wenig selber und wenn dann fahre ich dahin, wo ich, da gucke ich mir die Route vorher an und dann fahre ich dahin, wo ich hinmöchte, äh quatsch, dann fahre ich dahin, wo ich mich auskenne, so rum, jetzt habe ich es. Und da kann ja auch jederzeit passieren, dass der Akku leer geht oder dass es keine Internetverbindung gibt. Also ich komme aus einem, in meiner Heimat gibt es zwischen zwei Orten nicht mal Mobilfunkempfang, also wenn man da einen Unfall hat, kann man da nicht mal anrufen, deswegen…

116 I: Gibt’s immer noch in Deutschland.

G_1_F: gucke ich mir vorher immer an, wo ich hinmuss. Ja, aber ich schätze es auch sehr, dass wenn ich, ich bin letztes nach Brandenburg gefahren an den dunkelsten Ort Deutschlands, nach Ort 1, um Sterne zu gucken und dann habe ich natürlich geguckt, wo wir sind auf der Autobahn und wie lange es noch dauert, aber das ist echt ein Ausnahmefall. Das mache ich nicht jeden Tag.

I: Du hast ja vorhin selber schon mal einen Blick auf dein Smartphone geworfen, um zu gucken, welche Apps du da so benutzt. Kannst du ja vielleicht noch mal tun und mir noch mal sagen, welche Apps du da so hast und auch wie du die benutzt. Und vor allem auch nach Relevanz, also welche du am liebsten benutzt und welche nicht so gern.

G_1_F: Soll ich jetzt alle aufzählen?

I: Du musst nicht alle, aber vielleicht schon so die relevantesten, also die du wirklich am liebsten benutzt und vielleicht auch welche, die du gar nicht gerne benutzt, aber vielleicht trotzdem noch als Leiche drauf hast sozusagen.

G_1_F: Also ich habe ein iPhone und da halt die Apps alle in Gruppen sortiert, deswegen würde ich da mal Gruppe für Gruppe so durchgehen.

I: Du kannst gern die Gruppen nennen.

G_1_F: Genau, also ich habe Gruppen angelegt, Bild, alles was mit Fotos und Fotobearbeitung zu tun hat. Crossmedia, also das ist auch so ein Arbeitsding, erkläre ich gleich noch. Es gibt Quellen, aber ich würde es eher als Medien bezeichnen, also Apps von MDR, ARD usw., Social Media gibt es eine Gruppe, dann gibt es eine Gruppe, die sich mit Reisen von A nach B kommen beschäftigt, Organisation, wo Zeug reinkommt wie Kalender und dann gibt es noch eine Gruppe, die heißt iMüll, das ist so Zeug, das ich nicht löschen kann, was vorinstalliert ist und was ich aber fast nie benutze. Ich fange an mit Social Media, weil es für mich das relevanteste ist. Klar die SMS, die nutze ich sehr selten. Ich habe zwei, nee drei Messenger drauf, die verschlüsselte Kommunikation, die verschlüsselt, wie heißt das denn, mir fehlen grad die Worte, verschlüsselt verschicken.

I: Nachrichten verschlüsselt verschicken.

G_1_F: Ja genau, das meine ich. Das sind Telegram, Viber und Signal, wobei ich Signal am häufigsten verwende von den drei. Instagram natürlich, weil ich einen Instagram- 117 Account habe. Die beiden Facebook-Apps, Facebook selbst und den Messenger, benutzte ich nicht so gerne auf dem Telefon, weil ich das Gefühl habe, dass die so viel Rechenleistung fordern, dass mein Telefon da oft abstürzt. Twitter natürlich, benutze ich selber viel, vor allem um mich zu informieren, weil das glaube ich am fixesten ist und WhatsApp, weil da einfach ganz viele sind, deswegen komme ich davon nicht los. Mir wäre natürlich lieber, wenn die Leute zu Signal und Telegram wechseln. Skype benutze ich nie auf dem Telefon, Lovoo, Tinder benutze ich selten. Vine gibt es glaube ich mittlerweile gar nicht mehr, die wurden abgeschafft, habe ich aber trotzdem noch drauf. Jodel habe ich auch drauf, aus Trendgründen, nutze ich aber nie. Periscope benutze ich auch nicht mehr, weiß gar nicht, ob es das noch gibt. Snapchat benutze ich auch nicht mehr. Dann natürlich für mich super wichtig, um von A nach B zu kommen, die, also ich komme jetzt zu den Reisen-Apps, für mich die Verkehrsbetriebe Heimatstadt App, also um in Heimatstadt mobil zu sein, um zu wissen welche Straßenbahn wo fährt und ob was Verspätung hat. Blablacar habe ich viel benutzt als ich im Praktikum war und jeden Tag hin und her fahren musste. TeilAuto, weil ich da Mitglied bin und ab und zu ein Auto brauche. Ebay Kleinanzeigen auch Mitglied, um so ab und zu Dinge für meine Wohnung, dann die App von der Bahn, weiß ich nicht warum ich die draufhabe, weil ich nie Bahn fahre, also Deutsche Bahn. Und eine Karten-App, um halt mal zu wissen, wo ich bin, falls ich mich verlaufe. Dann die Organisations-App, die Uhr, da ist auch der Wecker mit drin und eine Stoppuhr und ein Timer usw. Also das ist vorinstalliert auf dem iPhone. Die Wetter-App, super wichtig, jeder redet übers Wetter, immer ein tolles Thema und natürlich wichtig, wie ich mich anziehen muss. Der Taschenrechner, benutze ich auch viel, den Kalender benutze ich gar nicht auf diesem Telefon, weil wie gesagt der sich ständig selbst löscht. Die Notizen benutzte ich sehr viel, um bspw. mir aufzuschreiben, wenn jemand von einem interessanten Film redet oder von einer Serie oder von einer Band, dann schreibe ich mir das kurz mit und dann weiß ich, was ich mit meinen Freunden als nächstes gucke. Dann Women Lock, das ist eine App, um seinen Zyklus mitzutracken, nutze ich auch mehrfach dann im Monat, um auch mein Gewicht einzutragen. Die Einstellungen und den App Store kann man nicht löschen. Mindmeister, das gibt es auch als Webseite, da bin ich eigentlich mehr als, das konsumiere ich mehr als auf dem Telefon und ich organisiere mich damit auf dem Rechner. Da kann man so Mindmaps erstellen zu allen möglichen Themen. Erinnerungen und Dropbox nutze ich auf Telefon nicht, habe ich aber trotzdem drauf. Dann die Müll-Kategorie, da benutze ich eigentlich nur eine App, die heißt Nightsky, damit kann man, wenn man nachts unterwegs ist, sein Telefon gegen den Himmel halten und sehen welche Sternenbilder da sind und welche Planeten man sieht usw. Finde ich manchmal ganz nett. Dann gibt es natürlich unter Bild noch die Foto-App und diverse Fotobearbeitungs-Apps wie Picsart, Snapseed, Color Effects, Layout, Tin-App usw. benutze ich ab und zu. Crossmedia, da sind so die Dinge drauf wie Wavepad-Verknüpfung zu Wordpress für Blogs, weil ich 118 auch eher vom Rechner aus blogge. Diverse Apps, um Statistiken zu erfassen, welche Tags grad in sind bei Instagram und so Zeug, benutze ich ab und zu. Was ich aber viel noch benutze, sind Quellen bzw. Medien, also Push-Meldungen von MDR Aktuell und Spiegel kriegt man ja öfter mal. Die App vom Deutschlandfunk ist drauf, Spotify, benutze ich aber auf dem Telefon gar nicht. Detektor ist drauf, die Tagesschau, Newsspeed, FAZ, Podcasts und so. Die Podcasts habe ich auch mal lange genutzt, benutze ich mittlerweile nicht mehr und vorinstalliert ist natürlich noch ein Browser, benutze ich ab und zu, aber finde ich auf dem Telefon sehr frickelig. Und natürlich den E-Mail, den überquellenden E-Mail-Postzugang, E-Mail-Postfach, weil ich das auch auf dem Rechner abrufe. Die Telefonierfunktion, auch wichtig. Das wäre es gewesen.

I: Kannst du daraus, also du hast ja schon gesagt, Social Media ist somit das Wichtigste, für die Kommunikation denke ich. Hast du eine Lieblings-App?

G_1_F: Nein, ich finde sie alle irgendwie anstrengend.

I: Okay. Und

G_1_F: Glaube ich, weil ich damit nur wenigen Menschen schreibe, das ist auch so einer der verschlüsselten Messenger.

I: Welche war das? Das habe ich akustisch grad nicht verstanden.

G_1_F: Signal heißt das.

I: Signal.

G_1_F: Das schreibt sich auch Signal und es ist verschlüsselt. Man kann auch kleine Zeichnungen schicken und es ist so ein bisschen, glaube ich, das Schnurtelefon unter den Kommunikations-Apps. Also es ist nicht so wie WhatsApp, aber die Menschen, mit denen ich da schreibe, das sind glaube ich die, die mir am nächsten stehen und da freue ich mich natürlich am ehesten, wenn da Nachrichten kommen.

I: Kannst du da eine typische Situation beschreiben, wie du diese App verwendest? Also nur wenn dir jemand schreibt oder machst du das manchmal, also einfach mal so beschreiben, wie du diese App benutzt.

G_1_F: Ich benutze diese App natürlich, wenn ich eine Nachricht bekomme und antworte dann auch sehr viel fixer als bei WhatsApp drauf, weil WhatsApp finde ich ziemlich 119 nervig, weil man da dauernd irgendwas bekommt, auch in Gruppenchats. Ich habe seltsamerweise das Gefühl, dass die Kommunikation auf diesem Kanal zielgerichteter ist, also weniger Blödsinn da kommt und auch persönlicher. Ich verabrede mich eher mit den Leuten, um mich zu treffen, sag dann noch mal, wenn ich losgehe, weil ich gehe meistens im Dunkeln los und dann möchte ich auch, dass derjenige weiß, dass ich irgendwann hoffentlich ankomme. Ja und da passiert nicht so viel Quatsch. Klar schicke ich da auch mal ein Foto oder ein GIF oder ähnliches, aber es ist ernsthafter, habe ich das Gefühl. Und ich benutze die App, ja schon täglich, aber nicht so viel wie WhatsApp, weil wie gesagt, da nicht so viele Menschen unterwegs sind.

I: Also, WhatsApp benutzt du häufiger, aber lieber sozusagen Signal?

G_1_F: Ja, genau. WhatsApp benutze ich deswegen häufiger, weil halt da mehr Nachrichten reinkommen. Also da bin ich in Gruppenchats mit Freunden organisiert, Sportgruppen, was weiß ich, wenn Radiosender 1 mal wieder einen Moderator braucht. Ja also WhatsApp finde ich bisschen nerviger.

I: Okay. Wie entscheidest du dich für eine App? Warum downloadest du eine App?

G_1_F: Ich lade mir selten Apps runter. Ich entscheide mich dann für eine App, wenn die total im Trend liegt. Ich weiß nicht, es gab mal Peach. Das war ein Netzwerk ähnlich wie, weiß ich nicht, ja man könnte es vielleicht mit Instagram vergleichen oder diesen WhatsApp Status, was es jetzt gibt. Es hat aber innerhalb von einem Wochenende komplett den, alle Lebenszyklen eines sozialen Netzwerkes durchgemacht. Also von Leute kommen auf Einladung hin, zu wir geben alles frei, so wie es bei Facebook auch erst war, dann wurde es zumindest unter den paar Early Adopter nennt man sie glaube ich total gehypt und da habe ich sie mir auch runtergeladen. Und dann lief natürlich an dem Wochenende ganz viel und am Montag war sie schon wieder tot. Also wenn irgendwie so was im Trend ist, was mich persönlich aber auch anspricht, dann mache ich es. Also Spiele z.B. kommen da gar nicht in Frage. Wenn irgendwie was vielversprechend ist und ich es auf den entsprechenden Digitalseiten oder in Technikabteilungen auch lese. Dann lade ich mir was runter, wenn ich es natürlich unbedingt brauche, wenn ich es meine. Also auch wenn es auf Arbeit heißt, es gibt eine neue App, ladet euch die mal runter, weil die Nutzer dann unter Umständen fragen dazu haben, dann muss ich das natürlich machen und gucke mir das an. Wann mache ich es noch? Wenn ich irgendwie ein unmittelbares Bedürfnis dazu habe und das auch wirklich brauche. Also z.B. die TeilAuto-App. Wenn ich TeilAuto, wenn ich da nicht Kunde wäre und das nicht nutzen würde, hätte ich keinen Grund mir das runterzuladen. Also muss schon bei mir, glaube ich, relativ hohe Hürde haben. Ich lade mir selten Apps runter, auch wenn es mittlerweile 120 viele sind auf diesem Telefon. Da habe ich jetzt bestimmt drei, vier Jahre gesammelt und schmeiß auch sehr schnell Dinge runter.

I: Hast du eine App, die Geld gekostet hat?

G_1_F: Nein.

I: Also, das ist für dich sozusagen auch ein Aspekt, dass es kostenlos ist?

G_1_F: Ja, das kann ich dann meistens auch mit dem Rechner machen, weil das Telefon relativ klein ist oder Spiele z.B., für die man Geld ausgibt, sowas benutze ich überhaupt gar nicht.

I: Du hast ja grad schon gesagt, du schmeißt die auch schnell wieder runter. Liegt das dann daran, also kann das auch an sowas wie Benutzerfreundlichkeit oder sowas liegen oder was ist da der Grund?

G_1_F: Ja. Also entweder, wenn ich feststelle, ich benutze es nicht oder wenn es nicht funktioniert, oder wenn es, wie ich vorhin schon ansprach, die Facebook-App stürzt immer mal ab, das regt mich persönlich total auf. Facebook benutze ich auf dem Telefon fast gar nicht, aber es hat halt noch, das ist z.B. eine App, die hat für mich eine zu große Relevanz. Also ich empfange zwar Nachrichten und kann dann nicht immer antworten, aber ich sehe es erstmal. Und ja dadurch, dass wir auch auf Arbeit kommunizieren darüber, kann ich das nicht runterwerfen. Wenn ich feststelle, ich brauche es z.B. nicht mehr, also ich war mal Geocachen, das lasse ich mittlerweile auch und deswegen habe ich die Apps wieder gelöscht. Also wenn ich es nicht brauche, wenn sie irgendwie Quatsch sind. Manche Dinge kann ich leider nicht löschen, deswegen gibt es diesen iMüll-Ordner.

I: Spielt für dich auch die Zugänglichkeit eine Rolle, also wieviel Daten du da angeben musst, um die zu benutzen?

G_1_F: Ja, also wenn ich z.B. für eine App meine Facebook-Daten hergeben muss. Oder mich stört z.B. auch beim Applestore, dass die halt genau wissen, was ich benutzte, wie oft ich es benutze. Ja, also wie viele Daten ich für irgendwas hergeben muss ist schon sehr relevant. Ich habe auch mir quasi mehrere Identitäten zugelegt, wenn ich mich irgendwo registriere online, also sei es bei Bestellseiten oder ähnlichem. Da gucke ich halt immer, was ist wirklich relevant dafür. Also klar, wenn ich jetzt was bestelle, muss meine Adresse richtig sein Aber z.B., wenn ich mich bei Pinterest anmelde, dann sehe ich 121 überhaupt nicht ein, warum die mein wahres echtes Geburtsdatum wissen sollen, da habe ich halt so paar Sachen. Oder bei Dating-Zeug auch, was ich dann mal aus Recherchegründen angucken will, um es mal gesehen zu haben, dann gebe ich da auch nicht meine persönlichen Daten ein, so angelegte Fakedaten.

I: Da sind wir gleich schon bei einem Thema, das ja eh viel in dem Zusammenhang diskutiert wird, die Privatheit sozusagen. Und im Zusammenhang mit den sozialen Netzwerken, das wird ja viel diskutiert. Das hast du ja jetzt grad schon gesagt, es ist für dich scheinbar auch definitiv ein Thema oder? Wenn du dir da Fake-Identitäten zum Teil zulegst. Oder wie denkst du da so drüber?

G_1_F: Bei manchen Sachen ist es natürlich relevant, anzugeben wer man ist und wo man hingehört. Also es gibt bestimmt auch Menschen, die Content ab 18, was weiß ich, Spiele oder irgendwas sich kaufen im Netz, dann ist das natürlich relevant, was man da angibt. Natürlich auch um gefunden zu werden, also Facebook schlägt einem ja Leute vor mit denen man zur Schule gegangen ist usw. Und wenn ich dann eine Freundschaftsanfrage bekomme, dann möchte ich natürlich auch die Person identifizieren können, meistens anhand des Vornamens und des Bildes, aber das hat Grenzen. Also ich muss z.B. nicht bei Instagram sehen was irgendwer zum Mittagessen hatte oder welche Schuhe er sich gerade gekauft oder wo er grad seine Wohnung neu eingerichtet hat, das halt alles glänzt. Ich muss nicht alles zeigen, das gucke ich mir auch nicht von anderen Leuten an.

I: Wir hatte ja jetzt schon einige Male das Thema des Kommunizierens mit dem Smartphone über diverse Apps. Da ging es bisher hauptsächlich um bestehende Beziehungen, die du dann pflegst, sozusagen, also sei es jetzt Arbeitskontakte oder halt mit Freunden über die Signal-App. Wie nutzt du das zum Kommunizieren, um die bestehenden Beziehungen zu pflegen? Ist das immer nur der Impuls, du kriegst eine Nachricht oder muss es einen Anlass geben, dass du jemandem schreibst? Kommt es auch vor, dass du denkst, “ach wie geht es denn dem, ich schreibe dem mal?” Also, wie sieht da so die Verteilung aus?

G_1_F: Es ist ein Mix aus allem, also natürlich bei Freunden und engen Freunden und Familie, da ist das, dass das gegenseitig ist. Also mal schreibt der eine, mal der andere, da muss es nicht immer einen konkreten Grund geben. Wenn es natürlich einen konkreten Grund gibt, z.B. jemand hat Geburtstag, dann wird er sowieso angeschrieben. Was weiß ich, wenn man sich trifft und sich auch im Vorfeld vom Geburtstag, dann frage ich natürlich meine Schwester, wann soll ich da sein, was kann ich mitbringen. Gibt es irgendwie noch einen bestimmten Wunsch zum Geburtstag, weil ich auch keinen Quatsch 122 schenken möchte. Dann ist es natürlich so, wenn eine sehr zweckgebundene Anfrage, oder zweckgebundene Nachricht, natürlich dasselbe in meine Richtung dann, wenn irgendwer herkommen will usw. aber auch grad bei Freunden und Familie immer mal so die Nachricht “Wie geht es dir, was machst du so? Wie ist deine Prüfung gelaufen? Hast du mal Zeit wieder mit zum Sport zu kommen? Wann besuchst du Oma?” Also so Dinge, die nicht grad dringlich sind. Genauso ist es ja mit engen Freunden, das man sagt, “Ich bin grad in Uni-Nähe, wer kommt mit in die Mensa?” Aber es gibt natürlich auch den Fall, sag ich mal, mit nicht so engen Freunden und Bekannten, dass man sieht, aha, derjenige, also auf Facebook sieht, derjenige hat Geburtstag und ich weiß, es ist ein wichtiges Datum, dann ist es natürlich ein Anschreiben, was dann nur auch diesen Zweck, Sinn und Zweck ist. Ab und zu aber auch dieses, ja wie geht es dem oder mit derjenigen oder demjenigen war ich in der Schule zusammen und ich habe jetzt gesehen, sie hat geheiratet und wir haben lange nichts voneinander gehört, also ist das doch ein Anlass mal zu fragen, “Wie geht es dir, was machst du so?” Das kommt aber deutlich weniger vor als dieses Zweckgerichtete oder Alltagskommunikation mit Freunden.

I: Und nutzt du das auch, um neue Kontakte zu knüpfen? Also, wir hatten ja schon, du hast ja schon mal Tinder und Lovoo erwähnt, aber auch so über andere Social Networks. Nutzt du das, um neue Kontakte zu knüpfen?

G_1_F: Manchmal ergibt sich das, also in Facebook-Gruppen z.B., da bin ich in diversen Tausch- und Verschenke-Gruppen. Letztens hatte ich 40 Erdbeer-Pflanzen einfach zu verschenken und dann trifft man sich so mal, aber trifft sich dann danach nicht wieder. Also das ist dann, ja da gibt es dann eben einen konkreten Anlass, warum ich das mache. Neue Menschen kennen lernen? Also ja, diese Dating-Apps, aber das ist auch alles nicht von Dauer und das ist mir bewusst, aber das ist auch einerseits Interesse. Ich möchte Menschen kennen lernen und andererseits aber auch, ja so ein bisschen Recherche mit dabei und drin. Als ich letztes Jahr in eine andere Stadt bin z.B., dann habe ich halt explizit Lovoo dafür genutzt, neue Menschen kennen zu lernen. Ich hatte ein Wochenende lang Zeit, ich kannte niemanden, also habe ich da Leute kennen gelernt. Das ist aber der Ausnahmefall.

I: Und die über Facebook z.B., diese Vorschläge, die du schon genannt hast, Leute, die man vielleicht kennt, nutzt du diese Funktion auch?

G_1_F: Ich gucke immer mal durch, aber ganz viele Menschen kenne ich einfach nicht, also bspw. Radiosender 1 habe ich ja angegeben in meinem Profil und mir werden jetzt die ganzen neuen Menschen vorgeschlagen und ich bin vielleicht einmal pro Monat dort.

123 Ich kenne die Leute halt einfach nicht. Keine Ahnung, da denkt sich halt Facebook, vielleicht kenne ich den und das ist meistens nicht so.

I: Nutzt du dein Smartphone auch, um andere Nutzer zu beobachten sozusagen? Also z.B. Facebook nutzt du jetzt nicht so oft, aber z.B. Instagram ist da ja vielleicht noch ein gutes Beispiel, um durchzuscrollen und zu sehen, ah ja, der ist heute hier Eis essen und der ist heute dort im Urlaub. Machst du das?

G_1_F: Eher zufällig, ich habe letztens bei WhatsApp, den WhatsApp Status nutzen wenige meiner Freunde und ich habe aber jemanden gefunden, mit dem ich mich zwei Mal pro Jahr vielleicht treffe, weil er einfach in einer anderen Stadt wohnt und habe gesehen, dass der im Urlaub ist und habe mich dann halt gefreut, aber das sind eher Zufallsbegegnungen. Das mache ich jetzt nicht aktiv oder ich benutzte auch nicht aktiv Instagram, um irgendwie meinem Schwarm hinterherzuschauen, was er grade macht oder was er zum Mittagessen gegessen hat. Das ist dann eher die private Kommunikation. Also wenn ich von jemandem was wissen möchte, dann schreibe ich ihn direkt an. Das ist aber nicht dieses so anhimmeln von Stars und von den Sternchen und Youtubern, das ist überhaupt nicht meins.

I: Und du selber, nutzt du dein Telefon, um dich mitzuteilen, also z.B. Bilder bei Instagram zu posten oder kommentierst du da auch? Gibst du irgendwelche Lebenszeichen von dir sozusagen?

G_1_F: Ja, also auf Instagram lade ich sehr unregelmäßig mal irgendwas hoch, meistens ist es meine Katze. Also ich gucke auch dann, dass nicht zu viel zu sehen ist, weil das ist ja eine offene Plattform und deswegen will ich nicht, dass derjenige weiß, was im Hintergrund vier Macs und drei große Fernseher stehen und nebenbei noch fünf Goldbaren liegen, sowas, das ist mir dann.

I: Was halt immer so rumliegt bei dir.

G_1_F: Ja genau, was man halt so rumliegen hat. Es ist nicht der Fall, aber trotzdem achte ich dann sehr drauf, was zu sehen ist, auch im Hintergrund. Und ich achte nämlich auch selbst da drauf. Das ist ja oft auch der interessantere Teil der Fotos. Wenn man irgendjemanden neu kennen lernt über eine App und derjenige einem ein Selfie schickt, dann ist natürlich das, was primär zu sehen ist, überhaupt nicht interessant, sondern interessant für mich ist sein Hintergrund, deswegen achte ich sehr darauf. Ich poste meistens meine Katze bei Instagram. Und ich kommentiere bei Instagram z.B. nicht, bei Facebook ja, weil das ist ja irgendwie auch mein Job und so langsam adaptiere ich den, 124 natürlich nicht auf dem klassischen AfD Niveau, aber wir machen uns untereinander so ein bisschen lustig über die Kommentarkultur dann bei Facebook. Gestern z.B. hat ein Kollege was gepostet, da hatte die Regionalzeitung Geburtsort Wurstgutscheine verlost. Und ich komme halt aus Geburtsort und ich weiß, die Menschen dort mögen Wurst. Sein Teaser war: “Endlich mal gute Nachrichten” und dann haben wir uns halt über Wurst und die Tatsache, wer gewonnen hat, ausgelassen und so was würde ich aber eben im normalen Leben nicht kommentieren, nicht bei fremden Leuten oder bei anderen Medien. Das ist dann.

I: Das ist dann so eine Spaßsache und du kommentierst da aber nicht ernsthaft, um irgendwelche Meinungen von anderen zu kommentieren oder deine eigene Meinung kundzutun?

G_1_F: Das sehr selten und ich kommentiere auch nahezu ausschließlich Posts von Freunden. Alles andere denke ich mir, es ist sinnlose Zeit, die man investiert. Es hat meistens kein Ergebnis, weil du sowieso niemanden umstimmen kannst. Also jemand, der wie eben schon gesagt, klassisch AfD wählt, dem kannst du mit einem Argument im Netz meistens nicht kommen. Das interessiert ihn nicht, das hat keinen Erfolg und deswegen sehe ich auch nicht ein, klar regt es mich auf, aber ich reg mich da nicht weiter auf, indem ich da Zeit und Worte investiere.

I: Soziale Netzwerke zeichnen sich ja unter anderem auch durch den Aspekt der Gemeinschaft aus, wie bewertest du diesen Gemeinschaftsgedanken? Und siehst du dich selbst als Teil deiner Community dann?

G_1_F: Ich sehe mich als Teil meiner Community, da ein gewisser Kreis meiner Facebook Freunde z.B. auch recht aktiv ist bei Facebook und teilweise auch damit arbeitet. Es gibt natürlich auch Leute, die da angemeldet sind, aber seit drei Jahren nicht mehr reingeschaut haben. Dann kommunizier ich natürlich auch mit denen über andere Wege. Also Familie z.B., die sind zwar teilweise da angemeldet, aber können damit nichts anfangen oder sind da nicht mehr. Ich sehe mich aber nicht als Teil einer Bewegung oder einer Interessensgemeinschaft, die über meinen Freundeskreis hinausgeht. Also als Teil einer, was weiß ich, Fahrradfahrer-Lobby oder als Teil von, was soll ich sagen, Katzenliebhabern oder dass ich mein Wissen über Pflanzen da bereitstellen muss. Also ich konsumiere sehr viel, bilde mir da dann auch meine Meinung drüber, behalte die dann aber meistens für mich, weil ich denke, das bringt eh nichts. Ich tausche mich dann mit Freunden aus.

125 I: Wenn du dich jetzt als Mitglied deiner Community siehst, ziehst du da auch ein Nutzen daraus aus dieser Community, Mitglied da zu sein?

G_1_F: Ja, den Kommunikationsnutzen, also ich kommuniziere mit Freunden über Themen, über die wir am Abendbrottisch sicherlich nicht diskutieren würden, weil es uns nicht einfiele. Man kriegt natürlich auch viel Input, grad was Inhalte anbelangt von Medien usw. Da sehe ich mich schon als Community und mir ist natürlich bewusst, dass ich mich da immer in meiner Filterblase bewege. Also bei Instagram kriege ich halt nur die Bilder angezeigt, die ich aktiv abonniert habe von den Accounts. Bei Twitter ebenso, bei Facebook natürlich, das was Facebook denkt, was mich interessiert. Ich sehe mich da jetzt nicht irgendwie so als der Teil, der das weiterbringt, das muss ich dann natürlich auf Arbeit machen, darauf habe ich privat keine Lust.

I: Und trägst du selber zu der Community bei, indem du dann da kommunizierst?

G_1_F: Ja, ich denke man kann sich dem gar nicht entziehen, sobald man angemeldet ist. Also sobald man Teil dieses Netzwerkes ist, entweder in dem man nicht teilnimmt, also dass man angemeldet ist und vielleicht nur passiv das Ganze nutzt oder gar nicht nutzt, dann nimmt man ja trotzdem irgendwie Teil, weil ich bin ja für andere Menschen sichtbar. Wenn jetzt natürlich die Möglichkeit, dass ich angemeldet bin und super aktiv kommentiere und alles mache und dann gibt es halt die Leute, die so passiv ab und zu mal da sind. Ich bin halt passiv jeden Tag da und verlinke ab und zu natürlich Freunde unter irgendwelchen Artikeln, wenn ich irgendwas witzig finde oder so, aber das machen glaube ich alle anderen Menschen sehr viel exzessiver als ich. Aber trotzdem finde ich, sobald man angemeldet ist, ist man Teil des Ganzen.

I: Es hat grad kurz gehangen, aber ich glaube jetzt geht es wieder.

G_1_F: Bei dir hängt es auch grad.

I: Also es hakt grad immer mal wieder. Hörst du mich noch? Jetzt hängt es komplett glaube ich.

G_1_F: Ich sehe dich in Stückchen.

I: Wollen wir vielleicht mal auflegen und noch mal neu probieren?

G_1_F: Ja, dann machen wir das mal.

126 I: Ich rufe dich gleich noch mal an.

G_1_F: Okay.

I: So.

GF: Jetzt. Ich sehe dich jetzt zumindest noch flüssig.

I: Ich dich auch. Es sind auch gar nicht mehr so viele Fragen. Hoffen wir, dass es noch hält jetzt.

G_1_F: Ja.

I: Wir waren jetzt bei der Community. Meine nächste Frage wäre, was denkst du wie offen und emotional bist du selbst in sozialen Netzwerken?

G_1_F: Offen im Sinne von, wie viel ich von mir preisgebe? Nee, das hatten wir schon, oder?

I: Offen im Sinne von, wenn du was postest, bist du da sehr offen oder ist das eher nur das Bild der Katze zum Beispiel, aber keinerlei Informationen weiter. Offen im Sinne von, du teilst mit, wie es dir geht, was du gerad machst usw.

G_1_F: Gut, ich bin sehr zurückhaltend, glaube ich. Ich würde das immer unterteilen. Bei WhatsApp oder bei Signal, wenn ich Freunden schreibe, da bin ich offen, also in der direkten Kommunikation. Bei Dingen, die öffentlich einsehbar sind, also meine Facebook Pinnwand ist zwar nur für Freunde freigegeben, aber ich betrachte das trotzdem als öffentlichen Raum, weil ich natürlich mit Leuten befreundet bin auf Facebook, die mal ehemalige Arbeitgeber waren oder ehemalige Kollegen oder aktuelle oder auch die aktuelle Chefin natürlich, weil wir auch bei Facebook kommunizieren. Und genauso gut habe ich da enge Freunde drin. Deswegen gehe ich ganz oft vom Worst Case aus. Von wegen, wenn das jetzt Mensch XY sieht, was denke ich, was der über mich denken könnte. Das ist dann oft eine Hemmschwelle für mich, permanent irgendwelches Zeug zu posten. Finde ich aber auch gut. Bei Instagram ist es natürlich ähnlich. Da ist der Raum noch offener, weil ja jeder dir folgen kann im Prinzip erstmal. Bei Twitter dasselbe, das kann man zusätzlich noch von überall einsehen, ohne dass man sich einloggt. Deswegen überlege ich da schon welches Bild ich von mir persönlich auch zeigen möchte, in sozialen Medien. Ich teile dann auf Facebook zum Beispiel Dinge, wenn sie für mich eine hohe Relevanz haben. Also wenn sie zum Beispiel von mir zuhause sind und die AfD ist 127 mal wieder zu Gast. Also ich komm aus einer Gegend die sehr braun/blau ist. Das ist eher dieses Resignierende, ist ja noch wie vor 10 Jahren dort. Oder wenn irgendwas sehr, sehr witzig ist oder wenn ich irgendwas bahnbrechend interessant finde, dann teile ich das. Das passiert aber auch nicht jeden Tag auf Facebook. Instagram benutze ich seltener. Das ist dann wirklich mal, wenn ich Langeweile habe großteils. Wenn ich ein besonders tolles Bild von meiner Katze oder meiner Topfpflanze gemacht habe und denke, das ist mitteilungswert. Bei Twitter konsumiere ich sehr viel mehr, da bin ich aber glaub ich am meisten darauf bedacht, welches Bild ich von mir zeichne. Dann twittert man schon mal mit, wenn zum Beispiel TV-Duell ist, wenn eine Großaktion ist, die auch gesehen wird. Teile aber auch nicht, also auf Twitter gibt es irgendwie verschiedene Communities, es gibt die Journalisten natürlich, die das ganze Medien, die das sehr professionell machen. Es gibt aber zeitgleich auch so Instagram angehauchte Lebensphilosophien und witzige Sprüche. Twitterperlen gibt es ja beispielsweise. Das ist ebenso die andere Seite von Twitter. Da sehe ich mich nicht unbedingt drin. Das finde ich auch witzig, dass konsumiere ich, aber da sehe ich mich persönlich nicht. Deswegen überlege ich diesbezüglich auch, was poste ich und was finde ich witzig, aber muss es nicht weiter teilen.

I: Was denkst du über die Offenheit und Emotionalität anderer Nutzer? Wie bewertest du das, wenn andere Nutzer sehr offen und sehr emotional in sozialen Netzwerken auftreten?

G_1_F: Über vieles macht man sich schon lustig, muss ich zugeben, also auch mit Freunden. Wir haben gestern einen gehabt, also es gibt jemanden hier im Umkreis, ich weiß nicht ob du davon gehört hast, Tino Krause heißt der, der sich auf seinen ganzen Körper Logos von Firmen tätowieren lässt. Da hatte Freundin 2 auch mal einen Beitrag vor kurzen über den. Also der kriegt dafür Geld, ich weiß gar nicht 50 Euro und dann hast du halt so ein Mayonnaise-Logo hier irgendwo. Gesicht glaube ich nicht, aber Rest des Körpers. Das ist so jemand der super freigiebig mit allem ist, was er postet. Also jeden Tag ist da sein Mittagessen und sein Abendbrot und sein Frühstück drin. Und wenn er auf dem Weg von A nach B ist und im Fitnessstudio und wenn er seiner Freundin eine tolle Blume gekauft hat. Das sind Dinge, die ich einfach nicht wissen will. Ich konsumiere sie ab und zu, aber eher so auf dem Level: Das möchte ich nicht, weil ich nicht möchte, wie ein völlig fremder Mensch Einblick in sein oder mein Leben hat. Ich weiß gar nicht, warum. Das hat gar keine Relevanz, diese ganze Selbstdarstellung finde ich dann zum Teil zu krass. Die ist ja auch oft mit einem Gefühl verbunden. Also meine ehemaligen Mitbewohner haben das auch sehr freigiebig gemacht, dass sie irgendwie ein, nachdenklicher Junge sitzt in einem eingestürzten Haus oder in einer Ruine und darunter kommt ein ganz toller lebensbejahender oder lebensverneinender Spruch. Das sind Dinge, die ich nicht konsumier und die ich nicht wissen will. Das finde ich dann zu 128 emotional und zu selbstdarstellerisch im Prinzip. Weil, wen interessiert das? Es ist vielleicht Kultur, aber ich finde es ist eine sehr seltsame Kultur.

I: Also Selbstdarstellung lehnst du eher ab, wenn andere Nutzer das machen? Findest du jetzt…

G_1_F: Zu viel Selbstdarstellung. Natürlich gibt es auch Menschen, denen ich folge, ich finde z.B. Sybille Berg auf Twitter super interessant. Ich finde sie ist eine sehr, eine Frau, die ziemlich aus sich rausgeht und die aber gleichzeitig sehr überlegt ist, aber auch oft sehr witzig und bissig, wenn zwischen diesen ganzen relevanten Inhalten auch mal was Persönliches oder eine eigene Tagesanekdote ist. Aber ich finde, es sollte sehr portioniert sein und irgendwie passen. Nur die Selbstdarstellung der Selbstdarstellung wegen finde ich zu viel. Wenn der Account zum Beispiel nur aus solchen Sachen besteht, dann finde ich persönlich das anstrengend und dem folge ich dann auch nicht, das gucke ich mir einmal an und dann denke ich, ich habe alles gesehen und kann wieder weiter.

I: Okay, noch eine Frage dazu. Wie bewertest du oder was denkst du über Authentizität in den sozialen Netzwerken. Also wie authentisch bewertest du die Posts von anderen?

G_1_F: Selbstdarstellungsposts zum Beispiel, um daran mal anzuknüpfen, finde ich nicht unbedingt authentisch, weil bei Instagram zum Beispiel ganz viel gestellt ist, was man ja auch immer mal liest oder es halt um den Zweck des Selbstdarstellerischen und der Followerzahl-Erhöhung geht. Das ist der einzige Zweck und das ist für mich nicht wirklich relevant oder nicht interessant. Wie war die Frage nochmal?

I: Wie authentisch du soziale Netzwerke bewertest?

G_1_F: Wenn ich natürlich, was weiß ich, beispielsweise Journalisten sehe, in ihrem Arbeitsalltag. Sandra Müller, die auch das Buch „Radio machen“ geschrieben hat zum Beispiel. Sie, finde ich, ist eine sehr authentische Person. Die habe ich auch persönlich mal getroffen. Sie ist ein sehr herzlicher und offener Mensch. Die natürlich auch zeigt auf Facebook oder Twitter, wie ihre Arbeit entsteht. Das finde ich dann sehr authentisch. Also wenn ich einen Einblick habe in etwas, was mich persönlich interessiert. Also wie sie Radio macht, warum sie das macht, warum sie immer noch lokale Geschichten erzählt, oder regionale und nicht in die großen Studios geht. Das nehme ich ihr auch ab in dem Punkt, dass sie eben sagt, wenn sie sowas gefragt wird: „Nee, ich möchte die Geschichten vor Ort erzählen. Und nur, weil die Leute zur Bundestagswahl auf einmal auf die Idee kommt, boa wir könnten die Leute in der Provinz mal fragen, was sie interessiert.” Da ist Lokaljournalismus wieder relevant und die ganzen Jahre während 129 keine Wahl ist, interessiert sich überhaupt niemand dafür.” Das sind aber die Geschichten, wenn ich nach Hause fahre, die meine Oma lesen und hören möchte, oder meine Mama. Dann finde ich es zum Beispiel authentisch, wenn solche Leute eben Einblick in ihre Arbeit geben. Ich find es dann nicht authentisch, wenn man eindeutig dem Bild oder dem Post ansieht, da hat sich jemand ganz viele Gedanken gemacht oder ganz viel Gedanken reingesteckt oder vielleicht 200 Fotos geschossen, um dieses eine, vermeintlich ungestellte zu finden. Das finde ich dann nicht mehr authentisch. Was natürlich authentischer ist, sind Instagram Stories z. B., weil da die wenigsten schneiden. Heute ist mir auch wieder jemand begegnet, der da geschnittene Videoschnipsel drin hatte. Das z.B. finde ich dann auch nicht mehr interessant. Der hat seine Gründe fürs Laufen angegeben. Da waren Zeitrafferelemente drin. Da waren Sachen drin, wo man Schnitte gesehen hat, die aber nur in einem, ich weiß nicht wie man das nennt, wenn dieser Balken so durchläuft, es quasi eine Aufnahme ist. Das heißt, der muss es irgendwie vorher vorproduziert haben. Das finde ich dann auch wenig authentisch, wenn ein Medium so benutzt wird, wie es nicht der Ottonormalbürger machen würde. Dann finde ich es unauthentisch. Oder wenn sehr viele Posts zum Zweck der Selbstinszenierung abgesetzt werden. Dann ist es für mich nicht authentisch und damit nicht interessant.

I: Aus deinen Aussage geht für mich hervor, dass du schon über deine eigenen Handlungen im Umgang mit deinem Smartphone nachdenkst. Also gerade im Bereich der Kommunikation. Inwiefern denkst du darüber nach, vorher was du schreibst, postest, kommentierst, kommunizierst?

G_1_F: In der privaten Kommunikation ist es natürlich viel intuitiver. Also wenn ich Freunden antworte, dann schreibe ich natürlich fix, “hier ich bin fünf Minuten zu spät.” Da denke ich jetzt nicht 10 Minuten darüber nach, ob ich das jetzt schreibe oder nicht. Das ist dann einfach so. Oder wenn ich einen Freund frage, „Hier, hast du Bock heute Abend was zu kochen oder wann gucken wir Game of Thrones weiter?“ Solche Sachen, die sind dann sehr unmittelbar und sehr, weiß ich nicht, unüberlegt, aber weniger reflektiert. Wenn ich natürlich es öffentlich poste, also öffentlich ist für mich, wie gesagt, meine Facebook-Pinnwand, Instagram, Twitter, solche Sachen, dann überlege ich natürlich schon sehr stark, welches Bild möchte ich überhaupt von mir abgeben, wieviel Einblick möchte ich anderen Menschen gewähren, welche Inhalte passen dazu. Also klar auf meiner Facebook-Pinnwand sind unfassbar viele Katzen-Inhalte, aber die halte ich z.B. für wenig kritisch. Also da gebe ich nicht direkt meine politische Meinung preis oder meine Haltung, die ich irgendwie auch so ein bisschen für mich journalistisch im Kontext behalten möchte, weil ich natürlich so objektiv wie möglich sein will. In Dingen, die ich betrachte, da achte ich sehr drauf, ebenso bei Twitter. Vor kurzem gab es eine Aktion von Einfach So. Ich glaube die haben in Berlin, jedenfalls in einer Stadt, Wahlplakate 130 umgedreht und gezeigt, wie man legal protestieren kann gegen diesen Müll, der überall ist und haben halt diese Wahlplakate umgedreht und haben Flächen für neue kreative Sachen geschaffen. Das heißt, ich teile dann aber nicht den Beitrag dieser Organisation, die heißen Einfach So, sondern ich teile dann den Beitrag, wie ein journalistisches Medium über diese Aktion berichtet hat. Und damit nehme ich jetzt nicht irgendwie RT Deutschland, die sagen, “Boah, die ganzen linken Kräfte alle scheiße.” Und ich nehme auch nicht Das Neue Deutschland, die sagen, “Boah, linke Aktion, mega geil.” Sondern irgendwas, was möglichst neutral solche sehr, sehr politisch eingefärbten Sachen betrachtet, und teile solche Sachen, wenn ich sie überhaupt teilenswert finde. Also ich finde z.B. was von der Tagesschau muss ich nicht retweeten, weil die Tagesschau selber eine viel größere Reichweite hat. Warum sollte ich das dann noch machen? Da ist die Hürde für mich dann größer.

I: Okay. Und könntest du dir vorstellen dein Smartphone abzugeben?

G_1_F: Man liest ja immer so Experimente.

I: Oder einfach anders gesagt, ohne Smartphone zu leben?

G_1_F: Man merkt mir an, dass ich jetzt nein sagen werde. Und ich sage auch nein, weil ich bin der Meinung, dass Technik und technischer Fortschritt etwas ist, was nie wieder weggehen wird. Es sei denn, wir zerbomben uns alle mit dem Dritten Weltkrieg, der definitiv irgendwann kommt. Aber ich glaube so lange wir noch, gerade in Deutschland, in einer sicheren und technisch sich immer weiter entwickelnden Welt leben, gibt es gar nicht die Notwendigkeit auf ein Smartphone zu verzichten. Also ich möchte persönlich nicht mehr darauf verzichten, weil ich es eben im Arbeitskontext brauche. Wenn mir jetzt jemand einen Job bieten würde, auf den Malediven als Sandsieber und ich kriege dafür 7.000 Euro netto im Monat und da gibt es kein Empfang und meine ganze Familie und Freunde kommen mit und die wohnen alle nebenan, dann ist es natürlich gar keine Relevanz mehr dafür für mich da. Klar, Nachrichten krieg ich dann irgendwie, aber das ist ein Fall, der wahrscheinlich nicht eintreten wird. Deswegen würde ich sagen, nein ich verzichte nicht darauf.

I: Wollen wir uns jetzt mal vorstellen, eine Woche ohne Smartphone. Was würde sich dann in deinem Alltag verändern?

G_1_F: Ich würde arbeitsrelevante Dinge nicht mehr mitbekommen, also wenn meine Chefin mir z.B. schreibt, “Hier, ich muss 30 Minuten eher ins Meeting, kannst du 30 Minuten eher die Schicht anfangen?” Ich würde nicht mehr mitbekommen, wenn sie z.B. 131 schreibt, “Bitte gebt eure Pläne ab für Oktober, November, Dezember.” Klar würde ich es irgendwann von mir aus schicken, aber ich wäre wahrscheinlich die Letzte. Dann wenn man natürlich mir was schickt, “Hier ist grad der Bahnhof explodiert und du hast gerade Schicht.” Und er schreibt es mir nur auf Facebook und ich sehe es aber auf meinem Telefon nicht, dann hänge ich da hinterher. Dann hängt am Ende auch mein Arbeitgeber mit Informationen hinterher, obwohl wir vielleicht die ersten hätten sein können. Insofern arbeitsmäßig ist es nicht verzichtbar. Freizeit? Ich glaube, das ist eine große Gewöhnungssache, ob man nun Freunde hat, die eher SMS schreiben mit so einem altmodischen Telefon oder jemanden anrufen. Klar, wir haben alle jemanden im Freundeskreis, der kein Internet benutzt, glaube ich. Ein Freund von mir, der ruft zwar seine E-Mails ab, aber dem kannst du niemals nie eine WhatsApp-Nachricht schreiben. Da gewöhnt sich dein Umfeld dann auch dran, das würde schon gehen, aber ich würde nicht freiwillig drauf verzichten, weil ich keine Notwendigkeit sehe.

I: Und was würdest du am meisten vermissen?

G_1_F: Dinge jetzt sofort überall nachsehen zu können. Also sei es das Wetter, sei es wann meine Bahn kommt, und aber seien es auch Nachrichten von Freunden. Dass wenn eben jemand schreibt, also wenn ich auf dem Weg zu einem Freund bin und derjenige schreibt, “du ich brauche 10 Minuten länger, weil in Halle noch ein riesiger Stau war,” dann würde ich halt da eine viertel Stunde vor der Tür stehen und denken, “Oh mein Gott, der hat mich vergessen, der ist nicht da, ich gehe wieder nach Hause.” Also ja, diese Unmittelbarkeit von allem würde ich doch sehr vermissen.

I: Okay, gut. Ich bin jetzt soweit durch mit meinen Fragen. Bestehen noch irgendwelche Fragen deinerseits, irgendwelche Anmerkungen, irgendwas was dir noch eingefallen ist?

G_1_F: Wie viele Leute befragst du eigentlich?

I: Ich vergleiche ja Deutsche und Amerikaner, und auf jeder Seite drei.

G_1_F: Ach so. Okay. Gut.

I: Gut, okay. Dann danke ich dir für deine Zeit und einen schönen freien Tag noch.

G_1_F: Danke, dir auch noch einen schönen Tag.

I: Tschüss.

132 G_1_F: Tschüss.

133 Appendix H: Interview Transcript G_2_F

I: Alles klar, dann würde ich jetzt einfach mal mit der ersten Frage anfangen oder mit der ersten Bitte. Und zwar erzähl mir mal bitte, wie du dein Smartphone an einem gewöhnlichen Wochentag benutzt, also z.B. gestern? Was hast du gestern alles damit gemacht?

G_2_F: Naja, ich habe es ja immer bei mir. Also ich hätte jetzt gesagt, wie oft oder wie lange nutzt du dein Smartphone am Tag, twentyfour/seven, es ist halt leider so. Ich habe gestern Instagram benutzt, ich habe Facebook genutzt, also alles übers Smartphone. Ich habe eBay genutzt, die Nachtrichten-Funktion, weil ich da grad eine Auktion drin habe. Dann, ich habe meine Mails natürlich über Instagram gecheckt. Ich arbeite ja jetzt als Social Media Managerin, also ich nutze es auch auf der Arbeit. 50 Prozent der Zeit am Rechner oder halt am Smartphone, zum Telefonieren nutze ich es auch noch. Ja, zum Fotos machen. Ich habe gestern sicher ein paar Fotos gemacht, wie jeden Tag. Ja.

I: Wenn der Tag jetzt beginnt, nutzt du dein Handy schon als Wecker?

G_2_F: Ja.

I: Ja, und dann machst du den Wecker aus und schaust du dann schon drauf, was dir angezeigt wird?

G_2_F: Ja, auf jeden Fall.

I: Und du checkst das dann alles schon aus? Antwortest du dann auch schon auf Mails, Nachrichten aus irgendwelchen anderen Apps?

G_2_F: Na, also schon auch aus dem Bett raus. Also heute z.B. hatte ich eine Kooperationsanfrage von meinem Job über Instagram, weil ich da auch immer in den Instagram-Account reingehe. Und ihr habe ich dann auch geantwortet, weil ich heute nicht im Büro bin und meine Kollegin sich drum kümmert, wenn sie jetzt eine E-Mail- Adresse weitergibt. Da war ich noch im Bett, das muss halt sein.

I: Dann zum Frühstücken liegt es dann auch neben dir?

G_2_F: Ja.

I: Hast du den Ton an oder Vibrationsalarm oder ist es auf stumm geschalten? 134

G_2_F: Ton habe ich aus, außer ich warte auf einen Anruf.

I: Und wie bekommst du dann mit, dass jemand dich kontaktiert, außer du wartest jetzt auf einen Anruf, aber wenn jetzt Nachrichten reinkommen? Guckst du halt immer mal wieder drauf oder fällt es dir einfach auf durch die Push-Meldungen?

G_2_F: Also, das Gepushte habe ich ausgestellt, weil ich habe mich schon mal mit Instagram beschäftigt und wie gefangen man halt davon ist. Und auch von anderen Messengers, also Facebook, dieses Gepushe, ja WhatsApp, all sowas. Also mir werden nur die normalen SMS gepusht und sonst nichts. Und da muss ich halt auch entscheiden, in die App reinzugehen.

I: Du hast ja grad schon gesagt, dass das Smartphone in deinem Job auch eine Rolle spielt, eine wichtige. Wie unterscheidet sich da dein Nutzungsverhalten im Vergleich zur Freizeit?

G_2_F: Na, relativ kaum, weil also das ist halt jetzt jobspezifisch, aber da wird dann auch Authentizität vorgespielt in so einem Account, den ich betreue. Das heißt ich interagiere mit den Leuten, wie privat, also dass man denen zurückschreibt. Das Einzige, was sich unterscheidet, dass ich bei vielen verschiedenen Apps die Statistiken rausziehe, was ich jetzt privat nicht mache. Das interessiert mich nicht, wie privat sich meine Reichweite verändert hat, aber im Job natürlich schon.

I: Du hast ja auch grad schon gesagt, dass du über Instagram eine Kooperationsanfrage bekommen hast. Also du nutzt die Nachrichtenfunktion von verschiedenen Apps auch zur Kommunikation für die Arbeit sozusagen?

G_2_F: Ja.

I: Wir haben ja gerade schon darüber gesprochen, dass du dein Smartphone den ganzen Tag über benutzt. Wenn du da mal über die Nutzungsmuster nachdenkst, gibt es da Gewohnheiten oder Routinen die sich in deinem Alltag eingeschlichen haben im Umgang mit deinem Smartphone?

G_2_F: Routinen? Also ich nutze das als Wecker jeden Tag. Ich stehe damit auf. Ja, man kann schon sagen, dass es auch sehr, es engt einen ein, weil man ja doch sehr abhängig davon ist. Und wenn man es mal nicht hat, hatte ich auch schon, mal zehn Tage, kein Smartphone, ist man so verloren. Man fühlt sich so ineffizient, obwohl das nicht stimmt, 135 weil es macht eigentlich keinen Unterschied, ob ich die E-Mail in der Tram beantworte oder von zu Hause aus. Oder dann, ja, Dinge, die man in diesem Moment bekommen hat, dass man die nicht mehr einscannt, sondern abfotografiert, sofort die Mail rausschickt. Das ist ja auch sowas, dass man immer in diesem Hamsterrad läuft, je mehr man erledigt, und das kann man eben mit dem Smartphone, schnell und einfach und vor allem ohne Device-Unterbrechung, das macht richtig abhängig, würde ich sagen.

I: Das Ganze „Das-Telefon-immer-bei-sich-haben“ bringt ja auch so eine ständige Erreichbarkeit mit sich, durch eben mobile Daten, die immer mehr ausgebaut werden, und eben WLAN. Wie bewertest du diese ständige Erreichbarkeit?

G_2_F: Auf jeden Fall gespalten. Es hat schon einige Vorteile, z.B. man bekommt irgendeine Mitteilung in dem und dem Seminar sind noch Plätze frei, so „first come, first serve“-mäßig oder andere wichtige Mitteilung noch, auf die man sofort reagieren möchte, aber wo auch erwartet wird, dass man das sofort tut, weil das ist ja der Normalfall, dass man erreichbar ist. Das hat schon auch Vorteile, aber auf der anderen Seite natürlich auch Nachteile. Wenn man viele Erlebnisse völlig an sich vorbeiziehen lässt, weil man sich gar nicht konzentrieren kann. Man ist nicht an einem Ort speziell und hat nur diese Eindrücke, sondern es ist ja auch diese schwelende Angst, wenn man nicht auf das Smartphone guckt. Was passiert da gerade? Sind da vielleicht grad wichtige E-Mails gekommen? Irgendein krasses Ding mit der Steuer, oder irgend solche Ängste, setzt sich ja auch fest, wenn man nicht immer kontrolliert, da ist alles in Ordnung, da ist jetzt grad nichts Schlimmes gekommen. Ja, es ist halt sehr gespalten. Man kommt halt aus diesem Teufelskreis nicht mehr raus, weil ich kann jetzt z.B. nicht sagen, ich mache ab 18 Uhr mein Handy aus, dann ist man eben sozial ausgeschlossen. Wenn das mehr Leute machen würden, wäre es vielleicht einfacher, aber wir sind da viel zu tief drin in so einer Spirale, dass alle immer erreichbar sind. Wenn einer dann sich eben ausklingt, dann ist es so, dann ist er die Minderheit und bleibt das.

I: Du hast ja grad schon gesagt, dass du es gespalten siehst. Wenn du mal kurz in dich selbst reinhörst, erwartest du manchmal von Leuten, dass sie gleich antworten, und gleichzeitig, fühlst du dich manchmal unter Druck gesetzt, dass du Leuten sofort antworten musst?

G_2_F: Beim Telefonieren jetzt nicht so sehr, weil ich finde es ist eher diese Erwartung, man kann ja mal kurz zurückschreiben, ne? Und beim Telefonieren ist das weniger der Fall. Wenn ich jetzt arbeiten bin, kann von mir nicht verlangt werden, dass ich jetzt noch ein Gespräch führen kann, aber es gibt so eine gewisse Erwartungshaltung, dass man kurze Nachfragen beantworten kann. Und man macht es ja auch immer. Das kann ja auch 136 sein, dass das wichtig ist, so, “hey eigener Name, hier ist ein Zollpaket angekommen, soll ich das bezahlen, hast du das bestellt?” Dann würde ich ja schon gerne sagen, “ja, leg das mal bitte vor,“ weil sonst muss ich, habe ich wieder die Rennerei mit der Post, aber genau das sind eben in der Summe die Dinge, die einen so krank machen. Das alles immer noch mit zu managen, obwohl man grad eigentlich was Anderes zu tun hat.

I: Wir haben ja jetzt schon so ein bisschen über den Eindrang in den Alltag des Smartphones besprochen. Wenn wir uns jetzt noch mal auf die Vorteile konzentrieren, was sind da für dich die Vorteile?

G_2_F: Ich hätte ohne Smartphone gar keinen Job, kann man sagen. Also das ist ja auch eine von der Industrie aufgegriffene Kommunikationswaffe, die in der Werbung und halt in der Wirtschaft genutzt wird. Es ist das Kommunikationsmittel, wobei dieses Kommunikationsmittel auch Leute fremd werden lässt, das ist so mein Eindruck. Es gibt auch so eine Untersuchung, was ist fürs Leben wirklich wichtig, nämliche tiefe, ehrliche Bindungen zu anderen Menschen, die können eigentlich nicht herrschen mit dieser Unterbrechung. Also das kann ein Zusatzfaktor sein, man schreibt sich übers Smartphone, aber man kennt sich eben auch wirklich echt. Und dieses ständig Abgelenktsein, das ist halt noch mal ein extremer Nachteil. Andererseits es vereinfacht eben so vieles. Also eBay, wenn ich mich daran erinnere, ich habe das schon zu Schulzeiten gemacht. Das war so ein Aufwand mit der Digitalkamera alles abfotografieren, auf den Rechner ziehen, dann diese Fotos hochladen, beschriften. Heute mache ich zwei Fotos mit dem, in der App schon drin, in eBay und es ist hochgeladen, ich kann das zack beschriften, das ist eine Zeitersparnis, immens. Aber da, ja, da lässt sich auch drüber streiten, ob das jetzt das Leben von mir persönlich doch so bereichert, aber es ist schon gut. Dann diese ganze Synchronisation, dass sich mein Mac Book mit dem iPhone synchronisiert, also ich keine Termine verpasse, ich sofort eine Überschneidung sehe. Okay, da habe ich was zugesagt, das kann ich nicht erreichen, das kann ich nicht erfüllen. Dann auf jeden Fall auch das Senden von Daten und Dateien, also halt diese, wenn irgendwas ist, eine Krankmeldung oder ein irgendein Zertifikat, ich kann das easy mit dem Smartphone scannen und sofort weitergeben, weil es hat nicht jeder einen Scanner zu Hause. Ja, ich finde jetzt das Telefonieren war schon immer komfortabel, auch mit einem Handy oder mit einem Festnetz, aber auch das hat sich natürlich kostenmäßig verbessert.

I: Ja wir haben ja auch schon ein paar Sachen angesprochen, was so ein bisschen problematische Aspekte sind, dass wir die noch mal zusammenfassen oder gibt es da noch andere Sachen, die du vielleicht noch nicht erwähnt hast, was Nachteile sind?

137 G_2_F: Jetzt weiß ich gar nicht mehr, was ich alles schon so gesagt habe, weil ich mich damit auch schon ein bisschen beschäftigt hatte. Naja diese ständige Erreichbarkeit, klar als Vor- und Nachteil, die Abhängigkeit, aber auch das sich abhängig machen von diesen Gefühlen, die halt da kommen. Diese “Ich habe jetzt das noch erledigt, ich habe das gemacht, ich habe das geschafft.” Dieses im Hamsterrad laufen, die Überwachung, das könnte man noch als großen Nachteil empfinden. Ja, ist ja, man verdrängt das halt, das sind so Gedanken, die im Alltag dann nicht so aufkommen, dass man ja ständig überwacht wird, alle. Das Smartphone weiß wo du bist, was du machst, was du fotografiert hast, es ist halt nichts privat. Ja, so dieses Gefangensein und dass es halt auch wirklich krank machen kann.

I: Okay. Du hast vorhin schon mal ein paar Apps aufgezählt, Instagram, Facebook, eBay. Was benutzt du noch so an Apps und kannst du die irgendwie nach Relevanz sortieren. Also welche nutzt du am liebsten, welche gar nicht gerne, aber hast sie vielleicht trotzdem?

G_2_F: Also ich benutze noch Shazam zum, wenn ich Musik tracken will, Spotify natürlich immer, die Notizen, ich weiß nicht, ob das zählt als App.

I: Ja.

G_2_F: Die Notizen, die benutze ich sehr viel, den Kalender weniger aber auch, dann die Erinnerungen, aber das benutze ich auch so simultan zu den Notizen. Dann, ja, was ist noch immer offen? Ja, die Mails, jetzt benutze ich Skype mal wieder, ich hatte schon mein Passwort vergessen. Amazon, auch ganz schwierig, man bekommt irgendeinen Eindruck über z.B. Instagram oder von der Werbung und der Impuls ist halt sofort, ich habe grad nichts zu tun, ich kann mir das ja jetzt bestellen. Also am wichtigsten und am häufigsten benutze ich Instagram, dicht gefolgt von WhatsApp und Facebook. Ja, jetzt halt in letzter Zeit habe ich mal wieder eBay genutzt. Ansonsten benutze ich verschiedene Apps, um Fotos zu schneiden, Stop-Motion-Filme zu machen. Auf der Documenta gab es eine App zu den Ausstellungsveranstaltungen. Was denn noch? Google Maps benutze ich auch ständig, dauernd in der eigenen Stadt, wo man es eigentlich besser wissen müsste. Ich habe eine Zeit lang über das iPhone auch Interviews aufgenommen mit so eine Sprach-App. Das mache ich jetzt aber nicht mehr, da bin ich auf Fieldrecorder umgestiegen, weil wenn das Display an ist, dann kommt ständig irgendwas rein, was halt auch nervt. Deswegen habe ich das nicht mehr. Ja, die Wetter-App benutze ich auch ziemlich oft, ich fahre ja jetzt nach Köln, da gucke ich auch wie das Wetter ist. Ja.

I: Um deinen Koffer dementsprechend zu packen? 138

G_2_F: Ja, auf jeden Fall, dass ich weiß wie hoch die Regenwahrscheinlichkeit ist. Wenn jetzt drei Tage Sonne angemeldet ist, dann nehme ich keine Regenjacke mit, die Ikea- App, die habe ich, weil wir halt umgezogen sind, es gibt ja für alles eine App.

I: Was kann man mit der Ikea-App machen?

G_2_F: Du kannst ja halt auch wie durch den Katalog halt scrollen.

I: Okay.

G_2_F: Und Verfügbarkeiten halt rausfinden.

I: Ja.

G_2_F: Ja, es ist nicht endend, man hat halt tausend Apps.

I: Hast du so genannten Leichen auf deinem Handy, die du mal irgendwann runtergeladen hast, vielleicht eine Weile genutzt hast und einfach gar nicht benutzt jetzt.

G_2_F: Ich habe die Tagesschau-App und ich traue mich auch irgendwie nicht sie zu löschen, falls doch mal irgendwas ist, wo ich den Liveticker mitverfolgen möchte, aber die nutze ich eigentlich echt kaum, weil auf dem MacBook ist es meine Startseite. Nachrichten sehe ich sowieso einmal am Tag. Und ich habe auch diese ganzen Google Drive-, Google Docs-Sachen mal runtergeladen. Das benutze ich auch sehr, sehr selten, weil das super klein und unpraktisch ist und ich da eben nur angucken kann. Dropbox, die App benutze ich auch sehr ungern, die ist, finde ich, nicht richtig mobil handhabbar. Ja, nee, das war es eigentlich. Ich habe auch nicht so viele Apps drauf. Ich habe gar keine Spiele, also ich spiel nicht mit dem Handy, also da ist jetzt nichts, dass mal ein Spiel in Mode kommt und dann habe ich das noch so als Leiche da drauf.

I: Du hast gerade ja schon gesagt, z.B. die Dropbox-App, dass die für dich nicht so gut ist. Wie entscheidest du dich denn für eine App, also warum lädst du eine runter?

G_2_F: Ganz oft ist das, wenn mir was geschickt wird, z.B. ein Link zu einer Dropbox, wo ich Bilder runterladen musste, und dann sagt mir das Handy halt “Ja, hol dir doch die App.” Und dann hol ich die und dann stelle ich fest, okay, jetzt im Falle von Dropbox, es gefällt mir trotzdem nicht, ich muss das am Rechner machen. Ja, es gibt ja halt diese Dinge, die viral gehen, das hat man dann halt auch, wenn es for free ist. Ich habe jetzt 139 allerdings so ein ganz sicheres Passwort für den App-Store, das heißt, früher habe ich mir auch einfach welche gekauft und jetzt bin ich meistens zu faul, dieses lange Passwort einzugeben und das hat schon meinen App-Konsum etwas runtergefahren.

I: Jetzt hast du grad schon den monetären Aspekt angesprochen, danach wollte ich auch nochmal fragen, ob du halt Apps auch kaufst, also auch welche, die Geld kosten und ob das halt ein Faktor für dich ist, der Preis?

G_2_F: Ja, nicht so sehr, weil es sind immer nur so zwei, drei Euro, also diese Verkehrsbetriebe der Heimatstadt App, ich weiß nicht, ob die umsonst war, ich glaube nicht. Ich glaube, die hat 99 Cent gekostet.

I: Die von der Verkehrsbetriebe der Heimatstadt?

G_2_F: Diese Tram-App.

I: Die war kostenlos. G_2_F: Ah okay. Ja, die habe ich jetzt gedacht, die habe ich gekauft. Ich habe mir schon Foto-Apps gekauft, die günstig waren.

I: Also Bearbeitungsprogramme?

G_2_F: Ja, genau, Fotobearbeitungssachen. Ich würde mir keine App für zehn Euro kaufen. Ganz früher als ich noch ein Auto hatte, habe ich mir ein Navi für 100 Euro gekauft, aber das ist lange her.

I: Ein Navi fürs Handy oder Navi?

G_2_F: Also eine Navigations-App fürs Auto.

I: Ah ja.

G_2_F: Aber das ist lange her. Ansonsten gebe ich natürlich Geld über die Apps aus. Also diese Fernbus-App schluckt extrem viel Kohle, dann die Tickets bei der Verkehrsbetriebe der Stadt 1, wenn ich in Stadt 1 bin oder halt eben was man eben so schnell mit Paypal verbinden kann und nur noch seinen Code eingibt. Aber jetzt die Apps an sich, da kann ich mich nicht erinnern, dass ich in letzter Zeit eine gekauft hätte.

140 I: Okay, und solche Sachen, wie Benutzerfreundlichkeit oder Zugänglichkeit, sind das auch Sachen, die eine Rolle für dich spielen?

G_2_F: Zugänglichkeit, was meinst du damit?

I: Im Sinne von wieviel Daten du da angeben musst, wenn du da erst noch ganz viele Sachen angeben musst, bevor du sie nutzen kannst, ist das für dich…

G_2_F: Da bin ich sehr nachlässig mit, eigentlich nehme ich immer was, wo man diesen ‚Anmelden mit Facebook’-Zugang, wenn es das gibt, ist es perfekt. Manchmal bin ich abgeschreckt von, ich muss viele Daten eingeben, das stimmt, das ist mir zu stressig, dann bin ich zu faul für das alles am iPhone zu machen. Wenn das fix geht über meinen Facebook-Account, so one click away, das ist perfekt. Ja, die Zugänglichkeit, das sollte halt drin sein, auch wenn die App, z.B. Snapchat, die zieht extrem viel Datenvolumen, das war mir aber immer egal. Weil ich ja schon so ein Suchti-Opfer bin, habe ich auch extrem viel Datenvolumen sowieso schon im Vertrag sind, also solche Dinge haben mich jetzt noch nicht abgeschreckt. Was dann andere halt sagen, “ja, ich brauche die App nicht unbedingt, die zieht so viel von meinem Datenvolumen,” da habe ich keine Lust drauf. Und die Benutzerfreundlichkeit, ich bin zu schnell und zu ungeduldig, dass ich mir was durchlese darüber. Wenn ich dann die App habe, dann merke ich das ja, wenn sie für meine Zwecke nicht gut programmiert ist, dann lösche ich sie halt wieder.

I: Also vielleicht so eine Fotobearbeitungs-App, da ist ja z.B., da muss man sich wahrscheinlich erstmal ein bisschen reinfuchsen, wie sowas geht.

G_2_F: Ja genau.

I: Ist es da dann z.B. wichtig, dass das einfach, verständlich ist?

G_2_F: Richtig, aber die großen Programmierer machen es ja vor, z.B. bei Instagram kann man ja ganz viel, man braucht ja keine Fotobearbeitungs-App mehr, was man früher gebraucht hat. Das alles halt so zu vereinen, dass alles zusammen zu ziehen, dass man nur noch Instagram braucht. Ich hatte dann auch früher mal eine App, dass es möglich war, ein Hochkantbild z.B. zu posten und dann rechts und links war halt weiß. Die Funktion gibt es jetzt auch bei Instagram, also brauche ich die nicht mehr. Das ist halt das, ja, was vorgemacht wird und wo es halt hoffentlich hingeht, dass man nicht, man ist ja schon so faul, man will ja alles nur in einem Device haben, aber jetzt ist man schon so, ich will ja am liebsten alles in einer App haben. Ich will nicht in der App das Foto bearbeiten, dann dort hochladen. 141

I: Du hast ja gesagt, Instagram ist eigentlich die App, die du am häufigsten und vielleicht auch am liebsten benutzt. Kannst du da noch mal beschreiben, wie du die nutzt, also ja, eine typische Situation?

G_2_F: Also ich kann einmal beruflich und einmal privat sagen. Privat, z.B. heute Morgen, wir haben ein Paket bekommen, weil ich habe am Sonntag einen Dino bestellt, den hier. Und der ist angekommen und da habe ich eine Insta-Story über ihn gedreht, dass er jetzt unsere Wohnung bereichert. Ich habe den nämlich beim Tatort gesehen und habe im Bett dann über Amazon diesen Dino gekauft, weil ich den auch haben wollte. Ja, und das ist so eine typische Situation. Ich habe was neu und dann mache ich eine Instagram-Story drüber. Oder auf der Documenta habe ich natürlich auch, da wurde dieses ‚Parthenon der Bücher’ abgebaut und das ist ja wirklich was Einmaliges und wir waren zufällig an diesem Wochenende da. Das habe ich auch gefilmt, zumindest einen Teil davon. Und beruflich ist es so, dass ich mir typischerweise Nachrichten von Usern angucke, die mir antworten oder bei anderen Accounts schaue, was kommt bei denen grad an und wie passt das zu meinem Redaktionsplan, was ich gerade eingeplant habe.

I: Bei deinem privaten Nutzungsverhalten, wenn du da halt jetzt so eine Story postest oder ein normales Bild und es da dann Nachrichten gibt oder Kommentare darauf, reagierst du dann auch darauf wieder noch mal?

G_2_F: Ja, nach einer Zeit. Also da habe ich halt auch die Push-Benachrichtigung ausgestellt. Also wenn ich das dann mal sehe, dass mir jemand was geschrieben hat mit einer Frage, dann antworte ich darauf. Wenn es jetzt nur ein allgemeiner Kommentar ist, dann herze ich das, das geht ja jetzt auch. Ja, wenn mir jemand auf die Stories antwortet, meistens sehe ich das zu spät und dann antworte ich auch nicht mehr. Außer es ist jetzt was, ein Tipp, der mich noch irgendwie weiterbringen könnte, dann sage ich schon mal “danke” und schreibe dann noch mit denen.

I: Und ich nehme mal an, du folgst auch anderen Leuten. Schaust du dir dann auch so an, was die machen und reagierst du auch darauf, also kommentierst du dann auch mal oder schreibst Nachrichten?

G_2_F: Ja, also das, mein festes Ritual auch abends im Bett, alle Stories anzugucken von anderen, also von denen ich folge. Und auch, also eine Freundin von mir hat irgendwie einen Praktikumsplatz in einer tollen Galerie bekommen und dann schreibe ich ihr bei Instagram, wo sie das bekannt gegeben hat, direkt in der Story. Also ich gehe jetzt nicht den Umweg und schreibe ihr eine SMS oder rufe sie an. Ich mache das dann direkt auch 142 in der App. Ansonsten, Bilder kommentiere ich eigentlich wenig, aber bei einer Story, die halt so audiovisuell mich anspricht, dann schreibe ich schon einen Kommentar.

I: Ich würde mich jetzt gern noch mal auf den Kommunikationsaspekt konzentrieren wollen, wie du mit anderen Menschen kommunizierst. Du hast gesagt, WhatsApp benutzt du, dann Instagram, darüber kommunizierst du ja dann auch. Facebook-Messenger wahrscheinlich?

G_2_F: Ja.

I: Wie passiert das bei dir? Also schreibst du Leuten zurück, wenn sie dir schreiben? Oder hast du selber mal die Eingebung, ich muss jetzt mal fragen, wie es dem und dem geht oder mich mit dem und dem treffen? Wie ist da so das Verhältnis? Oder wie läuft das bei dir?

G_2_F: Ja, also wenn ich Leute sehr lange nicht mehr kontaktiert habe, dann mache ich eine Sprachnachricht bei WhatsApp. Das ist so, finde ich sehr persönlich. Und das, ja, hat so was von telefonieren, sich mal telefonisch wieder melden, mal wieder die Stimme auch des anderen, weil die meisten ja dann auch als Sprachnachricht antworten. Ansonsten ja, bei Instagram und bei Messenger antworte ich, wenn die Leute mir schreiben. Vielleicht schreibe ich auch, ja ich schreibe auch manchmal an. Aber es fällt mir jetzt keine Situation ein, wo ich über Facebook mich mal wieder bei jemandem gemeldet habe. Das mache ich dann schon per WhatsApp oder per SMS.

I: Also die Apps, die eher auf die interpersonale Kommunikation gerichtet sind?

G_2_F: Ja.

I: Das hat sich ja jetzt so ein bisschen um deine bestehenden Beziehungen gedreht, dass du die pflegst. Knüpfst du auch neue Kontakte über dein Smartphone.

G_2_F: Ja, also meinen Freund habe ich bei Snapchat kennen gelernt, mit dem ich jetzt zusammenwohne. Eine gute Freundin, mit der ich jetzt auch letzte Woche auf der Documenta war, wir haben uns bei Instagram kennen gelernt. Also die wohnt auch hier in Heimatstadt, aber da habe ich noch nicht hier gewohnt, da haben wir, ja jeweils dem anderen gefolgt und so ein bisschen nachvollzogen, was sie so in ihrem Leben macht.

I: Hat man dann so gleiche Interessen festgestellt über die Bilder?

143 G_2_F: Ja, genau. Und dann, da war ich noch in Land 1, da habe ich meine Zusage für Heimatstadt bekommen und dann hat sie mir geschrieben, “hey ich ziehe auch nach Heimatstadt.” Und dann haben wir uns in der ersten Woche halt hier mal getroffen und ja seitdem sind wir befreundet.

I: Und wie ist das über Snapchat mit deinem Freund gewesen?

G_2_F: Also wir sind uns schon bei Instagram gefolgt und ich habe einen öffentliches Snapchat-Profil gehabt. Und dann war ich im Urlaub auf Insel 1 und ja, dann hat er mir mal geschrieben, dann haben wir hin und her geschrieben und wollten uns dann mal treffen und dann haben wir uns verabredet im Veranstaltungsort 1, das war vor einem Jahr und jetzt sind wir immer noch zusammen.

I: Okay.

G_2_F: Ja. Ja oder über Tinder kann man auch neue Kontakte knüpfen, also das ist halt so, man kennt sich ja dann doch irgendwie über Facebook. Ich war jetzt als Texterin bei einem Festival und da ist auch ein DJ gewesen, auch hier aus Heimatstadt, der hat mir dann auch danach noch mal geschrieben, “hey, ich wusste ja gar nicht, dass Heimatstadt, das war unten in Stadt 2, so den Westen infiltriert hat.” Und dann haben wir auch noch mal kurz geschrieben, also ja. Man ist ja auch sehr erreichbar, sehr down to earth für die Leute, die einen sonst im privaten nicht ansprechen würden. Das ist ja auch für die, für alle ein großer Vorteil.

I: Dass dort einfach diese Hemmschwelle ein bisschen niedriger ist, jemanden fremdes anzusprechen?

G_2_F: Ja genau, so eine Erreichbarkeit, und es ist ja auch tatsächlich so, dass große Blogger, also das sind jetzt nicht ganz, ganz große, aber ein paar, die ich auch kenne über Instagram mit ihren Fans auch interagieren. Im normalen Leben würden sich doch vielleicht weniger Leute trauen, die anzusprechen, außer es ist so gar keine Hemmung da. Die sind jetzt hier privat. Also das hat ja sowas von erreichbar.

I: Wir hatten es ja grad schon mal, dass du meintest, dass du dir abends im Bett die Insta- Stories anschaust von anderen Leuten oder auch guckst, was die so gepostet haben. Also schaust du auch, was die grad so machen? Oder eben auch, was weiß ich, ehemalige Klassenkameraden, versuchst du dich da ein bisschen auf dem Laufenden zu halten über das Leben von anderen?

144 G_2_F: Ja, aber eigentlich nicht von Leuten, die ehemalig an meinem Leben teilgenommen haben. Ich weiß, dass die bei mir gucken, was mich so ein bisschen befriedigt, aber nein, ich schau mir das nicht an.

I: Also eher so von deinen aktuellen Freunden? Was treiben die grad, so, wo sind die unterwegs?

G_2_F: Genau. Richtig. Was kann sich darüber noch so ergeben, was erleben die auch gerade spannendes, aber ich weiß auch von mir, ich muss das auch mal wieder ein bisschen zurückfahren, weil das hat ein hohes Frustrationspotential, wenn man immer nur das schöne, glossy Instagram-Life von anderen sieht, was ja auch nur ein Ausschnitt der Wirklichkeit ist. Das kann sehr unzufrieden machen auf Dauer.

I: Ja, zu so einem Punkt wollte ich auch noch kommen. Da wollte ich dich erstmal selber fragen, was denkst du wie offen und emotional bist du selbst in den sozialen Netzwerken?

G_2_F: Also ich kann da nur sagen, nach Goffmann, „Wir alle spielen Theater.“ Die Rolle in den sozialen Netzwerken, das kann nicht den ganzen Menschen abbilden, mit seinen Ängsten, mit seinen Problemen, mit seinen schlechten Zeiten. Das ballert eigentlich hintereinander nur The Good Life raus und so ein bisschen so die witzigen Situationen im Leben und immer doch, dass man Oberwasser über die anderen hat. Es ist ganz selten, dass Leute sich verletzlich zeigen in ihren sozialen Rollen, die sie spielen und das muss man eben auch wissen. Das ist nicht die Wirklichkeit, deswegen würde ich mich auch nicht emotional offenbaren in diesem Rollenschauspiel. Das ist was, was das richtige Leben ausmacht, das ist für mich nicht das Leben auf Instagram. Es ist eben eine Rolle, die man spielt, die auch mit der persönlichen Realität ja was zu tun hat, aber es beginnt nicht jeder Morgen mit einem tollen Frühstück und das habe ich mir bei Amazon bestellt, und dies und jenes. Das ist nicht das Leben, ist halt so.

I: Und wie denkst du darüber, wenn jemand doch mal sich verletzlich zeigt oder irgendwie so mal seine Gefühle äußert, die jetzt vielleicht nicht nur Good Life sind?

G_2_F: Ja, dann frage ich mich, ob das der richtige Ort dafür ist. Ich finde das vollkommen okay, aber ich denke, dass da auch viele, wie soll man sagen, andere Personen das vielleicht auch ausnutzen, denjenigen. Ja, dass man da was von sich preisgibt, was nicht alle in einem sozialen Netzwerk angeht und dass dann vielleicht screenshoten kann, weitergeben, und dass das das Potential birgt, dass sich da andere darüber lustig machen. Es gibt viele gemeine Menschen und das ist eben leider so. Man 145 sieht das auch immer wieder bei Twitter, wo Dinge viral gehen, ja, oder halt auch bei Facebook, ja, wo es ungerechter Weise, ja, es doch viele verletzende Kommentare und Worte gibt zu gewissen Vorfällen oder Menschen, die sich eben öffnen zu einem gewissen Grad. Ich finde, manche nutzen ihre Rolle in diesen sozialen Netzwerken gut aus, die halt sagen, z.B. zum Thema Depression „Ich hatte auch Depression, blablabla, und ich bin jetzt hier als Keyspeaker bei der und der Veranstaltung.“ Wenn die mit einer persönlichen Geschichte kommen, finde ich, das ist eine tolle gute Sache, aber das ist halt wie bei einem Buch. Wenn jemand eine Biografie schreibt und sich öffnet und offenbart und da andere mitzieht und denen hilft. Ob die Privatperson sich öffnen sollte, wo Arbeitgeber und Kollegen und sonst wer vielleicht drauf Zugriff hat, das finde ich eher fraglich, das ist nicht der richtige Ort, aber das ist eben auch wo verschiedene Lebensbereiche aufeinandertreffen und manche nicht differenzieren. Das kann man auch machen, vor allem es ist ja auch Medienpädagogik. Viele Jüngere sagen “nehmt doch meine Daten oder ich erzähle einfach, das sind meine Freunde, ich kann da mit anderen mich drüber austauschen, das ist meine Coping Strategy.” Aber ich halte das für mich persönlich z.B. nicht den richtigen Ort. Man kann auch mal sagen, “ja, es gab auch mal eine dunkle Zeit” oder irgendwas anderes, aber nie en detail. Da muss man auch sagen, wen geht das wirklich was an und wer hilft mir? Es sind die, zu denen ich eine tiefe, ehrliche Bindung habe. Das kann sich überschneiden, das sind die, die ich auch in Facebook habe, aber die sollte ich auch ganz real physisch erfassbar an meiner Seite haben.

I: Also ist es dir schon mal passiert, dass du gar nicht soweit gedacht hast, dass du dich vielleicht selber grad verletzlich zeigst oder eine Angriffsfläche bietest, wo dann Kommentare kamen, die irgendwie fies waren?

G_2_F: Nein, zum Glück noch nicht, außer ja, bei dem Fotocontent, den ich mache. Das kann immer jemandem nicht passen, das lösche ich dann und das ist mir auch egal, weil das ist kein persönliches Problem, was ich da jetzt besprechen möchte.

I: Das hast du ja jetzt auch grad schon angedeutet, also du denkst schon über deine eigenen Handlungen nach bevor du irgendwas rausfeuerst auf welchem Kanal auch immer? Da überlegst du schon?

G_2_F: Wenn man was Negatives anspricht immer in ironisch-sarkastischen Happy- Modus, so machen das auch viele andere.

146 I: Okay. Soziale Netzwerke zeichnen sich ja unter anderem auch durch diesen Gemeinschaftsaspekt aus. Wie bewertest du diesen Gemeinschaftsgedanken und siehst du dich selbst auch als Teil dieser sagen wir mal Community?

G_2_F: Als Teil von dieser Community, ich weiß schon was du meinst. Da fühle ich mich selbst nicht angesprochen, weil ich so diese zurückgenommene Metaebene durch den Job halt jetzt habe. Ich bewerte andere als “das ist unsere Zielgruppe,” als “das ist unsere Community.” Ich fühle mich da nicht zugehörig, kann ich ja auch gar nicht sein, weil ich ja auf der anderen Seite sitze. So bei anderen Dinge, das ich sage, da ist so eine gewisse Facebook-Scene, zu der ich auch dazugehören will, die sich da vernetzt. Das ist in dem Rahmen oder in den Bereichen, wo ich mich bewege, ist das nicht so. Das sind dann doch die persönlichen Kontakte oder dann doch über E-Mail oder die Empfehlung, und dass man die Leute doch kennen muss, um irgendwie Teil zu sein von einer Community oder einer Szene, sag ich mal. Das würde ich jetzt für mich nicht sagen, dass ich das Gemeinschaftsgefühl aufbringe, zusagen, das ist meine Community. Bei Facebook, das sind auch nicht meine Freunde. Das sind Freunde und Bekannte plus X, ein Gemisch an Leuten, deren Profile ich kenne.

I: Ja.

G_2_F: Die vielleicht mit mir die gleichen Werte teilen, aber die ich nicht in Persona auf der Straße vielleicht erkennen würde, zu denen ich auch irgendeine Emotion habe.

I: Du hast vorhin auch schon mal angesprochen, die Privatsphäre-Einstellungen. Da gibt es ja auch eine große Debatte über dieses ganze Thema Privatheit. Was denkst du, wie denkst du darüber?

G_2_F: Wir gehen sehr sloppy und sehr dumm mit unseren Daten um, das ist so. Es gibt für viele, die halt bequem sind, auch so wie ich, kein Weg daraus. Die geben überall alles an und alles ist so ein bisschen gläsern, aber trotzdem so in dem Bewusstsein nicht, ich gehe mit meinen Daten eigentlich nicht gut um, daher z.B. Adressdaten oder wirklich irgendwelche persönlichen Eckdaten auch über Krankheiten oder sonst was. Das würde ich niemals mal bei einer keine Ahnung Online-Apotheke angeben, auf gar keinen Fall oder irgendwelche Steuernummern oder irgendwie solche Geschichten. Aber ansonsten, Paypal ist mit meinem Konto verquickt, das ist auch schon so eine fragliche Sache, aber es ist eben sehr bequem. Ich wüsste nicht, wie ich es anders machen sollte mit den Fernbus-Tickets. Soll ich immer zum Schalter gehen oder how to do it? Kreditkarte ist genau so, wenn ich die damit verknüpfe. Das ist so ein Punkt. Ich bin mir im Klaren, dass ich bei gewissen Dingen nicht intransparent bin, sondern eher vollkommen transparent. 147 Es ist alles verquickt. Klar ist dann immer so das Argument, was sollen sie mit den Daten haben? Dann wissen sie eben, was ich für Bücher bei Amazon bestelle und wo ich surfe, aber man muss sich eben die Frage stellen, wo das dann hinführt. Dass solche Dinge natürlich auch von Kriminellen oder auch vom Staat und halt auch zur Überwachung komplett genutzt werden können. Ja, das finde ich natürlich nicht richtig. Ansonsten, ja, es ist halt wie im wahren Leben, es muss halt jeder selbst entscheiden. Ich finde das gut, dass Facebook immer wieder dran erinnert, “hey, das sehen jetzt deine Freunde, das ist öffentlich.” Es ist aber auch im Internet so, wenn man mal eine gewisse Sperre übertreten hat, es gibt ja kein Zurück mehr und da macht man halt einfach weiter, z.B. von mir gibt es ziemlich viele Fotos im Internet und wer weiß ob ich das in 25 Jahren vielleicht doch ein bisschen kritischer sehe. Jetzt denke ich, es gibt sowieso schon so viele auch Nacktbilder. I don’t care. Es ist halt für mich in einem künstlerischen Rahmen entstanden. Und ja, ich stehe dazu, wenn man das immer sagt, es ist nicht so, dass ich Angst hätte, wenn jetzt mich jemand anfragt, “kann ich dieses Foto von dir für einen Onlineartikel verwenden,” da stelle ich mich nicht quer, „ja, gib die Credits an.“ Es gibt sowieso schon so viele Bilder und so ist das vielleicht auch bei anderen. Man übertritt halt mal so eine Grenze und man hat gewisse Dinge verquickt. Man ist eben jetzt bei Paypal und sagt sich dann, naja gut, es ist jetzt eh zu spät, ich nutze jetzt die Vorteile, die ich davon habe.

I: Du hast vorhin schon mal gesagt, dass du mal für zehn Tage kein Smartphone hattest. Könntest du dir vorstellen dein Smartphone komplett wieder abzugeben?

G_2_F: Nein, nee.

I: Wenn es so wäre, nehmen wir das jetzt mal an. Was würde sich in deinem Alltag verändern?

G_2_F: Also ich weiß ja, wie es ist. Es ist auf jeden Fall so eine psychische Triggerung, dass man sich so ineffektiv fühlt, wenn man eben in der Tram keine Mails versendet, sondern aus dem Fenster guckt. Was würde sich verändern? Ja, eigentlich alles, leider. Es dreht sich fast alles darum, wenn es mal kaputt ist, ist das schon ein Drama. Wenn es zehn Tage, da war es auch im Austausch, das war super unangenehm. Ich habe mal so eine Facebook/Instagram-Pause gemacht, als Experiment, und habe halt auch festgestellt, dass ich eigentlich süchtig bin. Also so viele andere auch, ja abhängig, abhängig vom Smartphone. Was würde sich alles ändern? Ja, ich könnte keine Fotos machen, ich kann ja natürlich immer noch über den Laptop vieles mitverfolgen, aber die Stories z.B. nicht, ich kann auch selbst keine Stories machen. Ich hätte wahrscheinlich viel mehr Zeit mal zu lesen, konzentriert, mal abzuschalten und wahrscheinlich würde ich mich nach einer 148 Zeit lang besser fühlen. Das könnte ich mir schon vorstellen, aber man würde auch aus vielen Kreisen eben rausfallen und man würde gewisse Dinge vielleicht nicht, also das ist zumindest so das Gefühl, was man hat, das halt alles ziemlich schnell gehen muss und man halt nicht mehr die Möglichkeit hätte, so schnell zu reagieren und dass mir dann Chancen entgehen. Das wäre so, was sich ändern würde, glaube ich.

I: Was denkst du, würdest du am meisten vermissen?

G_2_F: Am meisten? Telefonieren könnte ich ja auch so mit dem Festnetz oder irgendwas. Ja, halt so alles, auf jeden Fall die E-Mails, E-Mails checken, auch wissen, dass da alles in Ordnung ist, sowas, dass man halt kontrollieren kann. Die Kontrolle würde ich vermissen, auf jeden Fall.

I: Noch eine Frage zu deinem Job. Du meintest ja, du machst, du bist da für Social Media verantwortlich. Hast du dich für den Job beworben und hat dir dein privater Umgang mit Social Media da geholfen, da den Job zu bekommen?

G_2_F: Auf jeden Fall, ich habe vorher schon das Social Media für Firma 1 gemacht, so freiwillig nebenher, weil da war ich Visual Merchandiserin und Verkäuferin und habe dann angefangen, auch das Social Media Management im Teilbereich Instagram für unsere Shops zu übernehmen. Und das hat mir auf jeden Fall Spaß gemacht. Und ich habe halt auch gemerkt, da kann man viel triggern kann und das würde ich gern für eine größere Firma machen. Und ich habe mich bei der Firma, bei der ich jetzt bin, ganz bewusst darauf beworben und das hat mir auf jeden Fall geholfen. Also ich fahre ja jetzt auch auf diese Messe nicht ohne Grund, sondern dass ich da die Berichterstattung mache und halt auch mich mit der App gut auskenne.

I: Welche Messe ist das?

G_2_F: Messe? Also die Messename in Stadt 3.

I: Alles klar, ja ich bin jetzt erstmal soweit durch mit meinen Fragen. Hast du noch irgendwas anzumerken, selber noch Fragen noch irgendwas, dass dir noch eingefallen ist?

G_2_F: Nein, ich hoffe, das hat dich weitergebracht.

I: Ja, ich denke schon.

149 G_2_F: Ja, schön.

I: Ich habe bei so einer Masterarbeit schon mal mitgemacht, vor einem Jahr, aber das war so medienpädagogisch angehaucht.

I: Okay.

G_2_F: Ja, interessant, dass es ein weiterhin gutes Thema ist.

I: Ja, ist auf jeden Fall ein großes Thema, da kann man auf jeden Fall viel machen, glaube ich. Ich bräuchte mal noch dein Geburtstagsdatum und deine Position, dein Status. Bist du freie Mitarbeiterin oder angestellt oder wie ist dein Arbeitsverhältnis? G_2_F: Ich bin angestellt.

I: Und dein Geburtstagsdatum bräuchte ich mal bitte noch.

G_2_F: Das ist der Geburtsdatum.

I: Okay. Ja, dann, also die Informationen, die ich brauchte, habe ich soweit.

G_2_F: Super, schön.

I: Dann vielen, vielen Dank, dass du dir die Zeit genommen hast.

G_2_F: Ja, kein Problem. Ich wünsche dir viel Erfolg bei deiner Arbeit.

I: Dankeschön und dir dann viel Spaß auf der Messe.

G_2_F: Danke.

I: Na dann mach’s gut. Tschüss.

G_2_F: Tschüss.

150 Appendix I: Interview Transcript G_3_M

I: So jetzt geht’s, denke ich.

G_3_M: Soll ich näher ran?

I: Nein, es war nur, keine Ahnung. Funktioniert, jetzt läuft’s. Es stand halt, ich hatte schon Aufnahme gedrückt, aber es stand noch keine Zeit da, die läuft, aber jetzt läuft die Zeit.

G_3_M: Okay.

I: Alles klar. Danke erstmal, dass du dir die Zeit nimmst. Ich würde noch ein paar Sachen, ein paar Orga-Sachen erwähnen. Und dann würde ich anfangen.

G_3_M: Ja.

I: Also noch mal so zur allgemeinen Info. Du nimmst an einer Studie Teil, die die Nutzung des Smartphones im Alltag untersucht und die Studie führe ich im Rahmen meiner Masterarbeit durch. Deine persönlichen Daten werden anonymisiert. Das aufgezeichnete Interview wird transkribiert und deine persönlichen Merkmale wie Name und Orte werden dann durch Codes ersetzt.

G_3_M: Okay.

I: Hier nochmal die Frage: Bist du mit der Aufzeichnung des Interviews einverstanden.

G_3_M: Ja, bin ich.

I: Danke. Ich habe dir ja auch die Einwilligungserklärung per Mail geschickt. Hast du sie gelesen und hast du da noch Fragen?

G_3_M: Ich habe sie gelesen und sie ist sehr aufschlussreich, keine Fragen.

I: Okay. Ja, und das Interview an sich ist als offenes Gespräch gedacht. Also all deine Gedanken und alle deine Anmerkungen sich wichtig für mich. Ich stelle immer so ein bisschen einleitende Fragen, wo du erstmal ein bisschen erzählen sollst und wo ich dann

151 noch mal ein bisschen genauer was wissen will, da frage ich da noch mal explizit danach nach im Detail.

G_3_M: Okay.

I: Hast du erstmal noch Fragen bevor wir beginnen oder ist noch irgendwas unklar?

G_3_M: Nein.

I: Okay. Dann würde ich jetzt einfach mal mit der ersten Frage anfangen, okay?

G_3_M: Okay.

I: Erzähl mir mal bitte, wie du dein Smartphone an einem gewöhnlichen Wochentag benutzt. Also was hast du z.B. gestern damit alles gemacht?

G_3_M: Früh aufstehen, dann, ja, Podcasts an von Tagesthemen und Tagesschau, dann schaue ich die News. Ja, dann geht’s ins Bad, da ist das Radio an über mein Smartphone. Dann gehe ich damit zur Arbeit, da höre ich meistens ein Hörbuch über Audible. Dann bin ich auf der Arbeit, da habe ich mein Handy so gut wie nie in der Hand, also ziemlich selten nur. Ich antworte immer nur auf Nachrichten per WhatsApp z.B., oder ja, Messenger-Dienste. Dann gehe ich heim, da habe ich immer ein Hörbuch an, gehe vielleicht noch zum Sport, da habe ich Musik an. Ansonsten nur zur Kommunikation.

I: Und am Abend?

G_3_M: Abends bin ich nicht so der Typ fürs Smartphone, da sitze ich lieber weit weg davon. Ich benutze es dann höchstens, um Themen nachzuschlagen oder wenn ich mir irgendwas denke, was grad passiert ist, um da noch mal zu recherchieren und nachzuschauen, das ist halt jobabhängig, weil als Journalist guckt man dann doch nochmal auf anderen Seiten, ob was passiert ist.

I: Du hast ja schon gesagt zum Aufstehen, benutzt du es auch als Wecker?

G_3_M: Ja, gut, das habe ich vergessen. Es weckt mich auch.

I: Und das heißt eigentlich, der erste Blick, wenn du deine Augen aufmachst, fällt ja aufs Smartphone. Wenn da schon Nachrichten da sind oder irgendwelche Notifications, wie gehst du damit um? Schaust du da gleich schon nach, antwortest du schon? 152

G_3_M: Nein, das mache ich nicht. Ich bin wirklich nur der Typ, der kurz nach Nachrichten guckt, wenn ich noch im Bett liege. Und dann mache ich meinen ganzen Kram. Ich antworte erst und mache erst alles, wenn ich in der Bahn sitze oder auf dem Weg zur Arbeit bin.

I: Also nutzt du solche Zeiten, in denen du grad nichts Anderes zu tun hast, sage ich mal, so Wartezeiten oder eben Bahnfahrzeiten, um dann zu kommunizieren?

G_3_M: Genau, weil ich dann auch weiß, ich habe Zeit dafür, dann mache ich das ebene nur da.

I: Und unterscheidet sich die Nutzung zum Wochenende, also nutzt du es da anders oder in der Freizeit, also wenn du wirklich einen ganzen Tag frei hast?

G_3_M: Ja, wenn ich den ganzen Tag frei habe, dann unterscheidet sich das schon dahingehend, dass ich dann meist unterwegs bin und noch Bilder mache. Das ist eher so ein Ding, was ich selten mache. Ich bin auch so ein Instagram und Social Media Typ, der eigentlich nur am Wochenende aktiv ist und unter der Woche eher so unterm Radar schwimmt. Da poste ich einfach nicht täglich. Ich mache das nur am Wochenende, wenn ich Zeit habe und dann hängt man auch häufiger am Telefon am Wochenende. Da liest man auch Haufen Quatsch, also da bin ich auch bei Facebook und Instagram und schaue mir da die Feeds an. Das mache ich jetzt unter der Woche selten.

I: Du hast es auch vorhin schon erwähnt, dass du auf der Arbeit weniger aufs Handy guckst, also maximal mal Nachrichten beantwortest, richtig?

G_3_M: Genau, bei den wichtigen Leuten.

I: Aber im Kontext mit der Arbeit, spielt das Smartphone dann trotzdem eine Rolle, also z.B. um mit Arbeitskollegen o.ä. zu kommunizieren oder anderen Leuten, die im Arbeitskontext stehen?

G_3_M: Ja, selten, wir benutzen ab und an Slack, aber nur bei größeren Projekten, um sich da zu koordinieren. Das meiste läuft dann über den PC. Ich muss aber, also zumindest muss ich da erwähnen, dass es da so eine Sache ist, wenn man iOS Geräte benutzt, weil ich alles, was ich auf mein Smartphone bekomme auch, auf meinen Mac bekomme. Und dann ist es egal, weil WhatsApp habe ich dann auch auf dem Mac und

153 dann schaue ich echt nicht auf mein Smartphone, weil ich weiß, alles Wichtige an Sachen habe ich dann eben automatisch auch gleich auf meinem Mac.

I: Du hast ja auch schon erwähnt, dass du dich von deinem Wecker übers Handy wecken lässt. Das ist ja sozusagen etwas was eigentlich jeden Tag passiert, in der Regel. Also kann man das ja schon wie eine Gewohnheit oder Routine sehen. Gibt es da noch mehr Routinen oder Gewohnheiten, wenn du mal darüber nachdenkst, die sich in deinen Alltag eingeschlichen haben im Umgang mit deinem Smartphone?

G_3_M: Ja. Einmal die Routine früh Radio an, Podcast an über Smartphone. Das ist eigentlich schon so eine gängige Bewegung, da muss ich nicht mehr viel schauen, wo die App ist, das mache ich automatisch. Gleichzeitig ist es so eine Routine geworden, über die Messenger-Dienste zu antworten und nicht mehr wirklich zu telefonieren. Die Routine ist eher zu schreiben. Dann ganz klar, dass die Musik auf meinem Smartphone immer und überall vorhanden ist, also ich da nicht viel rumsuchen muss, einfach auf Play drücken. Und da weiß ich dann auch, okay ich will Musik hören, ich nehme direkt mein Smartphone und überlege nicht mehr, wo ich das konsumieren möchte. Genauso ist es halt die Routine, wenn ich mir irgendwie eine Frage stelle im Alltag, versuche ich die über mein Smartphone zu beantworten, also dass man per Google sucht einfach. Das sind so Routinen, die sich eingeschlichen haben.

I: Und du sagst ja schon, du hast dein Telefon den ganzen Tag bei dir, auch auf der Arbeit antwortest du ab und zu auf Nachrichten. Durch das WLAN und auch durch die mobilen Daten ist man ja, ist es ja zu so einer ständigen Erreichbarkeit gekommen. Wie bewertest du diese?

G_3_M: Die ist zum Teil negativ, deswegen schalte ich mein Handy über Nacht aus. Ich bin auch, glaube ich, einer der wenigen, der das noch macht. Und dann am Wochenende habe ich…

I: Ganz aus oder Flugmodus?

G_3_M: Flugmodus, okay, ja, also es ist schon der Flugmodus, aber es ist wie ausschalten, weil halt nix mehr funktioniert.

I: Ja, ich wollte es nur noch mal genau wissen, aber ja, okay, weiter.

G_3_M: Ja, das ist einfach so eine, ich finde das schon schwierig, also mich stresst es manchmal auch, wenn ich weiß, okay, ich habe eigentlich grad zu tun, aber irgendwie 154 muss man auch gucken, was bei Freunden abgeht, ob die irgendwas haben oder irgendwas los ist. Man schaut dann immer mal drauf, nicht nur auf die Uhr, sondern halt auch nur auf die Nachrichten. Und so richtig konzentrieren auf eine Sache kann man sich dann gar nicht mehr so richtig.

I: Diese ständige Erreichbarkeit, also du sagst ja grad selber das setzt dich unter Druck. Erwischt du dich aber auch manchmal auch bei dem Gedanken, dass du dann von anderen erwartest, dass sie dir auf deine Nachrichten relativ schnell antworten?

G_3_M: Nein eigentlich gar nicht so, so bin ich wirklich nicht, weil ich meistens auch so viel zu tun habe, dass mich das nicht interessiert. Ich gucke dann, wenn es da ist, ist es da so. Aber ich kann mir schon vorstellen, dass manche Leute so sind und dann auch schon erwarten, dass dann schnell eine Antwort kommt. Das ist vielleicht nur ab und zu so stressig, wenn ich irgendwie schnell eine Antwort brauche, wenn es irgendwie um was Wichtiges geht, was jetzt, kurzfristige Dinge eben.

I: Würdest du da einfach noch mal eine Nachricht schreiben? Oder rufst du dann an? Oder ist es dann halt einfach Pech, dass er oder sie nicht antwortet?

G_3_M: Nein, ich rufe dann meistens schon an. Also ich bin dann eher jemand, der dann schnell anruft, wenn ich eine wichtige Antwort brauche für irgendwas, als da ewig zu warten oder fünfmal zu schreiben, dass eine Antwort kommen soll.

I: Wir sind ja vorhin schon mal deinen Tagesablauf durchgegangen in Bezug auf dein Smartphone. Wenn man sich jetzt noch mal genau auf die Vorteile konzentriert. Was denkst du, welche Vorteile bringt dir dein Smartphone in deinem Alltag?

G_3_M: Mobilität auf jeden Fall, dann wirklich auch überall erreichbar zu sein oder irgendwas raussuchen zu können. Ich kann ziemlich schnell ganz viele Antworten bekommen auf Dinge, Fragen. Wo komme ich oder wie komme ich von A nach B? Ich kann mir von unterwegs aus meine Tickets kaufen für Bus, Bahn und Flugzeug. Ich kann relativ safe und gut Fernsehen oder Unterhaltungselektronik nutzen. Und ja, also, für mich erleichtert das schon viel, so einen kleinen Kasten dabei zu haben, wo ich alles draufmachen könnte. Es ist schon das, ja es ist eigentlich genau das, dass man einfach alles damit machen kann.

I: Und von den Vorteilen jetzt zu den Nachteilen. Welche problematischen Aspekte siehst du im Umgang mit deinem Smartphone?

155 G_3_M: Verlustängste, also ich kann es mir nicht vorstellen, dass es weg wäre. Das ist glaube ich so das krasseste. Gleichzeitig immer dieses drauf schauen müssen, es vergehen schon bloß vielleicht mal so eine Stunde oder vielleicht mal zwei Stunden bis ich dann mal drauf schaue. Es ist nie so, dass ich es einfach weglegen könnte. Und ja, problematisch ist es ja auch, dass man sich selber nichts mehr merkt. Also früher da hat man von seinen besten Freunden noch die Telefonnummern gekannt, heute kenne ich eigentlich nur noch den Namen und ja, das war’s dann schon. Also ich könnte, wenn jetzt mir mein Handy gestohlen würde und ich bin einsam auf irgendeinem Fleckchen in Deutschland, ich wüsste nicht, wie ich wen erreiche, weil ich keine Nummern aus dem Kopf kann. Ja, das ist so dieses Ding. Durch diese Automatismen vergisst man ganz schnell Sachen. Passwörter werden automatisch gespeichert, mein E-Mail Dienst ist immer direkt verfügbar, ich muss mich nicht einloggen. Telefonieren kann ich direkt mit Siri oder mit anderen Sprachdiensten machen. Ruf Person XY an und schon wählt das. Dadurch verliert man echt viel Selbstständigkeit.

I: Okay. Dein Smartphone, telefonierst du gerade mit deinem Smartphone oder bist du auf dem Mac?

G_3_M: Nein, ich bin am Mac.

I: Ja, das hast du da. Okay. Dann weiß ich nicht, magst du vielleicht gleich mal drauf gucken? Kannst du mir da beschreiben, welche Apps du hast und wie du die benutzt?

G_3_M: Ja, kann ich. Also zum einen sind es die Standartsachen, Fotos, Kamera und Kalender, ich glaube, das erklärt sich. Kalender sind alle meine Termine drin, auch wie ich arbeiten muss für das nächste halbe Jahr. Ich muss jeden Termin abspeichern, weil ich die sonst vergesse. Ja, dann habe ich drauf, E-Mail-Dienst ist klar, da ist nun mal jede Mail drauf, die ich brauche. Da sind vor allem alle E-Mail-Dienste von mir drauf, also auch alle Log Ins. Ich habe nicht nur einen Channel, sondern vier. Instagram, da habe ich meinen Abonnenten-Feed, ja mein Kanal, den ich bespiele. Snapchat habe ich, da benutze ich nur die Filter, um bei Instagram Sachen hochzuladen oder Freunden zu schicken aus Spaß. Facebook ist spannend, ich habe es zwar drauf, ich habe auch einen Kanal, aber nur für den Notfall. Ich habe so ein Ghostprofil, bei mir passiert nichts, also ich like nicht, ich poste selten oder gar nicht, weil ich es einfach nicht, also ich war nie der Facebook- Mensch und werde es, glaube ich, auch nie sein. Amazon ist drauf, da bestellt man nun mal seine Sachen, einen Übersetzer für die Arbeit habe ich drauf, wenn man doch mehrsprachig Interviews führt, das man da noch mal was nachgucken kann. Slack habe ich drauf, das ist ein Messenger-Dienst, da kann man Gruppen bilden, deswegen sind da die Arbeitsgruppen drauf. Fotobearbeitungsdienste und ein Videoschnittprogramm, das 156 ist wichtig für die Arbeit. Also ich mache viel mit Videos und Fotos und wenn ich unterwegs Bilder mache, kann ich die nicht so roh abschicken. Das muss man schon noch, also die Rohdatei ein bisschen bearbeiten, einfach damit es schöner aussieht. Ganz viele Navigationsdienste für Auto, für die Bahn in Heimatstadt und für die Deutsche Bahn. Gleichzeitig auch Ryanair, weil ich damit am meisten fliege. Flixbus habe ich drauf. Ja, das sind so Sachen, wenn ich wirklich mal irgendwo unterwegs bin. Dann habe ich drauf noch, Canva, da kann ich alle möglichen Portfolios und Folien bauen und basteln. Twitter habe ich drauf, das ist klar, da konsumiere ich meine Nachrichten meist. Audible und den Podcast-Dienst von Apple, darüber konsumiere ich meine Podcasts und Hörbücher. Ich habe einen Radiostream drauf und Spiele bzw. meine Spiele-Messenger. Also ich bin auf Twitch, also ich spiele über Twitch. Dann tja, so gängige Apps, Super Mario Run für zwischen drin mal, Duolingo, mein Onlinebanking ist drauf und das war’s, ja das war’s. Und Musik, aber das ist auch so eine Apple-App.

I: Kannst du die nach Relevanz sortieren, also welche App nutzt du z.B. am liebsten oder welche Apps. Und welche nutzt du vielleicht nicht so gern und hast du trotzdem drauf?

G_3_M: Ja, da gibt es direkt so eine Einstellung, da kann ich mal drauf gucken. Also am meisten habe ich auf, ich gehe mal zu Apps, also am meisten benutzte ich Amazon, komisch. Danach kommt direkt Podcasts, dann kommt der Audiostream bzw. Radiostream, das sind einfach früh die, die ich als erstes anmache. Dann kommt die Deutsche Bahn, dann kommt Super Mario Run, dann App der Verkehrsbetriebe der Heimatstadt, das ist die Heimatstadt App für Nahverkehr, dann Twitter, dann Fotos, dann Go Euro, das ist so ein Bus-Dings, da kann man vergleichen, ob man mit Flugzeug, Bus oder Bahn schneller kommt durch Europa. Dann kommt Instagram, dann mein Kalender, ja, und dann erst der E-Mail-Dienst, aber meistens hole ich die Mails eh immer erst, wenn ich am Rechner sitze und dann kommen erst meine Nachrichten und dann erst WhatsApp.

I: Und das war ja jetzt dein Häufigkeits-Profil. Was nutzt du aber am liebsten?

G_3_M: Am liebsten ist mir glaube ich tatsächlich Twitter, weil ich da relativ schnell, relativ viele Informationen bekommen kann und mir das auch regional einteilen kann. Also wenn ich Bundesland 1 eingebe, kriege ich viel Bundesland 1-Nachrichten, Heimatstadt viel Heimatstadt und ja, Twitter konsumiere ich am meisten, das ist auch am lustigsten.

I: Was war dein letzter Satz? Da hat es grad kurz gehakt.

157 G_3_M: Ja, bei Twitter ist es einfach auf die kurzen Zeichen begrenzt. Und durch diese Kurznachrichten bin ich relativ schnell informiert und weiß, was ich nachgucken kann oder ob ich den Artikel klicken möchte oder nicht.

I: Und gibt es eine App, die du nicht so gern benutzt, aber aus irgendwelchen Gründen vielleicht benutzen musst?

G_3_M: Was benutze ich nicht gerne? Slack ist für mich sehr unübersichtlich und auch sehr unschön gemacht, aber wegen der Arbeit habe ich die.

I: Ich höre dich grad nicht.

G_3_M: Ich habe dich grad nicht gehört.

I: Ich dich auch nicht. Also das letzte was ich verstanden habe, ist, dass du Slack nicht so gern benutzt, weil es nicht so schön aufgebaut ist und du es aber wegen der Arbeit benutzten musst.

G_3_M: Genau, ja, richtig.

I: Okay.

G_3_M: Vielleicht ist es jetzt besser.

I: Näher am Router?

G_3_M: Ja, zumindest ein bisschen.

I: Also jetzt geht’s zumindest erstmal ein bisschen wieder. Du hattest jetzt gesagt, dass deine liebste App eigentlich Twitter ist, weil du da halt deine Infos schnell bekommst. Kannst du eine typische Situation beschreiben. In welchem Moment benutzt du die und wie dann?

G_3_M: Ja, z.B. früh in der Bahn, wenn ich sitze, ist das erste so Twitter an und gucken was in Heimatstadt geht, was so Neues gemacht wurde, gerade zur Bundestagswahl sind natürlich die Hashtags Butawa alle so gängig und typisch um zu gucken, ob es da irgendwelche Neuerungen gibt. Ja, das sind so die Sachen, abends im Bett noch mal kurz geschaut, was so in der Welt abging, einfach die populärsten Feeds. Und wenn ich mich

158 unterhalten möchte, gebe ich einfach #trump ein oder therealtrump, das ist schon sehr lustig und spannend.

I: Und du hast ja jetzt hauptsächlich davon gesprochen, dass du auf Twitter konsumierst. Bist du da auch selber aktiv, postest du da, kommentierst du da irgendwie?

G_3_M: Ich poste nur selber, wenn ich einen Artikel geschrieben habe, den ich spannend finde, wo ich sage, okay, der hat Mehrwert. Ansonsten lasse ich es weg. Ich bin da nicht so der Typ, der da irgendwelchen Mist twittert, da gibt es ja viele Unterhaltungs- Twitterer, aber ich möchte nicht dazugehören, deswegen, meist konsumiere ich nur.

I: Aber aktiv bist du dann z.B. auf Instagram hast du ja gesagt, am Wochenende dann.

G_3_M: Ja genau, habe da meine kleine Fangemeinde und da möchte man schon ein paar Bilder zeigen.

I: Kannst du das mit der Fangemeinde erklären?

G_3_M: Ja, ich habe jetzt zweieinhalbtausend Follower knapp, so 2300 irgendwas Follower, ich kann mal nachgucken. Und ja mit denen kommuniziert man ja dann doch viel. 2346 Follower habe ich. Mit denen macht man dann doch viel. Also viele kommentieren meine Bilder oder schreiben mir mal, finden das cool, was ich mache oder wie ich es mache, ich poste viel über Gaming und mich selber halt. Es ist ja so eine Selfie-Plattform und ja, da gibt es dann immer mal neuen Kram oder irgendwas was ich neu gekauft habe oder grad unterwegs bin, poste ich dann.

I: Kannst du ein Beispiel bringen für vielleicht deinen letzten Post oder dein letztes Foto oder Story. Du machst auch Stories, glaube ich?

G_3_M: Genau. Ich mache auch Stories. Stories sind so vom Alltag, wenn ich arbeite oder wenn ich kurz nach Hause komme, so lustige Dinge mit meinen Katzen oder sowas. Ja, eigentlich meist immer sehr zynisch oder lustige Sachen und in meiner Story war das letzte Bild z.B. über meine Arbeit. Ich habe vor kurzem meinen Channel ein bisschen gewechselt von ich mache Selfies von mir und meiner Freizeit hinzu ich zeige nur noch Sachen von meiner Arbeit. Das letzte Bild ist z.B., dass ich meinen Controller in der Hand und halt ab jetzt einen Technik- und Gaming-Podcast habe bei einem Sender und halt mehr jetzt darüber mache.

159 I: Und wie kam es zu der Entscheidung? Kam das spontan, hat sich das, hast du da länger drüber nachgedacht?

G_3_M: Ja, ich habe schon eine Weile darüber nachgedacht, weil ich die Follower meist darüber bekommen habe, dass ich so Lifestyle-Sachen gemacht habe und Fashion halt. Aber meine Arbeitswelt hat sich dahingehend eben entwickelt, dass ich das nicht mehr mache. Früher habe ich ja auch in dem Bereich gearbeitet, aber jetzt mache ich ja nur noch journalistische Dinge. Und da war mir das dann auch wichtiger und das lässt sich dann auch einfacher mit meinem Leben kombinieren. Da sind dann doch mal schneller Bilder von der Arbeit geschossen, als Bilder von mir privat oder bei irgendeinem Shooting. Und aus dem Grund habe ich mich dann dazu entschieden.

I: Ein anderes Thema. Wie entscheidest du dich für eine App. Warum lädst du eine App runter?

G_3_M: Ja, ich arbeite selber in so einem Bereich, wo das immer aufkommt, wo man nachfragt, was so fancy Sachen sind. Und ich kriege fast nur noch Push-Nachrichten über Facebook, Twitter oder Instagram, krieg ich nur noch die Werbung meist über irgendwelche Apps, die angeboten sind. Die gucke ich mir erstmal an, ergoogle mir das natürlich, was andere von der App halten und wer die Entwickler sind. Und wenn ich das für stimmig und gut halte, dann downloade ich die, probiere sie mal aus und wenn sie mir in der ersten Stunde nicht gefällt, ist sie eigentlich auch schon wieder weg.

I: Hast du Apps, die Geld gekostet haben?

G_3_M: Ja, zum Teil, aber nur da, wo ich wirklich gelesen habe, dass es gut ist, z.B. ist Afterlight so eine App zur Fotobearbeitung, die aber das Vollformat bearbeitet am Smartphone, d.h. der gibt keine runtergerechnete Datei aus, sondern immer die Volldatei. Und das hat mir schon sehr gefallen und die Handhabung ist auch sehr einfach und die Einstellungen sind multipel und da habe ich mich dann dafür entscheiden, die drei Euro zu investieren, glaube ich. Ja, und ansonsten habe ich keine bezahlten Apps drauf.

I: Und hat sich das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis dann für dich, war das dann in Ordnung?

G_3_M: Ja, hat sich auf jeden Fall gelohnt. Also die App war vorher schon sehr gut und hat durchweg auch gute Bewertungen und dann fand ich das schon ganz gut und ja, ich bin bis jetzt da nicht, also ich finde es zwar nicht schade, dass ich das Geld ausgegeben habe, aber ja.

160 I: Spielen für dich auch solche Sachen wie, also du hast ja grad schon gesagt, dass du die manchmal nach einer Stunde schon wieder runterschmeißt. Also, ist das sowas wie Benutzerfreundlichkeit dann oder spielt auch eine Rolle für dich, wie viele Daten du angeben musst und auf was es alles Zugriff hat?

G_3_M: Ja, das spielt erstmal eine untergeordnete Runde, das ist für mich erstmal egal, weil ich bei Facebook bin. Dazu muss man aber sagen, dass ich mein Smartphone über eine Dritt-E-Mail-Adresse angemeldet habe, wo nicht meine vollständigen Daten drauf sind. Also das ist erstmal das eine, auch bei Facebook sind nicht meine vollständigen Daten. Ja, übergeordnet ist erstmal Ästhetik und Handhabung von der App und wenn es mir dann gefällt, dann nehme ich sie, aber natürlich ist es schon mal so, wenn da steht, du musst dich über Facebook anmelden, das finde ich dann schon sehr schade. Ich würde es dann schon lieber über meine Junk-E-Mail-Adresse anmelden. Ja, das ist so ein, das ist schon so ein erstes Kriterium, wie ich eine App finde.

I: Wie oft kommt das vor, dass du dann wieder welche runterschmeißt?

G_3_M: Ja, in der Woche vielleicht so vier-, fünfmal.

I: Also, schon sehr häufig eigentlich.

G_3_M: Ja, das kommt auch beruflich, wenn man viel ausprobiert, viel ausprobieren muss. Ich glaube Ottonormalverbraucher sind nicht so drauf, aber bei mir ist es schon so, dass ich schauen möchte und will, was so der Markt hergibt.

I: Ja, mit deiner Junk-Mail-Adresse und deinem, dass du eben nicht so viel angegeben hast bei Facebook hast du schon anderes Thema zum Teil angesprochen, die Privatheit. Darüber wird ja auch viel diskutiert im Zusammenhang mit sozialen Netzwerken. Wie denkst du darüber?

G_3_M: Naja, die Privatheit gibt es halt nicht mehr. Also das Privatsein ist nicht mehr gegeben. Viele geben unterbewusst viel mehr von sich raus, als sie denken. Das hat schon damit zu tun, dass fast alle ihre lokalen Dienste anhaben, also den Traffic, wo man gerade ist, bzw. den Datenstrom freigibt, sich in öffentlichen WiFis aufhält, auf öffentlichen WiFis Daten teilt, aber wenn man so in der Technikbranche unterwegs ist, dann merkt man schon ganz schnell, man kommt heutzutage nicht mehr rundherum. Selbst der Baumarkt mit der Kundenkarte möchte eine E-Mail-Adresse und möchte die Adresse. Man kommt nicht mehr so richtig dran vorbei und irgendwie muss es einem dann auch egal sein. Wo es dann ein bisschen kritisch wird, sind Bankdaten, gerad bei Apps. Da 161 passe ich dann schon genau auf, wer welche Bankdaten von mir bekommt. Ja, und deswegen gehe ich dem ganzen beim Onlinebanking sehr positiv gegenüber, dass man zwar direkt überweisen anklicken kann, aber in den Apps nicht die Bankdaten preisgeben muss von sich, sondern das einfach dann überweist. Das ist schnell und sicher und halt vorher prüfen kann, an wen das Geld geht. Also für mich, ich habe es schon lange aufgegeben, meine Daten irgendwie so sicher wie möglich zu halten, weil so richtig machbar ist es nicht mehr heutzutage.

I: Hast du da manchmal ein ungutes Gefühl bei oder ist es normal geworden?

G_3_M: Na das ungute Gefühl hat man eher glaube ich, ich weiß nicht wo andere sich auf ihren Plattformen bewegen, aber wenn man so in gängigen Journaillen und Portalen unterwegs ist, habe ich da keine Sorge. Ich weiß nicht, wie es so ist, der typische Filmstreamer, der über sein Smartphone Filme oder gewisse Filmchen streamt, was weiß ich, der hat da glaube ich mehr Probleme als derjenige, der einfach normal damit umgeht. Deswegen, weiß nicht, also das Problem hatte ich noch nie, dass ich mir da Gedanken machen musste, aber das hat immer was mit Legalität und Illegalität zu tun. Und da sollte man dann schon aufpassen, je nachdem wo man sich bewegt.

I: Ich würde jetzt noch mal zu einem anderen Thema kommen, was wir auch zum Teil schon angesprochen hatten. Die Kommunikation über die sozialen Netzwerke oder über deine Apps, dazu zählt ja auch SMS und Telefon, das sind ja nicht nur die sozialen Netzwerke. Wie teilt sich das bei dir auf? Also worüber kommunizierst du am meisten und mit wem? Sind das engere Freunde, sind das viele, du hast ja schon von deinen vielen Followern gesprochen. Wie ist da so die Aufteilung?

G_3_M: Ich mache einfach mal von viel zu wenig. Bei WhatsApp habe ich zwei Gruppen, die sind bei mir mit den Notifications eingeschalten. Das sind meine besten Freunde, einmal der Herrenkreis und einmal der gemischte Kreis sozusagen. Ja, das sind so zehn Leute, zehn bis 15 Leute mit denen ich dauerhaft zu tun habe und ständig, da habe ich die Notifications an, ansonsten nur bei meiner Mutter noch einzeln, wenn da irgendwas wäre. Alles andere ist bei mir auf offline, d.h. wenn ich die App anklicke, weiß ich wer mir dann noch geschrieben hat. Ich kriege auch keine Push-Nachrichten mehr. Das gleiche ist bei Facebook, ich kriege keine Notifications. Das war auch unser Problem, zwischen uns beiden, einfach weil ich das abgeschalten habe. Und bei Instagram habe ich das sogar so, dass selbst, wenn ich auf die App klicke, ich das nicht mehr sehe, wer mir geschrieben hat, sondern ich nur am Wochenende, einmal die Woche da mal reinklicke und es dann auch erst erfahre. Also ich sehe nicht mal dann, wenn ich die App nutze, ob mir jemand geschrieben hat, weil ich alle Nachrichten als Spam 162 markiere und markiert habe und damit landen die immer und gleichzeitig als Spam. Und dann gucke ich nur einmal die Woche, wer mir so geschrieben hat oder wenn ich mal Lust habe, aber das ist sowas, ich weiß nicht, das hat halt überhandgenommen. Das waren immer so 50 bis 100 Nachrichten die Woche und das ist mir dann zu viel gewesen, deswegen habe ich es gesperrt. Ja, das war es dann schon mit Kommunikation. Telefonie mache ich ganz selten, am Tag vielleicht so fünfmal mit meiner Freundin, mit meiner Mum ab und zu, nicht jeden Tag, und mit Freunden eigentlich nie bis selten, weil das alles über Nachrichten läuft.

I: Okay. Das was du jetzt so gesagt hast, waren ja hauptsächlich bestehende Beziehungen, die du da sozusagen damit pflegst. Knüpfst du auch neue Kontakte über dein Smartphone?

G_3_M: Ja, ab und an schon, über Instagram vor allem, wenn ich mit Leuten länger im Gespräch oder im Kontakt komme, dann tauscht man doch mal die Daten aus oder trifft sich mit Leuten. Aber jetzt nicht so, dass ich sage das passiert jede Woche häufig.

I: Aber ist schon vorgekommen?

G_3_M: Ja, das kommt vor, aber nicht so dass es wöchentlich wäre.

I: Du hast ja schon gesagt, dass du Twitter z.B. nutzt, um dich zu informieren, bist ja aber gleichzeitig auch auf Instagram. Du hast da zwar viele Follower, aber ich nehme mal an, dass du auch Leuten folgst.

G_3_M: Ja.

I: Beobachtest du da sozusagen andere Nutzer, im Sinne von guckst du, was die so machen und wie regelmäßig machst du das, wenn du es machst?

G_3_M: Ich schaue mir die Stories von Freunden an, da gibt’s bi Instagram z.B. die gute Funktion, dass die Leute, die du am meisten klickst bzw. anschaust, zieht es nach vorne. Und so die ersten zehn Leute schaue ich mir an, was die so über ihren Tag getrieben haben und alle anderen interessieren mich schon gar nicht mehr. Ansonsten habe ich für meinen Feed abonniert viele Nachrichten, Medien und Magazine, einfach um zu schauen, was die machen. Das ist auch so mein Arbeitsbereich, da guckt man mal drauf, was macht grad Bento, was macht Vice, wie geht’s der Süddeutschen, ja aber, dass ich jetzt dezidiert mir Personen rauspicke und die raussuche, die ich nicht kenne, das ist nicht so.

163 I: Und kommentierst du das dann auch teilweise?

G_3_M: Bei meinen Freunden schon. Ich bin immer bekannt als der, der miese Kommentare macht, also eher zynisch, oder auch ab und zu verletzend, aber vielleicht so der Grinch der Social Media, z.B. hat heute Morgen ein Freund von mir ein Bild mit seiner Katze hochgeladen, und ja dann habe ich halt gleich drunter geschrieben, dass die Katze morgens besser aussieht als er. Ich fand es witzig, er fand es nicht so lustig, aber hat dann am Ende halt trotzdem drüber gelacht. Ja so was, so kommentiere ich dann.

I: Also eher in einem spaßigen Kontext?

G_3_M: Ja, ich bin nicht so der Typ, der dann sagt, “Oh mein Gott, du bist so schön und du bist so hübsch.” Es sind ja fast nur Selfies, ja, in den seltensten Fällen ist es irgendwas Tolles oder Kompliment auch nicht so wirklich.

I: Und teilst du auch deine Meinung z.B. über Kommentarfunktionen mit?

G_3_M: Nicht bei Instagram, weil das nicht viel bringt. Die wenigsten Leute lesen da die Kommentare, sondern schauen nur die Bilder. Bei Facebook mache ich das und bei Twitter auch, also wenn ich bei Twitter irgendwas habe, dann ist es schon so, dass ich da meine Meinung dann präsentiere.

I: Gibt es ein Beispiel dafür, was dir grad einfällt, wo du das mal gemacht hast?

G_3_M: Zuletzt haben MDR-Mitarbeiter gestreikt z.B., da ging es darum, dass die nicht genügend Löhne bekommen und ein junger Mann hat dann drunter geschrieben, dass die Journalisten grad beim MDR so viel verdienen würden. Und da war dann mein Kommentar darunter einfach, dass er anscheinend sehr, sehr wenig Ahnung von der Materie hat und sich da vielleicht noch mal ein bisschen schulen sollte, bevor er dann so was ablässt.

I: Kam dann da noch mal was zurück?

G_3_M: Tatsächlich nicht, aber ich glaube mal, weil es fundiert war und er dann wahrscheinlich schon gemerkt hat, es haben halt zunehmend um die 10 Leute geliked, meinen Kommentar und nicht seinen und ich glaube, dass er dann schon verstanden hat, dass er da ein Fehler gemacht hat dabei.

164 I: Soziale Netzwerk zeichnen sich ja auch durch den Aspekt der Gemeinschaft aus. Wie bewertest du diesen Gemeinschaftsgedanken und siehst du dich selbst als Teil der Community?

G_3_M: So ein richtiger Gemeinschaftsgedanke ist da glaube ich gar nicht da.Ganz oft ist es ja so, dass man sich vernetzt mit Leuten, die man kennt oder gar nicht kennt und einfach toll findet. Grad bei Instagram ist es so dieses “Oh Person XY ist so wundervoll, so schön, so toll, der möchte ich folgen und sehen, was sie macht.” Es ist eher so dieses schauen, was andere machen und in seinem eigenen Kämmerchen sitzen und da spanenderweise nachgucken, was so die Welt treibt anstatt es selber zu machen. Ich glaube das ist so der Aspekt, früher war das so, dafür war ja auch Facebook gedacht, aber mittlerweile ist es echt nur noch dieses “Was treibt Person X, was macht Person Y und was wird grad gehyped in der Welt?”

I: Also eine Art Darstellung sozusagen dann?

G_3_M: Ja, es ist so das Fernsehen der 90er, 2000er geworden. Immer abrufbar, man hat viele Stars und viele Videos davon, man kann es sich anschauen. Ja, früher hat man dazu Fernsehen geschaut, heute schaut man in sein Smartphone.

I: Und wie authentisch empfindest du die Beiträge der anderen Nutzer?

G_3_M: Manchmal finde ich es spannend, grad wenn es journalistische Medien sind, die auf Social Media was ausstreuen und das sozusagen für jeden konsumierbar machen, der es hat. Unterhaltend finde ich es bei manchen Personen, Entertainern, da finde ich es lustig. Und manchmal ist es halt auch absolut daneben, also wenn man z.B. sein Essen postet, das ist so der Punkt, da geht es für mich dann zu weit.

I: Was denkst du, wie offen und emotional bist du selbst in sozialen Medien?

G_3_M: Eigentlich gar nicht, also emotional und offen selten, wenn dann bei Instagram, wenn mich wirklich was stört. Da habe ich z.B. Sachen gepostet bei mir. Ja, ich poste nicht mehr viel grad, es geht mir aber gegen den Strich, was so Leute von mir erwarten und dass ich das halt abgelehnt habe und auch nicht mehr mache so. Ich wollte nicht mehr Teil dieser Selbstdarstellung sein, wollte lieber zeigen, was ich beruflich mache und mich beruflich darstellen und das habe ich dann, ich glaube in meiner persönlichen Emotionalität dargestellt.

165 I: Und was denkst du über die Offenheit und Emotionalität anderer Nutzer, also wenn andere da sehr offen und emotional sind?

G_3_M: Das ist immer abhängig vom Thema, wenn mir da jemand erzählt, wie emotional er ist, weil er seinen Lidstrich zum vierten Mal nicht gebacken bekommen hat, dann hat das für mich ganz schnell so eine Lächerlichkeit. Wenn es natürlich wichtige Themen sind und sei es die Bundestagswahl derzeit oder die LGBT-Probleme, die wir in Deutschland haben, dann finde ich es schon sehr gut und auch sehr spannend, dass es da Einzelschicksale gibt, die mal durchleuchtet werden. Aber ganz ehrlich, so das zehnte Bibi Beauty Palace Video darüber, wie sie sich das falsche Shampoo gekauft hat, will ich dann auch nicht mehr sehen.

I: Du hast ja grad auch schon mal erzählt, dass du dein Account da so ein bisschen was gelöscht hast und da versuchst da ein bisschen anders zu agieren. Inwiefern denkst du über deine eigenen Handlungen nach, wenn du kommunizierst?

G_3_M: Wenn ich kommentiere, denke ich eigentlich selten nach, das mache ich dann einfach aus Affekt. Wenn ich Dinge poste in Stories z.B. dann ist das auch eher so ein Affekt-Ding. Ich finde grad was cool und mache es. Aber beim Feed ist es schon durchdachter, also das, was für immer stehen bleibt und was nicht in der Timeline verschwindet sozusagen. Da bin ich dann schon eher dahinter. Dann lese mir auch den Text drei-, viermal durch, ob der von der Grammatik her ganz gut ist oder okay ist. Ich überlege, ob ich in Deutsch oder in Englisch das mache und kommentiere. Ja, aber ansonsten, das ist so das Einzige, wo ich wirklich nachdenke, was ich poste und ob es jetzt ästhetisch ist in meinen Augen oder nicht.

I: Und auch in der interpersonalen Kommunikation, jetzt über WhatsApp oder so mit deinen Freunden ist dann auch eher Affekt oder?

G_3_M: Das kommt immer drauf an. Wenn es Streitigkeiten sind in der Gruppe, wie z.B. wir wollen nach Prag fahren und keiner kriegt es gerissen, mal ein Hostel rauszusuchen, dann überlegt man sich schon kurz, ob man noch einen dritten dummen Spruch jetzt in der Gruppe bringt darauf oder nicht. Ansonsten ist es immer sehr affektlastig, ja.

I: Ich glaube, du hast es vorhin schon mal gesagt, dass du dein Smartphone nicht wieder hergeben möchtest. Also ist diese eine Frage von mir somit eigentlich schon beantwortet, ob du dir vorstellen könntest es abzugeben. Stellen wir uns das jetzt trotzdem mal vor, was würde sich in deinem Alltag dann verändern?

166 G_3_M: Also ich wüsste nicht mehr, wann meine Bahn kommt. Ich wüsste nicht, wie ich wohin komme in der Stadt, wo ich seit Jahren lebe, außer es sind so Orte, die gängig sind. Aber wenn mich jetzt jemand nach Straße XY da in irgendeinem Stadtviertel, wäre ich verloren. Ich könnte niemanden mehr anrufen, weil ich die Nummern nicht weiß. Und ich könnte auch niemanden, weiß nicht, ich wäre zu faul zu schreiben. Also wenn ich dann eine Postkarte oder einen Brief an meine Mutter schreiben müsste, würde die glaube ich nie wieder was von mir hören. Ja, das ist der, ich hätte einfach keine Lust dazu. Es würde sich schon einiges ändern.

I: Und was würdest du am meisten vermissen?

G_3_M: Meine Hörbücher und die Musik.

I: Das war ja auch was, was du gemeint hast, was du am meisten nutzt sozusagen.

G_3_M: Ja, genau.

I: Ich bin jetzt erstmal durch mit meinen Fragen. Hast du noch irgendwas, willst du noch irgendwas anmerken, hast du selber noch Fragen, ist dir noch irgendwas eingefallen, was du vielleicht noch hinterher schieben möchtest?

G_3_M: Nein. Ich bin nur gespannt, was so die anderen gesagt haben, wenn man deine Arbeit dann liest.

I: Ja, es ist auf jeden Fall spannend. Ich habe noch zwei Sachen, einmal dein Geburtstagsdatum bräuchte ich mal noch.

G_3_M: Geburtsdatum.

I: Und dein Status, bist Angestellter oder freier Mitarbeiter.

G_3_M: Ich bin Freier.

I: Dann, das waren meine soziodemografischen Merkmale, die ich noch brauchte. Also wie gesagt, wenn du noch irgendwelche Fragen hast, kannst du gern jetzt losschießen oder mich später noch fragen. Ansonsten ich bin soweit erstmal durch.

G_3_M: Ich würde es sacken lassen und ja, kurz weiterarbeiten, glaube ich kommen noch zwei, drei Fragen später mal. 167

I: Okay, dann erstmal vielen Dank, dass du dir die Zeit genommen hast und dann wünsche ich dir erstmal noch einen schönen Tag.

G_3_M: Dir auch. Tschüss.

I: Mach’s gut, ciao.

168 Appendix J: Interview Transcript U_1_F

U_1_F: Hi there.

I: Hello. Good Morning.

U_1_F: It’s good to see you again.

I: Good to see you, too. How are you?

U_1_F: I’m alright. How is it going for you?

I: Yeah, I’m fine. It’s in the afternoon now. I just had lunch and I prepared for the interview. You’re ready for the weekend?

U_1_F: I am. I’m actually going home for the weekend. So that will be good, I’ll get some extra sleep in and everything. So.

I: That sounds nice. Okay. Cool. So, do we want to start. Are you ready for the interview?

U_1_F: I am good to go. Let me know, are you, do you need me to speak slowly because you’re writing down what I say or you like, are you audio recording? How do you want me to answer and what do you need me to do?

I: Yeah, I just give you some information at first and for example, that I record the interview and after I said all the information to you, when you still have questions please ask me.

U_1_F: Okay, cool, go whenever you’re ready.

I: Okay, so you participate in a study which is part of my master thesis. The study examines the use of smartphones in everyday life. Your personal data will be anonymized. The recorded interview will be transcribed and anonymized by coding your personal characteristics such as names, places and so on. And here the question again. Do you agree with recording the interview?

U_1_F: Yes.

I: Okay, thank you. You got an informed consent form from me. 169

U_1_F: Yes, I did.

I: Do you have any questions on this form?

U_1_F: No.

I: Okay, fine. The interview is intended to be an open conversation. All of your thoughts and aspects are relevant to me. I just ask my questions and maybe ask a little more into detail if I want to know something more in detail here and then.

U_1_F: Sure.

I: That were the information. Do you have any questions before we start? U_1_F: No. Just let me know, if I you need anything else in the interview, but I am totally good to go.

I: Okay, then we start with the first question. Can you please describe, how you use your smartphone on an ordinary weekday like for example what have you done with it yesterday?

U_1_F: Sure. So, I typically use my phone, my smartphone as a communication service and for some sporadic social media. So actually, yesterday I used my smartphone a lot to make calls home to my family because I’m scheduling when to come back home. I talked to my mom a couple of times, so actually called her three different times throughout the day. That was probably the most predominate use of my smartphone yesterday. I used it a lot to check e-mail and if I’m not near my computer or if I know that I’m expecting a response I have my school e-mail and my personal e-mail in apps on my smartphone so I check those periodically. And then normally like I’ll use it for social media but I am actually taking a little bit of a social media break. So, but on a typical like at least for the summer when I was, in the summer months I used it a lot for Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat primarily.

I: And when do you look at your smartphone the first time?

U_1_F: Probably for the first time, when I wake up I check to make sure there aren’t any messages. That’s around seven o’clock am my time. And then I’ll go and get ready, make breakfast and I don’t really check it again until after 8:30 again. And then I keep it with me on my person at all times or at least I try to have it in a pocket or somewhere close. In 170 case I do get a phone call or need to respond to a text message right away. But I make sure that I’ll have it on “Do Not Disturb” and turn it off when I’m in class.

I: And do you only look at it when you get a message or a call? Or do you look at it maybe when you’re on the bus or walking to class or something?

U_1_F: I definitely use it when I’m waiting for something. So, if I’m waiting on a bus stop. Sometimes I’ll do it when I’m like waiting for coffee or waiting for a friend to like pick up some food when we’re eating. Definitely noticed that that is a habit and I’m trying to break because I think that it’s a little bit addicting, but for, in those instances I normally check e-mail or I check Twitter to see if there’s any news. So actually, I noticed, when I’m in different places I check different things. So, when I’m waiting on someone I typically check Twitter or my e-mail to see if there’s like any news that I’m missing throughout the day or if there’s like another big hurricane or another big like thing with Trump that I need to like know what’s going on. I check those when I’m waiting. And then sometimes I check social media when I like actively want to check someone’s social media, checking Instagram is always like, “Oh, I want to see what people are doing.” It’s not just like I’m waiting and I’m nothing else better doing with my time.

I: What role does your smartphone play within free time and in comparison, to it within university context. Or do you have a part time job or something like that?

U_1_F: I do. So, I work at a research scholar at the school. And my phone doesn’t really play a huge part. So actually, can I talk about two of my jobs? So, I have two jobs, one in the summer and one during school. The one in school is a research job and I typically don’t use my phone at all and that’s predominantly like computer-based like searching, typing articles. I would only use my smartphone if I was like recording someone’s voice for an interview or something but my summer job for the last two summers I’ve been a social media coordinator for a high school leadership conference and there I actually use my phone all day long. So that’s me taking photos and videos of students doing activities at the conference camp. And I am on the social media site for the Twitter for the conference all day long, Instagram all day long and checking like e-mail for the blog. So, I actually was pretty attached to my phone in the summer for that job specifically. It is absolutely essential to what I do. I’ve had the panic moment of like if my phone didn’t work I couldn’t do my job in the summer. But that is definitely not the case with my phone for the work in school. For my job at school it wouldn’t really be like a big issue. So, these are two different times in the year, where my phone matters more or less.

171 I: And do you use your smartphone to communicate with other students or other people at work?

U_1_F: Yes, not really anybody at work but I definitely use it to communicate via text message mostly or Snapchat for like communication to my student friends. So, I can use my phone for that but I also use my computer to do that because I have my text messages hooked up to my computer. So sometimes I use my phone and sometimes I use my laptop. But it’s kind of a cross between the two.

I: You already said that you have the habit when you wait for someone that you use your smartphone. When you think about it, did you develop other habits or routines in regard to your smartphone use other than that?

U_1_F: I think definitely the habit that I’ve actually started to break, but I noticed that I had it last year and I was working on it. It was every time I woke up I would have checked all my social media like in an order, like I would do Instagram first, then Facebook, then Snapchat and I would do that at 7 am like every day. And then I realized that I was actually wasting time that I could be in the shower sooner and used to like I had. I have a policy now for myself, at least when I wake up I just check to make sure that there are no text messages or any kind of notifications that need my immediate attention like, “Hey, class is cancelled.” Or “You need to go call this person.” And then I’ll save the checking of social media for later in the day or later in the morning. That was definitely a habit that I had for a really long time that I just kind of started to release myself of.

I: But it’s still a habit that you first check your messages if there’s something immediately to answer or react on?

U_1_F: Yes.

I: You just said a lot about the stuff that you don’t want to use too much. So, I think that you think about your actions in regard to your smartphone. Can you describe it a little bit more? You think about your habits but do you also think about your actions like what you post or what you comment?

U_1_F: Oh sure. I definitely think a lot about like I notice people using their smartphones a lot and having to walk with them like this in front of their face. So, I definitely have make it a personal goal not to try to be that kind of a person. Just because I value personally being out in the nature and being aware and present. I do a lot of personal 172 meditation and yoga practices which really are like the concept of non-attachment and I really don’t want to be super attached to my phone. I see all of the benefits to using a smartphone, being super connected, knowing what’s happening in the world, connecting with friends, but I know that it is like. I started actually like kind of clocking how many times I would check Facebook a day and it was an exorbitant amount, it was so much and I was like, there’s not, there’s literally no need for this. There’s no need. So, I kind of released myself personally with that but I think about what I actually appreciate posting either on Instagram or Facebook. I do a lot of personal blogging, so I use social media primarily now to just like post all time and post whatever comes to mind. I use social media as an outlet for my blogging. And I actually tailor what I post on Facebook and Instagram based on the audience. So, I know that Instagram is primarily picture-based, so it’s not super text heavy, I post an excerpt on my Instagram and it will be a shorter paragraph or just one sentence. Then if I would have post the article on Facebook and I would have like a couple of paragraphs because I know that that can be more word-heavy or more text-heavy. So, I’m very conscious about how I post my blogs based on what type of social media that I use. Then I’ll use Twitter primarily as like a professional like article posting like social media, so I use that, I’m connected to a lot more people either around the world in environmental things or people who like, so like all over the world and I don’t post a lot of personal things on Twitter like I make sure that it’s either about environmental sustainability articles or just kind of like university stuff but nothing super personal. I keep, because my Facebook is private, I do keep the personal things like blog entries on Facebook primarily and on Instagram whenever I feel comfortable sharing to like my Instagram friends even though my Instagram is public as well. I am more careful to say what I am doing on Instagram because I know it is public versus on Facebook. So, I am less, I guess, concerned about when I post on Facebook than when I am on Instagram and Twitter definitely and then with just similar regards to Snapchat, I primarily use that like either where I am, just like a geofilter tag or something like that or just like between friends. I don’t use Snapchat a lot and I was really, I actually was like, I remember, I waited two years after it came out before I actually got one and used it because I was like, I just can text someone you know, I don’t need a picture of my face. So, I don’t use that one a lot. I am going to be honest that one’s pretty private and I don’t, I very rarely have like I have 30 people that I follow on there versus like I think I have over 500 friends on Facebook, but that’s even excessive. So yeah.

I: I want to expand on this a little bit. There’s a huge public debate about privacy, at least the debate is huge in Germany. I don’t know how it is in the US. How do you feel about this topic? I mean you made some points now but can you please expand a little bit?

173 U_1_F: Yes sure. So, I actually, so my Twitter and my Instagram are public and I kept it that way because I actually want to be kind of a public figure or like I’m okay sharing thoughts and opinions. I blog, so I have my thoughts up there on the internet and I’m actually not super privacy conscious about everything that I post because I do want to be a public figure and searchable on the internet. That’s just important to who I am and my personal life, professional life. With Facebook, because so many people are like on Facebook, I think that it can be a little intrusive. Facebook knows a lot about you. I studied journalism in undergrad so I know all the Facebook ads, know demographics and all those things, but I still feel like Facebook is this really big social media giant that probably knows a whole lot more about you that might you never really want to know. So that’s why I keep my Facebook as like the most private as possible and also just to have a social media that like I ever did want to post something that was more private I would have like a social media option to that instead of having all my accounts be like super public and then not have an outlet to do something that was super private. And I know I make a conscious choice of that I don’t post any like alcohol-related photos and I don’t post anything with a whole lot of either like swear words or like you know anything that could be like potentially insensitive because I just don’t want to go there. I do swear a lot in my casual speech but I try to like really keep it professional online just because I feel like it’s easier to forget words spoken out loud than words like typed and now everything can be screenshotted like I don’t want to have something that like I was just super upset about one day and then have that be on the internet for the rest of my life. So, I do police myself in like what words I say and then I just think that having an option firm on more private social media but then even that’s Facebook so knows a whole lot about me and how private really is that? I think, I think about that more than I at least I see my family do or my closest friends because I have had journalism classes where we talk about media privacy and we talk about some of these settings. There is still I think a lot people just don’t know, I just don’t think a lot of people even understand how much Facebook knows about them or what you can turn off and on like for privacy settings. I think about it because I think I’ve been educated about it but definitely not everyone that I know who uses Facebook knows that you can make things private.

I: You already said some points that you see as a benefit of having a smartphone. Can we concentrate on this point again and sum up what do you think how do you benefit from using your smartphone?

U_1_F: Sure, I think it makes me a better global citizen. Because I can use apps and like a newspaper articles to learn more about the world. I definitely see the benefit of being a global citizen in like global minded citizen because I know that everybody’s actions matters in the rest in the world and I think it would be too privileged to just like an 174 American that I didn’t care to what is going on in the rest of the world and so I take that very seriously of knowing, trying to know what’s happening in other places around the world because I feel like it’s my responsibility to and so I see the benefit of being connected all around the world to people who are either doing similar things to me or to have like ideas and inspiration. I love watching TED-talks. I love reading like positive articles about people who are doing good things. And I think it can really serve as a source of inspiration and as tool of connection that maybe people around me doing what I want to do but I can find other people literally everywhere in the world who are doing maybe something that I want to do. And it’s also definitely a great source of communication just for my personal relationships. I can keep in contact with my brother who is at a different university than I am. I can keep in contact with my family and I’m always reminded, my parents, when they went to college they didn’t have smartphones, cell phones and they could only make like one phone call to home a month based on like how much it cost and everything. And so, I guess that earlier, I called my mum three times yesterday and that was already, that would have meant three months’ worth of conversation. So, I definitely see that as a huge benefit to being able to stay connected to my family and my closest friends as well as to people around the world.

I: And which problematic aspects do you see?

U_1_F: Definitely the time-consuming aspect as well as I am really conscious when I am on places like Twitter and Facebook, how cynical people can be and like the spreading of negative energy. And I as someone who studies a lot of yoga and personal meditation I just think that is so detrimental to people’s mental health. For just like, I really try when I post to be conscious, to be positive if possible. I really try make it a point of not be negative and not to be either cynical even if I do think some of those things sometimes. I just want my social media to be a message of positivity if at all possible and I’ve had several instances where people messaged me privately say, “thank you for just posting positive things. It really brightens up my timeline and my feed.” And I think that’s really kind of sad because I am not doing that. I can’t believe that I’m the only one or one of the only ones doing that. That astounds me that something that I said, like one positive quote is like the one in a hundred that would do that, but I see that as my role on social media to be more positive because it can be just in smartphone addiction in general can be so negative and kind of narrow minded. It’s almost like where you get sucked down this hole of negative energy. And then it just kind of dampens the whole rest of your day, so it is just addicting and negative.

I: On the one side the benefits and on the other hand the problematic aspects, I see on the one hand you benefit from the ability to call your mother whenever you want for example 175 or message someone whenever you want during the day. And on the other hand, you said this point about negativity. There’s something that is called constant availability which is a part of having a smartphone. How do you feel about this constant availability?

U_1_F: I never heard that term. That actually sums it up very well. It’s really exhausting having to. You know, sometimes I come back from class and I see that like 15 notifications and I’m like “Ahh, I have to respond to all of these.” I mean this is a lot, it’s overbearing. That’s why I sometimes I will consciously put my phone on “Do Not Disturb.” I think that’s the best feature of an iPhone by far. Because if I’m doing work or if I’m reading for class or if I’m working on something, an e-mail where I really need to be focused on for work I’ll turn my phone on “Do Not Disturb.” During this interview, my phone is on “Do Not Disturb,” so I have no idea if someone is trying to reach me right now. And that’s honestly so great. It’s like a very freeing feeling. You can like kind of escape your phone sometimes and sometimes on a weekend I actually turn my phone completely off and not have it be on at all. I think that’s a wonderful feeling but then it also kind of fills you with anxiety, what if someone tries to hold me, what if there’s a family emergency. What if I need to know something and I’ve actually had it before, my mum tries to call me and then she calls me three times and is just like, why don’t you hear your phone. And I’m like, because I was working or you know, you don’t have to, I definitely believe you don’t have to be available all the time because that is a really hard expectation. It’s draining to be constantly available all the time. That’s why I think the features of like “Do Not Disturb,” and being able to turn your phone off, I hope those never go away. Because it’s that’s those saving grace sometimes.

I: You talked about these expectations to be available. If you reflect on yourself do you expect that from other people sometimes?

U_1_F: Yes, I think I do sometimes. Like I give an example. I try not to do that a lot or I realize it like people have lives. My brother is someone who if he has a girlfriend or significant other he has to be like texting them all the time and I know that that’s not me so that’s already something that I don’t actively do, but sometimes like this weekend for example I was trying to use a laundry service with my friend like basically go to her apartment and use her laundry service and I like texted her early in the morning and she didn’t respond until the next day and I was little upset because I was like I wanted to come over that afternoon and like use your laundry but you didn’t respond and so I’m like expecting a response that day and you that was my problem. She didn’t have to let me use her laundry service but it was a little thing that I expected her to respond and was upset when I didn’t get a response in a timely manner.

176 I: What do you think about these expectations in context of a job? When your boss wants to reach out to you 24/7.

U_1_F: I actually had my second year working at the workplace name here. That’s where I work for clarification. At the workplace name my boss, my second year he emails like constantly all day long and he likes to respond at like 8 pm and I felt like I had to respond to him if I saw that come in that I would have to be available and respond to him at 9 pm which is like absurd. But I felt that expectations too, so because he was my boss and last year, so my third year working there, or my third year in school, I actually had a mentor, a different mentor at the office of sustainability here at university and her and I really talked a lot about the balance of work and my personal life and using your phone is like an example and she really helped me develop that mindset that I actually don’t respond to work-related e-mails after like 6 pm. I have since like stopped unless it is something that could be a really quick response. I’ll just do it the next morning. The first thing at 8 am because she really helped me see to like it’s not necessary to respond or to be constantly available. And when I am reading for class like I’m unreachable, you can’t get stuff out of me and that took a lot of anxiety off my shoulders to just feel like as a full-time student that like had to be available all the time and I just think that’s unacceptable. It’s an absurd expectation that we put on ourselves that I found that I really disagree with and wanted to change that in my life.

I: I want to come to another topic. Do you have your smartphone next to you? Can you please describe which apps do you have and in which way you use them? Can you please rank the apps by relevance for example?

U_1_F: Sure. Probably, the most relevant are the once I have, so I have actually them all in folders here. I don’t know if you can see that but there are all grouped by categories so that’s like the type A person in me. The ones that are in the productivity category are the ones…other… I think probably the most use are the messages and the phone. So, the standard what a phone is, but the second then would be productivity which has my Gmail app and my outlook e-mail app and also my Wordpress blogging app, so those are probably the three most relevant set and then anything would have been before this week would have been the social category, but actually yesterday I did a very liberating thing. I deleted Facebook, Instagram and Twitter off of my phone, but those would have been the second most daily category. Then I have the internet category. So, if I have to do a google research, Google is in there as well as Safari. I use my calendar app a lot to just make sure I’m very paranoid about like where do I need to be at this time and I keep it synced up to with my outlook so all of my university classes are in there and all of my meetings are in there with like locations. I definitely use that a lot. Then the next one would be the 177 finance category. So, I have my local bank app as well as my Charles Schwab app in there and I make sure that like one I have money in there and two make sure I check and make sure that there aren’t potential frauds I try to look at that either every day or every other day just to make sure that the money I thought was in there isn’t like suddenly gone. Then the next one would be in the navigation category. So, I have Google Maps and then the transport services of hometown App in there which is like the hometown transit, bus schedule. I use that every day. Because I need to look up are the buses really on time. So, I use that very frequently. I love that app because I live off campus now. That’s really important because I need to use those buses to get to campus. Then the next category would be photography so I do a lot of photography on my own personal time and I have photos in there. The apple photos one, an app called Enlight that I use a lot and that’s like an editing app and also Prisma is another editing app that I use a lot. I’ll just list the other categories. These are not as frequent but they are just there. So, I have an education category with like Duolingo in there. I have a lifestyle section that has like Starbucks Apps and then Fandango for movies. I have, oh, my Notes app I use a lot. So, it syncs with my laptop and my phone so I can make a grocery list or something on my laptop and then check it on my phone. It’s just great. And then my reading category. So, I have like my Nook app for Barnes and Noble. And my Pocket. I use Pocket whenever I’m like reading. That holds all my news articles and things that if I’m like standing in a bus line I‘ll check Pocket to like read something. And then I have a travel section for United Airlines, American Airlines and Uber. If I’m ever out and need to use travel stuff and then utilities category with like a QR code scanner which I barely get to use, so it’s there if I needed and my countdown app. So, I over the summer had like, I was really looking forward to seeing Hamilton – The Musical and it’s like a countdown and it tells me how many days, seconds, and hours. That’s only like if I have something to look forward to… and then weather. I do check the weather app every morning because hometown weather is so unpredictable. I need to know if it’s going to rain today.

I: So, this would be, the weather would be another routine?

U_1_F: Yes, so actually that’s a good addition. So, every morning probably around 8 am I check the weather when I’m getting dressed. So that is the routine.

I: Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt you.

U_1_F: And then just music and Spotify at the bottom, too. Those are all my categories. So, I thought a lot about what would go into all of them and their grouped by what I need so they’re not all over the place.

178 I: Do you have apps that you downloaded, but don’t use very often?

U_1_F: Yes, probably, let’s check. So, Ticketmaster is one. If I have an event that is through Ticketmaster then I have to use but I don’t go to a lot of music shows and I don’t go to a lot of events in general. So that’s probably a twice a year thing that I have to use. Another one is Top Hat. I had to use it for two classes at university. It’s like an online learning. There’s quizzes on there but not every class uses it and I had only had to use it in my sophomore year. I kept it because I don’t know if any other class is going to use it. So, it’s just there, it’s hanging out. I have, let’s see here, the Disneyworld app. So, I went to Disneyworld just a year ago. So, it was in 2016 after my brother’s high school graduation. We used it for attractions and stuff there but I am not in Disney the rest of the time so I don’t use it but I guess I keep it on there in case we go back. I don’t know. I have a trail run app from REI but there aren’t a whole lot of trails on the app that are around hometown, so that’s actually kind of there in case I travel anywhere that has it, and then one more example is Venmo. I had to had to use that once and that was okay but I don’t like the idea of Venmo or I’ll get very wary about like having a lot of money on there.

I: What kind of app is that? I never heard of it.

U_1_F: It’s like a finance service. People use it a lot like, oh I’ll Venmo you money like if I’m going to go buy drinks for the two of us but I want you to split it and you don’t have cash, you send me electronic money, but I don’t really know how it works one and two it’s really confusing to me how you get money from your bank in there and like you also have to have Venmo money and it’s not like just regular bank money. It’s almost like Venmo money. So, I don’t use it because I would just rather give you cash or give you a check or have you buy something for me tomorrow instead of using that because I don’t really know how it works, but it’s there because I had to use it once.

I: Can you describe a typical situation in which you use one of your favorite apps, maybe your blogging app or I don’t know which you want to tell me about.

U_1_F: I’ll use Enlight because that is one of personal favorite photo editing apps. So if I took a picture on my Canon camera so it’s on my device and then I’ll plug that into my computer and I edit the photo and I send that to my phone via the photos app so I’ll send it over, I airdrop it to myself and then I’ll open the photo in Enlight and I use it to either edit the color or put a different filter on or kind of get that already for Instagram and then you can add it within that app all the different photos and then you can staple again to your phone, to your photos app. And then I’ll take that photo that I just edited in Enlight 179 and I’ll probably spend ten minutes editing it on my phone to be honest. I care a lot about how my photos are edited and then I’ll post that to Instagram.

I: Okay. How do you decide for an app to download it?

U_1_F: That’s a good question. If it’s free. I like free apps, the price is definitely a consideration. And how many megabytes it is because I know there’s this really cool national geographic atlas map app. It has maps all over the world and like you can do cool things, but I realized that it was taking a huge chunk of my megabytes and I was like well I can just look at maps on my laptop on Google Maps or Google Earth and not have that be on my phone because I realized one I wasn’t looking at it too much and two it was just taking up a lot of space and I was like, no this is going to go. So, space, how much it will take up on my phone and if it’s free or not.

I: Do recommendations play a role for you, like from friends or also from other users?

U_1_F: Yes, I got a new app when I was in country. Friend 1 recommend that I’ll get Hyperlapse. That is like another time lapse photo editing app. Because I know that she does a lot of photo stuff, too, that was a really good recommendation and I never heard of that before. So, personal recommendations if it’s something like a similar activity that I use and I do actually look at how many stars an app has or if it has positive reviews online because sometimes I’ll make sure that it is from a credible source or from a credible app producer that I’ll get on or download a capacity like put a bug in my phone or damage my phone in any kind of way. So, I make sure that it is from a credible source that has good reviews online but also, I do take in consideration recommendations.

I: Is it also important to you how accessible an app is, like how many information do you have to offer before you can use it.

U_1_F: I think what I consider in an app, I get really weirded out when they want to use the location services all the time. I like to see an app that has like location services only while using and that’s really important and so I do take into consideration if an app like wants to use my location all the time. I’m like, do I really need this app? One, and two, like is that really necessary because I think that’s really weird. So, I make sure, that its location settings are not weird for me because I don’t want to be walking around with like 15 apps that know where I am at all times. Does it really care if I’m in the bathroom or in my room? I don’t think it’s necessary. The locations settings.

180 I: You already told me about this example Venmo app. If you don’t really understand how it works, it’s also a factor that would lead you to not using the app?

U_1_F: Yes.

I: One more questions on this point. You said already that the price is factor that is also important to you. Do you have an app that you had to pay for?

U_1_F: I’m sure. I think Enlight, my photo editing app. I think that that was like either $1,99 or $2,99. And I think if it’s under $5 for me that’s a reasonable, like I will not never pay for an app, but if it’s above $15 I really have to consider is that worth it, will I use it a lot because it’s one of those things that you can’t necessarily return. It’s makes you be like, oh I tried this on and it didn’t work, so let me get my money back. You can’t really return an app. So, I’m like, will I really use this because it’s a one download thing and I just don’t want to throw my money at any kind of random app that I may not use.

I: Now I want to come to the next point. In the context of your smartphone use, can you please describe in which ways you communicate with other people?

U_1_F: Sure. So, I use the iMessage app for most of my texting but I also, when I was messaging you I use the Facebook messenger. And I have WhatsApp. I didn’t really use WhatsApp a whole lot until like friend 1 had to be abroad. Then I did have one other friend who was studying abroad in Spain. So, I use that to talk to her, but WhatsApp I rarely use for now it’s different like abroad a lot of people use WhatsApp and I don’t at all. I don’t necessarily think it’s not as common for the people in the US to use WhatsApp, a lot of people use messenger or just iMessage and then Groupme. If you ever heard of Groupme?

I: I also have Groupme.

U_1_F: So, I used that a lot in the summer for my summer job. So, we would have groups for different programs, for the admin team, for, I was in my committee from Groupme that once, in Groupme is like the bane of my existence. When you have 50 people of a group message it’s ridiculous. So many people sent like GIFs and just like, it’s a lot, it’s a lot of notifications, but that’s something I use in the summer mostly for my job and not too much in school and then like the phone calling app to make phone calls.

181 I: Do you have an idea why the U.S.-Americans don’t use WhatsApp that often in comparison to the European people?

U_1_F: I was trying to think, friend 1 was telling me a little bit that like WhatsApp uses like a lot of internet. I think that’s how it works and data, too, but you can just use WhatsApp via the internet. I feel like a lot of US, and this is probably and I don’t really know, but you know, I make a guess like a lot of like Verizon, AT&T, a lot of people have like plans which has just like data and the use of whatever the default app is on a phone to just text message I suppose like giving another app to text with I know, I didn’t really use or know that I have another option for texting because I just, because when you get an iPhone you have iMessage and I was like, “Okay cool, this is how I’m going to text message.” I didn’t know there were other apps to text message with. So, I think a lot of people just default to what’s already on there or you have an Android whatever their app message or whatever their messaging app is because I don’t, if you don’t need another one I don’t think a lot of people know that there’s other options and two why would you have to go download another one if you already have one on your phone preprogrammed.

I: The things you talked about right now, about the communication aspect, was like you maintain relationships mostly, right?

U_1_F: Yes.

I: Do you also establish new contact by communicating with your smartphone?

U_1_F: Yes, I will have to say so. Sometimes, at the beginning of the semester I will give out my phone number if I’m working with a new colleague, so yesterday for example I’m working with this girl named colleague 1 at my workplace and her and I are going to be doing a lot of collaboration together on just like press release projects and so when I was emailing her about where we were going to meet up I said, “Hey this is my cellphone number,” like “Let me know if you can’t find me,” or you know, so I use that, I loan out my number, but I try to make sure that like I give it out only if I want to give it out, I try to really only give it to people who I want to establish new contacts with. I don’t like just have my contact information, like where everyone can use my phone because I would rather not get random messages all the time. So, I try to be like “Hey, I know you.” Or like, “Here is my number,” like a very conscious decision, you can use my phone number, but I don’t give out just like, and it’s not on my like e-mail signature. I think I used to have it on there as a journalism student, but I took it off, because that’s like, I

182 don’t want everyone that I email to like to call me or text me, like that’s ridiculous. So, I give it out intentionally to start new relationships.

I: You already talked about this aspect of a global spread, and for example with your blog, do you establish new contacts by blogging?

U_1_F: Not so much blogging, because I do get like random people like read it from Taiwan or the Philippines or Denmark and I’m like, you can see a little map or like you can see where in the world people are reading it, and I was like, how did you find this? But you can’t see who clicked it. So, if you just read my blog and you don’t comment which a lot of people don’t comment on or like, like something I have no idea who was looking at my blog. So actually, I use Twitter a lot, like I said it’s my more professional social media and I like to retell and like either like or follow someone on Twitter that I think is doing cool things around the world and sometimes I direct message on Twitter for instance there is someone that I met like briefly once in city 1 at an event name event and I actually Twitter messaged her when I was back in city 1 to see if she was available to like meet up for coffee. So, I have no idea of her cell phone, I don’t really know her, I’ve seen her on the internet, I’ve seen her once, but I used Twitter to like trying to get a hold on her that when I was in her city again.

I: Do you use the social media apps to see what other people do, like old friends from school, where do they live now, who is on vacation right now, or something like that.

U_1_F: I like to keep up with Instagram because I am a very visually-oriented person. I like to see what other people are doing, but I’m also very conscious on Instagram like I’ve unfollowed a lot of people from my old high school, I was just like I don’t care what you’re doing anymore. I don’t need to see that. Instagram is like my most customized timeline experience because I look at it the most and I don’t want to see someone that I don’t care about anymore on there all the time. What I think is the greatest thing about Facebook is you can unfollow someone, but not unfriend them. So, I don’t have to see what everyone is doing, but I am still friends with them so if I were to be like, wow, what is former friend doing from high school that like I don’t really see her a lot anymore, but I can still go and check where is she living, is she married now and all of those things. So that, I keep Facebook more if I just like taps on other people if I ever care about them, but Instagram is like who is in my closest friend circle that I care about seeing every day.

I: In which situation, do you comment posts from other people?

183 U_1_F: I comment semi frequently like I have a few friends who tell me that they read my blog, but they never like it or ever comment. I’m like I wouldn’t know that you read my blog, I do have some friends who do never like anything or don’t ever comment. I like a lot of things because I use that an acknowledgement, like, “Yeah, I saw this and I think it’s cool,” but I comment less frequently than I like a post or like a comment. It’s only if I feel like I have something like, wow, I really liked this sentence or wow, that’s really cool or use it like a form of congratulation. I know recently on Facebook I saw a few friends got new jobs and so I commented congratulations because I wanted them to know that I thought that was really cool that they got a new job. So, I use commenting more intentionally.

I: Do you also use it to discuss topics or write down your opinion on something?

U_1_F: Actually no. So, I am kind of going along with the whole like positive energy thing. I definitely have friends who post controversial blog articles or things and I have one friend in particular, friend 2, he posts a lot of social justice issues and LGBTQ rights issues and I perhaps, this isn’t necessarily, I don’t know, I care about those issues, I really do, but I also don’t necessarily think that just shouting about it on Facebook is the best way to do that. I think it creates a lot of negative energy. So, I see that he does it and I appreciate it and I value that there are people having that kind of conversation and there are people who want to do that, but I don’t want to do that, I would rather talk about that in a one on one session than I would commenting about it on Facebook. So, I actually don’t use commenting to talk about social issues, even if I feel very strongly about something I typically won’t because I just don’t want to go there.

I: What do you think how open and emotional are you on social media apps?

U_1_F: I think I’ll be increasingly getting more open, especially...um... I post a lot of things now recently about my eating disorder recovery. So, I had an eating disorder at high school and it’s still something that I deal with on my day to day basis, but I’ve, in the past year or so I started blogging about like my feelings towards it and my recovery and there’s a lot of people reach out to me last year and were like, wow so proud of you, like thank you for being vulnerable and being open and I don’t really view it as that. It’s a further way for me to be honest with myself and a way to have other people hold me accountable, but I didn’t necessarily do it because I was like, I want people to know about my struggle and my, it’s more for a personal like healing process, and so I, a lot of people have commented like, wow thanks for opening up and I really wasn’t doing that for that reason, but I guess I now have.

184 I: What do you think about other people’s openness and expression of emotions?

U_1_F: Sometimes I think it has to do with how you think about being open. Sometimes I think a lot of arguments and commenting start like on Facebook for instance when you’re not necessarily, when you’re really mad or really upset you just kind of put something out there. I don’t think a lot people think through everything that they say in like a very open kind of way and they can become or seen insensitive or a little naïve or a little like you didn’t think it through and I like clearly understand when you’re upset about something that you don’t always think through everything you were going to say but it definitely sends a different kind of a message when you just like shouting on Facebook or just rambling versus if you had more, if you step back and thought about it even like put it on a blog or put it in something you thought about my words, like here is what I have to say and like the more thinking through what you are going to say. I guess as someone who just started in journalism thinks about words a lot and like words I publish a lot, but I want to make sure that what I am saying is actually what I mean and not something that could be too short cited or that I would regret saying in a year or a month or so.

I: What do you think about how authentic other people depict themselves on social networks?

U_1_F: Oh, I thought about that a long time. I think a lot of people use social media, especially Instagram, to put a phony image of themselves online, oh my gosh, that drives me insane, and that’s why I unfollow a lot of people on Instagram because it’s like this ideal life you’re living or a photo has to be so heavily edit or like I have to look some way or be pose a certain way for over 100 likes on Instagram or whatever. That road is to me the wrong way. I would so much try to be people more authentic or post something that isn’t necessarily like the best photo, but like shows that you have a good time like either it hasn’t got to be the perfect photo or it doesn’t have to be so edited or so, it just looks fake and I as someone who takes photos, I can tell when it’s fake and I can also tell like, just, I don’t know, I don’t think it’s is really you. I don’t think it’s really you know you’re so shallow surface that it’s all you post is like things of like me and my boyfriend or whatever, like you have more of a life than that. I think often authenticity that is really lacking on social media, especially with my peer group today. And that really bothers me.

I: I want to back to a point that you talked about before. You said that you deleted for example Facebook.

U_1_F: Oh yes, so I deleted Facebook, Instagram and Twitter off of my phone. 185

I: Can you explain, what was the reason for it? And how is it going?

U_1_F: Yes, we will see if it’s going to last. That was just a yesterday decision.

I: Okay.

U_1_F: But, so I’m actually having a little bit of some personal health problems right now. So, both of my legs, I think you were there when I was having my leg injuries in country 1 that are actually getting pretty worse. I’m having a really hard time walking and so I’m actually like trying to dedicate this semester, I trying to take them and delete them off of my phone for just a semester at least because I really need to focus on my personal health right now and I found myself trying to do, like trying to be in all this different kinds of worlds and be like, and I’m not taking care of myself right now and that needs to be number one priority and so I took them off my phone yesterday because I was like I can’t be worried about what’s happening with all my other friends everywhere in the world because I’m not taking care of myself. So, it was a personal health decision, like an intentional decision. I’m still going to keep blogging, I still said that. And I’m actually going to, I set up on my blog where, my blog posts will go to my social media, but I’m trying very consciously not to check the social media. Those posts will still go there, but I won’t know if people comment or if people say anything about it or people ignore it, you know.

I: You just said you did that yesterday. Did it already impact your daily life?

U_1_F: I mean I was worried about checking Facebook now like probably three times this morning already, if like just making sure that one, I was like, “Well, I don’t know if Peggy tried to message me on Facebook,” like I don’t know or that I would like miss someone’s birthday because I also use Facebook to check people’s birthdays. I was like what if someone you now, but then I was do I really miss that, well you know. I can message Peggy on Skype, you know, I should know everybody that is close to me their birthday, so I was like, try to calm myself down like I don’t think you missed anything. I think it’s harder to caught, like the fear of missing out, the fear that you’re not being involved enough. And I was trying to show myself that, like actually you don’t need to check it because you can access everything that you need to know via another thing.

I: And to expand on this a little bit, can you imagine giving away your smartphone?

186 U_1_F: I thought about it, I thought about like going back to flip phone or something because I am very conscious about how much time I spent on it and I don’t necessarily think it is always good for mental health so I considered like giving up my smartphone and I think because I don’t have another phone that would like being, getting more resource here so I would like to have buy something else and so I think my response into that was to start deleting apps on my phone or to really start like monitor how much I use it and what for. Because I still like the camera aspect on it. I think as a photographer that is one of the reasons why I kept it is because it has a phone on it or because it has a camera on it and it’s a really good camera. So, keeping that is important and also like the voice memos for if I ever need to record something and it’s on there, too, and the messages. So, it’s all in one little device, which is just great you know for pockets and reasons of that sort but really thinking about like, what I need on there and what I don’t need and that is a really, that I’m starting to really think about that.

I: What do you think what would you miss the most? The camera?

U_1_F: Yes, probably the camera, because I feel like other people can get a hold of me in other ways and it is more convenient to have like text messaging on the phone or a calling on a phone, there are other ways to get a hold of me, kind of like that whole being available on time in other ways. So probably, the phone and being able to take, having a camera with me that isn’t necessarily a professional camera, but having a camera with me all the times.

I: That were my question, I just need social demographics, like your birthday and you’re a student, right?

U_1_F: Yes, I’m a student because I’m only working part time and working as a student. My birthday is date of birth.

I: Okay, do you have any questions or any things in mind that you want to come up with or that you forgot?

U_1_F: I don’t think so. I think I was able to elaborate on everything that I wanted to say. As long as you don’t have any clarifications. I hope that this helped, I hope that I was able to talk about the things you wanted me to talk about, that it was helpful, for your research.

I: I think so, yes. You helped me a lot. Thank you for taking your time.

187 U_1_F: Of course, thank you so much. Let me know, I would love to read all of the results. I think that would be really cool. I love to read everything that you come up with whenever you get it done.

I: Yes, it will take some time, but I can do that.

U_1_F: I know, let me hear when you’re done and you’re like, whoo it’s off my shoulders, I would love to read it.

I: Okay, I will message you when I am finished.

U_1_F: Cool. Good luck.

I: Thank you. Yes. Have a great day. See you. Bye bye.

U_1_F: Enjoy your weekend, bye.

188 Appendix K: Interview Transcript U_2_M

I: Here is my first question. Can you please describe how you use your smartphone on an ordinary weekday. What have you done with it today for example?

U_2_M: Okay, I would say when I, yes I usually wake up and reach over for my phone.

I: Is it your alarm clock?

U_2_M: Yes, it is actually. Great question. When I need to wake up at a certain time. Sometimes I you know sleep in. I use it as my alarm clock. Let’s see. Yes, I usually see how much notifications. I usually pull up my Gmail. I get all my emails to my phone, my university account, my Gmail and I think I also have my old university account email, which I don’t really get much, but I’ll use it to send emails and just I usually on an ordinary day I just open up Twitter as well, scroll through that and Instagram as well. Those are my two main social medias. And then I’ll check my text messages and my iMessage of course. I use the Groupme chat. And then I’ll sometimes check my weather channel app. I don’t know. I think that’s the basis of it. I use it to check Twitter: I kind of use Twitter as my main news source, mainly go on Twitter on my phone and kind of use that.

I: And how does your use look like through the day? Do you use it while you have breakfast or do you use it while you wait for friends, do you use it on the bus, in class and so on? Just go through a normal day and think about when you use it.

U_2_M: Okay. I do like to have it on “Do not Disturb Mode”. Just because you know the notifications can get overwhelming, but I would say sometimes at breakfast I scroll through it, but I also like to play music through my phone. I use Spotify and kind of hook it up to a speaker. It’s a Bluetooth in all and then I mean I usually you know I’ll drive to class and usually use that Spotify again to play music to my car. And then usually when I just walk from my car to the classroom I’ll open my phone up. Kind out of a habit and see if I missed anything or whatever, scroll through Twitter again, but then I have it off, well not off completely, but just on “Do Not Disturb”-mode during class. And usually when I go study I try to keep my phone in the car, just because I can’t pull it out and just look at it and get distracted so easily. Let’s see. Usually when I am on the toilet or something I’ll look through my phone, trying to think of other occasions. What else do I do?

I: Do you also use it to take photos for example? 189

U_2_M: Yes, definitely. I guess I don’t take too many photos, but I’ll take a lot of screenshots, too, just of what I find interesting or I want to save a photo that I scroll through.

I: Can you give an example for a screenshot you took?

U_2_M: Yes, okay, sometimes I’ll be reading articles, just some like long form articles or news article and I’ll can snap a screenshot of an interesting paragraph I read for some reason and sometimes I’ll send it to people and find this interesting or tweet it along with the article link. What else do I do? Screenshots. That’s a lot of it. Yes again if I see an interesting image on Twitter I’ll safe the photo and like this thing I send to the Groupme, this picture of ‘Racism is as American as Baseball’. You know I safe that from Twitter and then just forward it to the group that’ sort of my photos. And sometimes even if I’m reading a book or paper I’ll take a photo of the chapter or just a page or whatever just to remember it kind of, scroll back through it.

I: What role does your smartphone play within free time in comparison to in the context of university stuff?

U_2_M: When I kind of have some off-time, I definitely think I use it more, when I am not too worried about studying. I don’t think I text too often, maybe like ten messages a day maybe or less than that. Usually just my mom.

I: Do you mean regular text messages or in general?

U_2_M: I guess I mean iMessages mainly. I guess in general, I guess the Groupme chat sometimes I send a few more. I would say just 10 to 20 max each day messages in general. Let’s see. I use my Google maps as well, I use that a lot. I don’t have much sense of direction, but on a free day I think. Podcasts as well, I am trying to think of, I listen a lot to the podcasts on my phone through the iTunes. I usually listen to it on one and a half speed as well. I try to be more efficient or something with my time.

I: You listen to the podcasts faster than normally?

U_2_M: Yes, just one and a half.

I: I was wondering what that feature is for, but now I know.

190 U_2_M: Yes. I don’t know, someone recommended it once or I read it somewhere and I get still kind of, I can still understand it pretty easily and then sometimes I’ll go back to one speed and it just feels like slow-mo.

I: What kind of podcasts do you listen to?

U_2_M: I’ll listen to kind of sports and pop cultural journalistic ones as well, going through them right now, I have long form podcasts. So that are just interviews, fiction writers and non-fiction writers, magazine writers. It’s usually like an hour interview, they recently got Hillary Clinton. And then, usually really good journalists. I listen to Revisionist History, it is Malcom Gladwell’s kind of once a week, he has a, just an interesting topic going to, the New Yorker Radio Hour, Radio Lab, the Bill Simmons Podcast, real big sports one, This American Life, Fresh Air, those are my main once I listen to I guess.

I: And you listen to them when you’re like, instead of listening to Spotify, like you said sometimes you listen to Spotify and then instead you listen to the podcasts?

U_2_M: Yeah, Yeah, usually if I’m lying in bed at night I’ll put on a podcast. If I, you know, before bed. Also, when I’m going on like a bike ride or something I often put on a podcast instead. Cause yeah usually the music is for when I’m driving my car or I’m sitting at home and I feel like just jamming out or whatever. Yeah, I use headphones, the apple headphones to listen to the podcasts.

I: And do you use your phone to connect or communicate with your, with other students to maybe for example manage a group work or something like that?

U_2_M: Yeah, sometimes. Yeah, I think we share class together and sometimes I have questions about the assignment or there are questions. I guess we chat back and forth or see if one of us has a book or something that one can borrow. I guess we don’t do too much of like group work, in pairs or whatever. I think just general questions.

I: On what app do you do that?

U_2_M: Usually just Groupme lately. That’s how we really kind of communicate with our cohort now to see if any events are going, anyone wants to get together for food or something.

191 I: So you use Groupme to connect to other students privately and in context of university at the same time.

U_2_M: Yeah, it takes usually more like fun activity things, maybe like a 70 percent social and 30 percent school-related.

I: Okay.

U_2_M: I don’t really think I used Groupme before last year, when they invited me to this app. I was used to use WhatsApp in country 1 and all. But I deleted WhatsApp. I think you guys still use it a good amount, right?

I: Yes, that’s good to talk to you. Maybe you can make a comparison of those two apps. Cause Groupme is not a thing in country 1 but it is very big in the US and vice versa with WhatsApp and you had both apps. What do you think is the difference?

U_2_M: Can you, remind me, can you do group chats in WhatsApp?

I: Yes, you can.

U_2_M: Okay, I thought so, I think I was surprised when they send me this Groupme thing. Huh, what's the difference.

I: Or can you tell which one you liked more?

U_2_M: Okay, I think I enjoyed WhatsApp. It seemed real convenient for international messages. I messaged my mom and my friends or whatever on WhatsApp while I was in country 1 and they were in the US. I think they are both free, right. I found WhatsApp real nice to use in country 1 since everyone had that as well and that was the main use of communication, sending messages. Let’s see. I don’t think I ever used a group chat, too often at least for the WhatsApp when I was in country 1. So I guess I’d be interested to compare to that use.

I: So, it’s more like, that it is not that common in the US and vice versa that Groupme isn’t common here or do you see any real difference?

U_2_M: The main difference I see, even in the US in doing my undergrad I had a British room mate and he kind of made us download WhatsApp. It seemed more common for nerds outside the US to use that to communicate. Whereas Groupme probably is what we 192 are used to from before. We just used that more often and for some reason we don’t find use of WhatsApp. If we are in the same country, maybe we just do text message or do the iMessage. I guess WhatsApp is free again and if we would just use text it would be costly.

I: And text messages and iMessages are for free too, right?

U_2_M: So iMessages definitely are from iPhone to iPhone. I think usually test massages, I think I signed a contract or something with phone provider 1 and I get a number of text messages. I remember in country 1 I would sign up with like phone provider 2 and get like 600 text messages a month. Which I think would be plenty, but I guess for some people it wouldn’t be enough. So then you can use WhatsApp.

I: That was the reason why WhatsApp spread that much in country 1 because you didn't have unlimited messages mostly. Some had it in their contract but not all. With the internet or the smartphones coming up you had internet the whole time so you could use WhatsApp where you could send messages for free. I think that was the reason why it is so popular in country 1, at least.

U_2_M: It makes sense, cause you guys also kind of do like monthly contracts, right, where we do 2 years contracts.

I: No, you have 2 years contracts mostly and nowadays you always have unlimited text messages because no one uses it anymore because everyone uses WhatsApp. A lot of people, especially the ones that come from another country like you, maybe have a monthly payment thing, you know. There you don’t have unlimited text messages.

U_2_M: Right, okay. What I say acquaintance 1 he would also do the monthly thing maybe?

I: It can be a lot of Germans have it, too. It’s like one half has this monthly thing and the other one has like the contracts that last longer.

U_2_M: Okay, good to know.

I: Let’s go on. You just said it before, I’m not sure what it was about but you said you have a habit in context of your smartphone use. Can we expand a little bit on this? Just think about it again. What habits or routines did you develop in regard to your smartphone use? 193

U_2_M: Okay, I definitely, sometimes I really hate my phone and it’s sometimes too addicting. I get quite attached to it or whatever. Just again, when I go study I realize I can’t bring it with me because it would just be too easy to grab it and loose kind of focus on my studies and that’s why I did the whole “Do Not Disturb”-mode because I don’t hear a notification and I just can focus for a bit. I don’t know otherwise it is always kind of on me and often you also got this need to, because the news cycle moves so fast, right? And again, yeah, I use Twitter as my main news source so I think If I’m not on Twitter like every hour maybe I’m missing out on something so I scroll through that again. It used to be lot worse but I mean I still do that and then like Snapchat. I don’t use that anymore. It’s been a good two years or so, but there were so many updates every time from friends or whatever. I’ll always just go back there. That's why I don’t really like the Instagram story too much. It's so just too easy because everyone always has something and it is always something there to open up the app for. So definitely it can be addicting, I guess.

I: Do you automatically use your phone when you have like waiting time?

U_2_M: Yeah Yeah yeah, yeah, okay. For the most part. It’s always like I’m just standing there, maybe waiting for someone or waiting for a bus to arrive or class to start. Yeah, I think maybe if I’ll try to sit there and I tell myself I just sit here quietly for five minutes and just think to myself. I think I get like anxious or something, sitting there and I think I need to grab my phone. It's kind of calming in a sense, relieves anxiety at times I think. It's kind of like a distraction. Also, back with the whole news article thing. I think if I’m scrolling through Twitter and someone tweets an article link I often just safe it to my reading list. I think I use the pocket app. So, I have let’s see, I’m just scrolling. These are my pocket articles. I think I have like 200 plus saved on here. So then when I have free time again, I open this pocket app up and read it. I think I do a lot of my news reading on my phone. Not so much on my laptop for example. It is more natural to me. I also notice the difference between reading on my phone vs. reading on paper. I still sometimes get notifications and that’s why I have to turn the “Do Not Disturb”-mode on. I think again that's convenient if I’m just sitting somewhere waiting five to ten minutes I’ll just open up one of the articles and scroll through it, read it, maybe not focus as much as I would on a piece of paper. I forget what the original question was.

I: The routines and habits.

U_2_M: Yes.

194 I: One routine maybe would be that you use the podcasts when you go to bed or before you go to bed maybe. Or listening to Spotify when you on your way to the university.

U_2_M: Okay, let’s see. Yeah, definitely when I’m in bed, before I go to sleep I definitely often have my phone next to me and do another Twitter check and Instagram scroll and I often have my headphone in, usually for Spotify or the podcasts. I think I usually spend like 30 minutes on my phone and eventually I get tired and put my phone down. I don’t get it away from me. I also go back to it. Then I plug it into the charger away from my bed.

I: Do you use the “Do Not Disturb”-mode during the night too?

U_2_M: Yes, that I don’t get messages and wake up. So, I turn it on “Do Not Disturb” so I can sleep without waking up.

I: When your alarm clock goes off do you look at your notifications immediately with turning off your alarm?

U_2_M: I think I usually will. I guess it depends. I think I prior hit the snooze button a couple of times. When I’m still exhausted maybe. I often catch myself just looking at my email. I don’t think I usually read the messages but I just look who messaged me, as well as my text messages and then sometimes again I go back to bed. Sometimes I set a new alarm for like 20 minutes I don’t want to wake up yet.

I: I think you use Wi-Fi and mobile data?

U_2_M: Yeah, definitely.

I: Would you say you are constantly available when you are not in the “Do Not Disturb”- mode?

U_2_M: Yeah, even then I think. I would say every 20 minutes I open up my phone when it is on “Do Not Disturb” as well to see if I have any messages. I guess my days are pretty free lately since I have had only one class per semester the last couple, spring and this fall. I guess it’s not like I’m working 9 to 5 where I would not be able to check my phone.

I: How do you feel about this constant availability?

195 U_2_M: I guess, I don’t think about it too much. Maybe that’s again why I use that “Do Not Disturb” so often. So, I cannot feel that constant availability, but in case for other people when they want to get in touch with me. Yeah, again I feel like I spend too much time on my phone because I maybe don’t have a busy schedule. I’m sure I do have habits I don’t really think about, right. I think the main habits, it’s pretty common just to get the same thing every time I open my phone up. I think I enter my passcode. Then I usually check Twitter, check Instagram, even though I don’t have notifications for those, whereas, I don’t think, I check Groupme or iMessages unless I have notifications. But yeah, usually as well as mail. And then I just turn off my phone for 20 minutes. Or not turn it off.

I: The other way around, do you expect people to answer immediately or in a short manner of time?

U_2_M: No, I guess not. Maybe it’s almost that I prefer that they don’t answer to me right away because than I can step a way for a minute as well. Maybe I just send out a message and click my phone off and I come back to it. Or maybe if they respond in 30 minutes or whatever that would be cool. I mostly send emails through my phone rather than my laptop, again, I guess it just seems easier and is kind of like text messaging or whatever. It’s quicker, It’s always on me.

I: You just said that you use your smartphone a lot. Can we concentrate a little bit on the benefits? How do you benefit from using your smartphone?

U_2_M: Okay, I feel like pretty up to date with the news since I’m on it. Quite often checking Twitter. I kind of like that aspect, I want to always be aware of something what has happened lately. Of course, I can reach people easier that is a benefit maybe socially. I can talk to people easier and more often. So, I guess with social life I see it as been more efficient. I guess I feel more like a part of my friends lives, too. If I’m, even just yet, liking their Instagram post or something. Or messaging them. I think most beneficial is that being tuned to what's happening in the world or assuming I’m more tuned because I’m searching through the Twitter trends and all. I think I like being active on social media, tweeting news or something, maybe I feel it looks like I’m more a guy paying attention to the news maybe. Maybe I think that looks good on me or something. Other benefits? I guess just socially.

I: Which problematic aspects do you see?

196 U_2_M: That it can be just a distraction, it can be an inefficient way of using time. Maybe when I wanna get work done or read a book. It will be too easy to just look at my phone and find these other distractions and they will just instantly gratify me, right. That is the biggest problem, I guess. Not being productive with my school work and maybe my more important work. I think I just procrastinate a lot and I think a lot of that is due to my phone habits, almost phone addiction in a way.

I: You already mentioned a lot of different apps you use like Twitter, Instagram and something else. Can you please describe again which apps you have and in which way you use them?

U_2_M: Yeah let’s go through them.

I: Maybe you can also rank your apps by relevance?

U_2_M: Ouh, I think Twitter is number 1, I’d say Instagram is probably number 2 and I think the messaging apps, Groupme as well as the green messages. I think the messages is probably number 3 and Groupme is number 4. Again, Instagram I mostly just follow my friends, some soccer magazines, soccer brands as well as some basketball pop cultural things, maybe some arts, artists or something, some celebrities but mostly people I know. I won’t post too often maybe once every two weeks or once every week maybe and then I scroll through the explore page kind of out of habit. Twitter, I don’t think I post to maybe like personal things, usually I never really do, I’ll just be commenting or retweeting articles or recent news. Or suggesting articles myself I guess and sometimes I like tweets like sports if there is a big home run or something. I guess I tweet out gifs or video messages as well. Let’s see. Other apps. Pocket, my reading list app. I think I use that maybe number 5 and then podcasts are my number 6, Google Maps is number 7. Actually, weather channel is probably number 7 and then Google and Maps. Those are definitely the most popular. Actually, I forgot all about Spotify.

I: It’s not so easy to rank them, right?

U_2_M: And Safari and Mail, oh man.

I: So maybe you can build categories like the communication aspect, the travel aspect maybe.

U_2_M: Ouh great, so I guess messages, Groupme and mail are kind of one category where I directly send messages. Spotify and podcasts are audio and entertainment. I think 197 the pocket app, Twitter and Instagram I guess are kind of. That is even harder, hard to differentiate. I think those are my top 10. And then, camera as well I use. I use the notes little icon as well a lot just to write random things down, random thoughts down or maybe to remember kind of assignments almost as like a planner. I don’t really use my calendar app.

I: Do you have apps on your phone that you maybe like less or which you use not at all?

U_2_M: Yeah, I have one kind of in a box, how you can organize. Trying to show you my phone. See it like this. I titled it “rare”.

I: I see. The calculator was in it.

U_2_M: I think it’s all the once that I can’t delete. So, in there I have “Found my iPhone”, I have the wallets, I have the iTunes store, health, the iBooks, I also have face time in there, calculator, voice memos, I also have my bank, my banking company app I won’t use that often. And then even like Yelp, I won't use that often, the food app, right. Even my music app. The itunes music one I won't use often because I just use Spotify and then the calendar I don’t really use. The other than that, I guess I don’t have that many apps. I guess that is what my phone looks like usually. Just two little boxes one categorized social and one is characterized rare.

I: Okay, how do you decide for an app?

U_2_M: I don’t thing I often go on the app store. I don't think I look for new things too often. Games or whatever. Yeah, usually what I really need the Google maps or the weather channel, I have my own little weather app, I think it is better than the normal. Same with maps, I don’t use those maps that are given by Apple. I think I downloaded this pocket app that I heard about as a good reading list tool to save articles.

I: So that was a recommendation?

U_2_M: Yeah, I heard about it on Twitter maybe even. Twitter, I was just using online on the computer for a while and of course I found it easier and easier accessible on my phone.

I: Do you have apps that cost money or that you had to pay for?

198 U_2_M: I don’t think I have any. No, not really just Spotify. I just pay like $5 a month for the student membership, but I guess the app is normally free and I just updated it to the premium.

I: So, is it also an aspect for you that it's for free?

U_2_M: Yeah, I think so. I can’t really imagine myself paying for many apps it seems like the payable one I don’t really need anyway. May there might be games or video or picture editing shops. I think I can find free once that are just as kind of useful. Yeah, I stick to the free apps.

I: Did you downloaded an app before that you deleted afterwards because of any reason?

U_2_M: Yeah, I guess Snapchat again for example. I think I had it for a year and then I just realized it was too addictive and just too wasteful of my time.

I: So did you deleted the app or your whole account?

U_2_M: I deactivated my account I think and then I deleted the app I guess.

I: Okay, both.

U_2_M: Let’s see, WhatsApp again. I think I used to have Pandora and I deleted that because that's the other music radio, right. But I just found Spotify more useful I think after a couple of years. Once the streaming service kind of came big. Okay, I think I often predownload like Uber, the taxi service, right? I don’t have it at the moment, because there is no Uber in hometown. But I think if I go back to city 2 I redownload it. Yeah, Facebook. I don’t have Facebook anymore. Mainly because I didn’t get too much use out of it.

I: Is it the same with like Snapchat, that you deleted your account also? You don’t use it on your laptop?

U_2_M: No, I found it more problematic on my laptop for the Facebook. Right when I opened my laptop I would have just opened up the Google Chrome and just search Facebook. I guess, I didn’t get as much use out of that either as like Twitter I think. As more of my friends use Twitter and I guess I like the journalists I follow on there.

199 I: When did you delete yourself?

U_2_M: Only like a month ago.

I: Do you miss anything?

U_2_M: [laughter]

I: Or did you think about installing it again?

U_2_M: I don’t think I miss it too much. I think I always liked having the birthday notifications. What else? I think that was my main messaging system to talk to my nationality 1 friends, right. But I think I still, I message them on Instagram instead. Due like that DM system. I guess I don’t feel like I miss too much. I think not too many of my friends back home, like from high school used Facebook. I think I noticed more of my classmates here using Facebook. So maybe I’m missing out some of their posts as well as like professors. I followed professor and he posted a lot. I think I use social media now, I guess Twitter and Facebook I would use it for news a lot. I just found Twitter more kind of quicker and a better source. I used to have ESPN app, the sports app, but I deleted that, maybe just I cared less about sports or something. I think I can easily just access Safari and look up the score that way. I think I used to have Tinder for a bit. But yeah, that’s deleted. I think I maybe, who knows if I redownload it in the future. I also had Starbucks deleted. I have a couple other like Chick-fil-A I think usually it would be like I download the app and get a free drink or free hamburger or whatever. I just do that for the one time and then just delete the app.

I: Yeah, and does user interface or accessibility also play a role?

U_2_M: With those deleted apps?

I: In general, in context of why you decide for an app or why you decide to delete an app.

U_2_M: Okay, I guess not too much. I like it when it is kind of easy to use and I figure it out quickly maybe. I guess that doesn’t maybe have too much, maybe if it’s just trying to what I want to get out of it. The goal out of it instead. I guess like those maps, like the Apple maps, that was one where I didn’t really kind of understand as much I thought it was kind of difficult to use. Then I deleted that and of course I heard about Google maps and I have that for like three years now. I like how's that set up. 200

I: I want to come back to your use of Instagram. You said that you post like once a week in general.

U_2_M: Yeah I guess that kind of varies.

I: What kind of pictures do you post there?

U_2_M: Let’s see. I think it is usually not too often of myself for example.

I: Like you, what you are doing in your free time?

U_2_M: I guess so, during the summer we went on a little road trip so I’d post a picture of a park in the distance or some mountains or a city kind of skyline. Take a picture at a baseball game. Me I usually, not up like me inside the picture, just what I’m seeing I guess. I have a couple pictures of animals. I guess it depends if I did anything interesting that week. I prior had a good two month maybe where I didn’t post anything. I guess my life was just uninteresting then or I was just at school. Maybe a few years back it seems like I added more of them. Maybe some artsy type thing I post which is not too often. If I find an interesting picture or wall outside.

I: Do you also like or comment on pictures of others?

U_2_M: Definitely. I definitely usually like pictures, pretty often. I don’t think I often comment. But sometimes if I find a post that a friend would like I comment their name or I send them a direct message. I don’t think I used Instagram story too much. It kind of is too much like Snapchat. Sometimes I feel like they are trivial details of posting my life just every second. I guess I’ll look at some people stories. Even though I don’t think I usually care too. But it’s just there so I going to click on it. Sometimes I follow some brands or some interesting clothing sites. Sometimes I see something on Instagram and then use that like an online shopping tool. Maybe I go buy that shirt that I see, not too often. Or shoes that I like. Often, I find out about new shoes that are upcoming that way.

I: We talked about that you use your phone a lot to communicate with your friends or your mother, so your family in general. You maintain your relationships, right? Do you also establish new contacts by using your smartphone?

U_2_M: I think I’ll have to meet the person outside first like I get her number that way, if I meet a new classmate that is incoming or I going to meet someone at the bar. If I get 201 someone's number I guess I text them more. I don’t know. Like I said. I guess I don’t really send too many messages on my phone. But yes, usually I don’t come across a random Twitter user and message them a lot.

I: So, you don’t establish new contacts by contacting people you only know with the help of the internet. But you use your phone to contact people you meet in real life and you get to know them better by the help of your phone.

U_2_M: Yeah, it kind of is an extension. It can help build, keep that relationship strong and even become closer because I’m using it.

I: Do you think it is easier to build relationships nowadays because of the smartphone?

U_2_M: I think it is easier to have more connections, more friends, right? But I don’t think those friendships are that close always online. I think maybe when I didn’t use my phone I had fewer friends but maybe they were closer. I do definitely still have a close netgroup of friends and I contact them more often on the social media anyway. I think it kind of shows shared interest easier if we both follow the same thing or liking the same image if that makes sense.

I: The aspect of community is one important aspect of social media. What do you think about this aspect? Do you see yourself as part of the community? Which way do you contribute to that or profit from the community?

U_2_M: Even just with my cohort I can see that being in a good way to participate and feel together with the community when I just send Groupme messages. Maybe just funny massages or interesting clips or articles or videos. I think just talking to them, being active. Maybe I feel closer to them and I show them that I’m interested in talking to them and maybe I feel like they are interested in talking to me then. It’s also like on Twitter, maybe I tweet a lot about soccer, also about basketball. I think, when it’s like NBA season. I have a few buddies who also are big NBA fans. It’s kind of like we all tweet at the same time. I guess, because we are watching live sports. Sometimes that is kind of cool. Maybe we then text message each other or kind of communicate about the game. That is a bit of a community, a little basketball community I have. But again, usually people I already know even though I follow NBA writers. I just get their intake as well. I guess I don’t follow much like local news, unfortunately. So maybe I don’t participate that local community in a way. Whereas I think outside, when I’m on campus or during outdoor activities in hometown I obviously participate more in the community that way, rather than online. 202

I: What do you think how open and emotion are you in context of using social media?

U_2_M: I don’t think I show emotions on social media. Or again, I don’t think I post too personal. I retweet a lot of political articles that are meaning with by kind of association or whatever. But I don’t think I’ll directly send out messages like: “This guy has to going to go” or whatever. I guess, it’s different with the messages. I guess, those are usually be more kind of personal or because maybe I think those people care more about. I think if I post something on Twitter about my daily happenings I don’t think they care. That’s kind what the whole Snapchat thing was. I feel like people don’t care what I’m doing right now or I also don’t care what they are doing every hour of their life. I would say less emotional or less describing myself or showing me. I don’t know, then I am in person.

I: What do you think about other people's openness and expression of emotions?

U_2_M: I would say it seems that people are kind of the same way. They show less of their personal side. But I definitely think there are some that post their feelings or something. I think I often kind of mute those people. Just again, because I don’t think I often care about what’s going on. On like Facebook you can unfollow people. So I often only follow the closer people but then maybe still be friends but not actually delete them completely. Maybe I feel less bad that way. On Twitter you can mute people. There are a lot people I still follow that I mute. But I don’t want to hurt their feelings by unfollowing them. I think it’s more understanding on Instagram, where they are posting photos of themselves. I think, I don’t mind that if they are sending that personal caption as well.

I: What do you think about how other people depict themselves for example on Instagram or about their authenticity?

U_2_M: Kind of maybe similarly, I don’t think there are many but some people might post a photo of themselves every day and I go “Oh, this person in a narcist”. No. I think usually like saying one photo a day maybe like that rule. I don’t think I answered that question.

I: It’s okay. You already said that you don’t post that much. But you for example said that you retweet sometimes articles that have a political opinion just as an example. Do you think about your actions in regard to using your smartphone? Like before you post something. Or even not only in public also in private messages?

203 U_2_M: I’m usually pretty good at sitting down for a minute and not being too quick to send a message. I guess that could be dangerous, right? I think there have definitely been instances where I’ve typed something out and then I read it over and be like god, I shouldn’t send this. Or cool down for a minute. Not that often. I think I do have some friends that have differing political opinions. I don’t think they usually say much. Because sometimes, when I’m in the same group as them, like in a big group chat, maybe they say something that I don’t like. I don’t think I usually confront them too much. Maybe I’m saying something that I like. It’s like hinting that, but usually not too confrontational, where we start an argument or whatever. It will be just: I like Jeb. I guess being on Twitter where a group of people like 400 people are following me, I don’t think I have to worry about one person's opinion as much. Maybe so I’ll be more passionate and opinionated a bit on there. I do think I use Twitter more prior to retweet like five times a day maybe. Even if I just see a funny clip or maybe a cool play in basketball. I’ll retweet that. I’d say usually for every ten retweets I’ll send a tweet myself. I used to be a lot more sending out my own tweets but I think maybe I just, again, don’t spend as much time on Twitter as I used too. Or maybe I used to tweet more about sports or other things, but now mainly feel like the news and what's going on in the world is more important to tweet about. I think I like to think about what I’m saying before.

I: One more topic I want to talk about. There is a public debate about privacy. How do you feel about this topic?

U_2_M: I think, maybe I like to think that I care about the privacy a lot but I think usually my mind set would be I probably feel like I’m not tweeting out too much personal information or maybe again saying anything that is too private on my feeds or on the group chats. Maybe I feel like that I don’t have to worry as much, that way. I do often have like my location services disabled until I actually need them. So, I think like on Instagram. Sometimes when I’ll post a picture I’ll add a location. I think that’s when I enable the services. Or again with the Google maps and the weather channel. So maybe I could be kind of questioning. But usually I kind of feel like there is not all that much I can do to limit my tracking and all. I think I used to use, it was called Unroll, it was like an email service where you could unsubscribe from like all your subscriptions that you’ve externally or whatever subscribed throughout your life. I have a lot of those, where I get like CBS Chicago, I get like RetailMeNot, all these random where it rather be easier not to get all those notifications and delete. So, I used this Unroll service so I only get my main emails and all the other once the servers would kind of delete. But then I found out a few months afterwards, that they are sending your information out to other companies or something. I forget the exact details, to Google or something or that they tracked you a bit that way. So, then I got rid of it and I now I just 204 deal with more notifications. I think I’m kind of lazy to unsubscribe from each individual one. I guess just the fact that I have a smartphone kind of shows that I’m not as worried about my privacy as I could be. I think I like to be more careful about that. Or maybe I feel like, people don’t care about tracking me, right. Who am I?

I: So, after all this talk about your use of your smartphone. Can you imagine to give away your smartphone?

U_2_M: Oh man, there definitely have been times where I wished I could get rid of it. Actually, in country 1, so in early January I lost my phone in a bar or in a club or something. So, I didn’t had a phone for the whole month until I got back to the US. I think at times it was kind of like peaceful, but being in a different country, too, is kind of, I didn’t know my way around as much, so that was kind of problematic without Google maps. Can’t imagine myself. I think, again, I’m not very good with directions. So that is one thing with Google maps if I’m driving somewhere I often, even just walking somewhere I guess, I can’t really imagine not using a smartphone. I feel like with the school work, trying to be active with the news as a journalist I feel like I kind of need my smartphone. So maybe if I wasn’t working I can maybe not use a smartphone. I think during the summer I really have thought about switching to like a flip phone or something but in reality I probably can’t really switch to something else.

I: So you had the experience a little bit, when you said you lost your phone and you already said that you missed the GPS, the Google maps. What else would be different in your daily life?

U_2_M: I guess it would be definitely much more difficult to contact people. So maybe I wouldn’t hang out with them as much. I think I would just use my laptop and would use like Facebook messenger. I guess I didn’t always have my laptop on me. So maybe I wouldn’t hear about an event until a couple of hours later or something. I definitely wasn’t able to contact my friends back home or my mom back home as often, which I never really mind. I think that immediate contact with your people around you I kind of would miss that. What else? I guess I’ve heard about news later. Or maybe if there is an awful like terror threat or something or if there is something in the street that happened maybe I would have got a notification on my phone or an email or just an alert, or people texting me “Are you alright?” I would have known about it kind of fast. Or as I didn’t had my phone I was just walking around kind of clueless and not find out until I see people or outside talking about it or running or something or I go back to my computer. Maybe I’m less save without it. And then the whole theme of missing out on news or 205 something. I feel like I would probably read less articles. I guess I’d definitely didn’t really tweet much or post pictures and all. It sounds less social that way.

I: What would you miss the most?

U_2_M: I also miss my camera because I don’t have a camera myself. Being a journalist maybe you have to record something really quickly or something that did just happen randomly. What would I miss the most? I’m trying to make a list. It’s got to be easier. I think the GPS is probably like the most important one for me. I don’t know about miss that the most. I want to say like Twitter but I guess I can access that on my computer in a way. I guess I use it so often, just to follow the news, which I really enjoy doing. I don’t think I miss the messaging services that much, because I can use my computer. I guess we are going to GPS and then maybe even the camera.

I: So, something you can’t access through another device?

U_2_M: Yeah, I guess so.

I: Okay.

U_2_M: I guess there is one more thing that I forgot to mention that I use this as well. But I use my telephone, to call people. I don’t think I make too many calls. But you know I call my mom every Sunday or something. Or call a friend if I want to see if their doing something. Or sometimes when I’m looking for them in a bar or something I usually call them instead of texting them.

I: Okay, that where my questions. One more thing. Social demographics. I need your birth date and you are still a student, right?

U_2_M: Date of birth, so I’m just age at the moment. I guess I’m just Caucasian, male, white guy I guess.

I: That’s enough I just wanted to know the student thing and your birth date.

U_2_M: Hopefully my last semester.

I: That where my questions. Do you have anything to add or any questions, or anything else? 206

U_2_M: Not at the moment I guess. I guess, let me know if you have other questions, or maybe I let you know if I think of anything else or I notice habits that I’m doing.

I: Okay, so thank you for your time and for your help.

U_2_M: No problem.

I: Have a nice day.

U_2_M: Alright, see ya.

I: Bye, thank you.

207 Appendix L: Interview Transcript U_3_M

I: Can you hear me?

U_3_M: I can hear you, can you hear me?

I: Yeah, right now I hear you.

U_3_M: Good!

I: But I don’t see you moving. Just a little bit. I’s like the video is not that perfect but as long as I hear you, it’s okay.

U_3_M: Yeah, that’s, that’s the important part.

I: Yes, that's right.

U_3_M: Oh, sorry for the technical difficulties hope we get through it somehow.

I: Yeah, Yeah. That’s the thing if you do it like with the video chats. It’s a little bit complicated but in the end, it works, I think.

U_3_M: Yeah, quite right. Thanks for, thanks for taking a few minutes to chat.

I: Yeah, thank you for taking your time for me, so. Yeah. Do we want to just start like I would give you some general information before we start and then I just ask you some questions?

U_3_M: Yeah, that sounds great!

I: Okay, so, you participate in a study which is part of my master thesis and the study examines the use of smartphones in everyday life. Your personal data will be anonymized and the recorded interview will be transcribed and anonymized by coding your personal characters like names and places.

U_3_M: Okay.

I: Here the question again: Do you agree with recording the interview?

208 U_3_M: Yes!

I: Thank you, and I, you got an informed consent form via I think Facebook. I send it via Facebook?

U_3_M: Yes. You send that along, yes.

I: Did you read it and do you have any questions on this form?

U_3_M: Yes, I read it and no questions.

I: Okay. The Interview is intended to be an open conversation, so all of your thoughts and aspects are relevant and I mostly hold back. I just ask my questions and ask hear and then questions if I want to know something more in detail.

U_3_M: Ok, yes, that’s fine.

I: Do you have any questions before we start now?

U_3_M: No, let’s get it going.

I: Okay, so here is the first question: Can you please describe how you use your smartphone on an ordinary week day. What have you done with it, for example on Friday?

U_3_M: Oh, sure. So, I am, I use my smartphone as part of my job. So, I am the head of social media for minor league baseball, the developmental league that leads up to the major league baseball here in the United States. So, I oversee social media for our league and assist all 160 of our baseball teams in their social media functions and so using a smartphone is a daily occurrence for me because I, as head of social media, I am constantly trying to keep up with trends in social media. What are the teams talking about? What are people talking about us? Trying to keep up with their buzz so I can help capitalize on that, and it’s that buzz that helps us guide our content strategy. So, smartphones are often an easier way for me to access what people are talking to us about. I also use my computer as well but smartphones give you easier access to Twitter, you get easier access to Instagram and you keep track of all the madness that is going around in minor league baseball.

I: Okay, and can you just go through your day. 209

U_3_M: Sure.

I: Like, when you wake up, for example do you use it as your alarm clock do you have it when you are at breakfast?

U_3_M: Sure.

I: You said it is a pretty important part in your work but also how do you use it in your free time or like through the whole day?

U_3_M: Sure, starting from the beginning, I use it as an alarm clock to get up every day. I would be pretty helpless without it. I don’t have a physical alarm clock so I have to use the phone to get up and usually when I get up first thing I do is just kind of browse through social media. Catch up on any news that happened over night, check weather, traffic, what have you... I’m still sitting in bed or if I’m eating breakfast at the counter. I usually, I always use my smartphone to get all my information I need for the day. Usually I go on, I have a bike ride or a run in the morning and I use my smartphone to listen to music or podcast for an hour while I’m out and about, so I just plug in and get going. Same goes for when I get in the car to go to work. I plug it in, and usually I use Spotify, listen to a podcast or music. It gets me to work and then work is somewhat kind of like I described earlier or I’m pretty zoned in on. I keep track of the use of my phone to keep track of social media. As well you know, personal browse, you know, I might be at work and honestly you have text communications throughout the day. You know, I have a girlfriend, we live together and we just got a dog so I also use texting to communicate pretty frequently about personal things or any of that nature. Through the day I listen to music again during the day and browse social media. Then I get home and more of the same, I might be in contact with friends while I’m eating dinner or “what do we do that night?” Asking through social media or messaging apps. I just moved to state 1 about 5 months ago so honestly, I’m using my navigation pretty frequently to get around in a new place. It’s been pretty helpful since I don’t know anything about city 1 state 1 before I moved here. I don’t know, what else do I got my phone for? I also use, well I just say, let me, apps being obviously: email, I use probably most frequently through my phone for both personal and work, obviously, camera, photo camera, whatever I’m about. I use my phone to capture photos for myself and work, Youtube is a big thing for when I try to kill a few minutes, it may be in the morning catching up on things. Uber on the weekends when I need somebody driving, same goes for checking my bank account, Venmo for money purposes, I was flying over the weekend, so I downloaded my tickets to my phone there. Park Mobile we used to when I’m parking around town. I mean, what I’m trying to 210 get at is, a lot of my life kind of functions through my phone. And I have a lot linked up through it, and it’s just a lot of day to day activities. I’d be pretty lost without it.

I: Okay, and you already made some points on that or you talked a lot about that, I mean, your work is really related to your smartphone. Can you maybe compare, what role does your smartphone play within free time and then in comparison to it with work. Like how does it differ, your use of your smartphone?

U_3_M: Sure. Yeah, definitely it differs a little bit. I’d say through work I’m more inclined to get on my computer the work that I need to. Cause obviously a lot of my job it is content production as well and I need my computer to do that it’s easier to if I meet a person via social media, post straight through there, or if I’m sitting at my desk it is a lot easier to type down an email using my computer… I tend to find for work that it’s a little easier when I have the capabilities and more space of a laptop and screen space and a mouse. It is easier to kind of get my job done with that, whereas personal, my day to day activity I try to get done on my phone. But sometimes if I’m making, I’m online shopping, or making a big purchase online, if I’m off my computer buying an airline ticket I feel more comfortable being online doing that. Or, I like to get it on my computer I should say, as opposed to my personal smartphone but I’d say there is a difference between work and personal time, definitely at work I tend to skew a little bit more towards my computer just because of all the content production I need and browsing I need versus personal when day to day I just try to get by on my phone.

I: Okay, you already said your smartphone, or you organize a lot of your daily businesses with your smartphone. If you think about what you do like maybe every day like what is really like a routine or a habit already.

U_3_M: Aha.

I: Did you develop something like that?

U_3_M: Sure. If It weren’t for my smartphone I don’t think I’d remember any meeting I have ever scheduled. It’s that buzz, that reminder 15/30 minutes before my meeting lets me know where I need to go or who I’m meeting with, what I’m meeting about. There have been times where I scheduled a meeting two weeks in advance or something and then I get that notification and then I’m like “Oh, yeah I have a meeting like this, I totally forgot about” because you know in work life, these things pile up, it’s kind of hard to keep track. But I think in my day to day life it’s probably the most pressing thing I really depend on. There are obviously a lot parts in my personal job, too, that are influential like 211 I said working with social media I have a lot of push notifications set up that alert me of different things that happening in or around minor league baseball. I have a Google alert set up daily for minor league baseball, so it feeds me headlines every day so I usually get that in through my smartphone. And personal orientation, for personal meetings, doctors’ appointments, personal as well, social media buzz. It’s those notifications that kind of keep me online.

I: You use your smartphone a lot and I think you use WiFi and mobile data regularly. So, there is the so called constant availability. How do you feel about that constant availability?

U_3_M: Constant availability in terms of always having access to other WiFi or data?

I: So, you could say you’re always online, so people can always reach out to you but also you can always reach out to people. So, both sides. So, this is a constant availability in the end on both sides. How do you feel about that?

U_3_M: I mean for both, my job and I think the way modern communication works I think it is a necessity. I’m not necessarily in contact with everybody all the time. Sometime, even my own girlfriend, I’m not constantly communicating with her, but the fact that matters, If I don’t have that ability to go to the internet, make a phone call, send a text, it kind of gives me anxiety, knowing that in case I do need to send a communication whether there is an emergency or not. If I don’t have it then I can’t do my job or I’m missing out on a personal thing I need to take care of. Honestly, it can be dangerous for people who easily spend too much time on their phones and they kind of ignore things that going around them, but in terms of carrying out my day to day job duties or day to day personal duties will that be errands or whatever it might be. I kind of need to have that constant availability to be able to take on a task at a moment’s notice and have the ability to do whatever it is I need to do.

I: There is also a huge public debate about privacy. How do you feel about this topic?

U_3_M: In social media, I see it every day. Let’s say when you post on social media you are able to control the message. To a certain extent you control how much of your life you want to share, in terms of your personal interests, your political views, your friendships. And obviously the information that is front facing. If you are active on social media you kind of consent to being willing to open up and lose at least a little bit of privacy because you always want to see all the pictures and statuses that’s available for the public to take. So I think you have to accept the responsibility for what goes on your 212 social media platforms because it tells a story about you and it is on the internet. You consciously choose to put that information out there, so you are responsible for what that information might impact. It’s like if you are going to a job interview and may have posted something offensive on your Twitter page the day before that should give the employer full right to say “No, I don’t want to hire this person.” If they put the information out there they voluntarily chose it. That draws a dangerous line because just because you choose to be active online whether it is social media, online shopping or online banking. We are at a point now where we are completely dependent on the internet to run our lives. Run our daily finances, or organization or work. There are very few people who can go a day without the internet. It’s all its services it provides. Privacy has to be at the forefront because whether you like it or not your private information you are going to give it to some kind of third party. Whether it’s banking or online shopping or rent. When you rent online, housing. There has to be, there have to be security measures in place that ensure that yes, while you are certainly giving out some information, because there is the necessity in daily life to do your daily errands. There should be a lot of measures in place to help protect that.

I: Okay, you made some points already about, how you benefit from using your smartphone, can you concentrate on them again just to sum it up, please tell me again what benefits do you see from using your smartphone?

U_3_M: Sure, well I think obviously a big benefit is, it gives me more structure in my social life. Especially having just graduated college recently and moved away from home as well. So, you have loved once all over the United States. Even around the world. You know friend 1 over in country 1. It gives you the ability to maintain friendships and connections which I think is incredibly important when you move away. It’s easy to move away and feel a sense of isolation, you know, when you are away from loved ones or friends, your smartphone is such an easy way to constantly be connected to the things and people that matter most to you. Especially having been away from home for about a year and a half now. It provides some kind of solace knowing that I still have those people who want to connect me, want to show their appreciation for me and things. It’s all right here. One of the big benefits is kind of your daily errands, I get a paycheck, I have to sit at my phone if I want transfer money around or if I need to pay bills. [...] Schedule reminders, we have meetings or appointments, it organizes your daily list of errands. If I didn’t have my phone I might never pick up my dry cleaning. The weather, the smartphone usage guides how I’m going to go about my day. If I didn't have a smartphone I wouldn’t bring a rain coat or forget to get my dry cleaning before I go to an appointment. It’s the phone that kind of puts me on that path. Go and get gas, going to work, do this, do that, go grocery 213 shopping – it’s those constant reminders that pushes me in the right direction where I need to be. It is a little I don’t want to say frightening. It’s intriguing how I have become so dependent on it, but frankly the fact of the matter is, I am but it’s for the better. It allows me to be a productive member of society both in my personal life and work.

I: You already said, you are very dependent on your smartphone, which problematic aspects do you see besides that?

U_3_M: Obviously the first thing you think about is what happens if something happens to the phone. What if I drop it and it breaks or I forget to charge it overnight, my phone dies. You always think about what if something is wrong with the phone. I don’t have access to it for a certain amount of time. It happened before and you are kind of paralyzed. Your whole life kind of gets put on hold. I mean all the little things you have to think about. I can’t tell my girlfriend that I’m coming home early. Can’t make any calls. I kind of remember my phone was having some issues when I was back to have a, hear back from a job so I have to tell them, “hey if I don’t pick my phone, that’s why because it is broken. That impacts me directly. I think honestly in terms of the social aspect. I think I do a pretty good job, personally, of putting the phone away around people. Especially when I’m out about or at work, yeah sometimes when I’m at home I’ll be at my phone, so is my girlfriend, but when we are actively doing something together, if we are getting a drink, if we are getting a meal or we’re on a walk. I’m not going to be walking around staring at my phone. You see a lot of people who go to dinner and they’re both on their phones. Why even bother? I really try my to do best to realize that I don’t need to be constantly engaged with the phone. It is a tremendous resource when I need it and I need it a lot. But the fact of the matter is that I don’t need it 24/7. I don’t need it every waken moment. It is okay to put it away. But I still have the security of knowing if I do need it it’s there. I think it is also a danger in losing connections with personal relationships when you are so right there and you kind of ignore the world around you. It is ironic because I work in social media and it is my job to get people to look at their phones and engage with stuff that I post. But I also acknowledge there is a danger in doing that to an extent where you lose personal relationships.

I: You already took a look at your smartphone and mentioned the apps you use. Can you rank them by relevance, like which app do you like the most or which app do you use often and which ones do you like less or don’t use at all?

U_3_M: Let’s see...just kind of perusing through here. I think, I kind of group them, obviously it is the social media apps in general both for personal and work use. I think If I really have to pick one I’d say Twitter. It’s because I’m big on getting updated 214 information, I want to get people’s takes on certain events, I’m a big sports fan, so Twitter is a great forum to get information there. So, I think I kind of group them as social media. That has probably the highest priority. Followed by that entertainment things like Spotify, YouTube. Or pretty high up in the list your mail apps obviously, Gmail and personal work mail are high up on the priority list. I use the alarm clock every morning. Those are probably some of the bigger ones. I guess in terms of the lesser ones... Some of the ones that are kind of build into the phone, I don’t find myself using the “Find my iPhone” app cause I usually have it on me. There is a news app on here, which I’ll read push notifications but when I want to go read news stories I probably seek them out through social media or through web browsing. There are certain things like Ticketmaster, where I don’t use it that much but when I do need it, it’s helpful. My Southwest app. I don’t fly a ton, but again, if I need it. And once again, I don’t go out to eat a lot, but if I need it. I tend to really try to stick to apps I really have a semi-regular need for. And if I don’t really need the app or I just use it once over a year I rather want the space on my phone. I can probably rank them but for most part if an app is on my phone I have a legitimate use for it.

I: With which apps do you communicate with other people?

U_3_M: I think obviously texting as standard texting, mail, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, obviously the social media apps. I think that is probably about it. That’s probably right about my communication apps.

I: Do you differ in like communicating with a lot of people like for example maybe on Instagram you can use the interpersonal communication like just PM, personal messages and you can also comment on pictures or something or on Facebook the same?

U_3_M: Let’s say. I kind of going down my social media platforms. I think Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are kind of platforms I’m more willing to have kind of open form conversations. I’m more likely to comment one’s photo or reply to a tweet as a post to kind of private direct messages through those platforms. I use for my private communication I’ll stick, I use Facebook on occasion I need to, I use Twitter on occasion but most of my direct messaging I would use Snapchat or direct text messaging. I think that’s kind of my channel break down how I use those.

I: You said if you have to choose one you would pick Twitter as your favorite one. Can you just describe a typical situation in which you use this app.

U_3_M: On a daily basis, I say news is probably my number one use of it. I think 215 Facebook, Instagram are a little more a client to see what friends are up to do. There’s a certain amount of balance for Twitter to do that, but Twitter has such as vast field of knowledge and information. Twitter has anything you want, sports, news, politics, whatever it is it is on there. I think my typical use of Twitter is scrolling through timelines and going to profiles and seeing what people talk about. If there’s a certain event or something I want more information on. A typically day on Twitter is just, a typical use of Twitter is just information gathering and I guess spreading. Some time I go with direct communication to people but overall, I’m more a person who just wants just some information out of the app.

I: How do you decide for an app, when do you download an app?

U_3_M: When I hear of, usually I have a need for it. Obviously, those social media apps, the big three like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, that kind of came [...] like for instance LinkedIn, I didn’t download LinkedIn app until I was applying for a job after graduating from college. This one initialed to have an app. Parkmobile, it’s a mobile parking app. Didn’t got that until I moved to region, state 1, and there is a lot of places around town that accept Parkmobile as a parking app. My dog just walked in here. Go on boy. You want to answer a question? Parkmobile got matter because a lot places around town accept mobile payment for parking and it is easier. Venmo, I didn’t need to download that until you start going out with people and saw that as a good chance to transfer money that way, in cash. So overall it is really dependent on a need, when a need arises and you start to see a trend and that behavior than you download the app.

I: Do you have apps that you had to pay for?

U_3_M: No, I only download free apps.

I: So that is also a factor.

U_3_M: Sure absolutely. I can’t really think of an. I mean there are great sport payed apps, to be honest. But I got nothing from games or others that costs. But otherwise, if I had to pay a certain amount of money for it, it’s not really worth getting.

I: Does something like user interface play a role? You already said that you sometimes delete apps. Is it because you don’t like how they work?

216 U_3_M: Usually, If I just don’t have a need for them. If it don’t gives me a use in my daily life or even semi-frequently. I don’t have a need for them, then I’ll just ditch it.

I: You already said that you use your smartphone to communicate with your girlfriend or friends, or people like that. Do you also use your smartphone to establish new contacts?

U_3_M: Sure. I think with the nature of my job and kind of the way networking takes place these days I use social media apps as a networking tool. I get the most use through my smartphone, it is a good way to connect with professionals within my field, to share ideas and make connections for my personal benefit. I say for networking is kind of the biggest thing in this industry, you really have to... Especially working in sports it’s more about kind of people you know. I’ve got jobs from internships because of the connections I’ve made through social media. Social media apps especially mobile. I see a benefit in that so I’m using it to connect to lots of different people in addition to close friends of me in real life.

I: You already said that you are also on Instagram and Facebook for example. Do you observe other users. Like what are your friends doing now from high school or other friends. Like you said you just moved to state 1 and you have your family and friends now far away. Do you use social media to see what they are up to?

U_3_M: Yeah, I mean that's kind of a one drive forces of using social media in general. I mean every big life update or move. The first thing I did when we got a dog yesterday. Yesterday, he is brand new. The first thing we did yesterday was post on social media. Because you can see those platforms as keeping your friends up to date on big events in your life and things that are happening. Granted, some people share more than others, some people share what they do every night and thinks they are up to. Which is nice. But some people only share big exciting things that happen. But overall it is nice to kind of keep tabs on what people are up to, what their jobs are like, what their personal time is like. Especially when you have people spreading all across the country and going to new interesting places. It’s cool to see. I come from a small college town in state of origin where we are used to see everybody in one place. But now you have people in New York, you have people in Los Angeles, you have people everywhere else inbetween, I’m here in state 1. It’s nice to kind of keep tabs on them. I think it’s that ability to further kind of keep up on their day to day actions and their daily lives. It helps me keep that kind of connection with my friends - I might not see them, like their faces, but I feel like I’m still like part of their lives since I know the big things going on, know the relationships, the activities that they are doing and you can still establish connections through it. Let’s say: “Oh hey, I’ve seen on social media that you live in Los Angeles.” You have a mutual like 217 that is an instant connection an essential touchpoint you can make with them, or I know somebody has a new big job and you can start there, say “Oh, tell me more of your job” or “Is it similar to mine?” that is a connection there. It’s that ability to constantly stay in people’s lives even though they are thousands of miles away from you. It kind of helps me to keep the connection that we once had.

I: The aspect of community is one important characteristic of social networks, what do you think about this aspect, so I think you really like it because you said that your friends or people you got to know in college are now spread all over the places. Do you see yourself as part of this community?

U_3_M: Sure. I mean I think, a lot of times you see that with social engagements. Comments and likes and shares. It’s these little notifications I know hey, your friends from college still are caring about what you’re posting or seeing what you are posting, It’s one way to reach out. That extends to social media, through text messaging you do kind of create that community. Even though our once tight group is now spread out off their creation, it’s that level of comfort, Hey even though you are not actually in front of me you are a quick peek at my screen away from the next best thing, and understanding that you are out there, you still do have a voice. Still feel like something is linking us and that is through the smartphone, through social media, through messaging apps, I could continue to establish these connections. But if you don’t have them than, some of my best friends from college don’t have but we can still call each other you know, close connections, close friend because of the almost daily communications we have is through our phones.

I: In which cases do you comment something on social media?

U_3_M: I’d say part of the driver is congratulation messages like birthdays, new jobs, I’m age so you have a lot people getting engaged and married these days, life achievements are also be countless. What else? When I see something interesting. I have a lot of friends who are getting into content production industry, journalism majors, I try to encourage them. When I see a piece of work they do out there, I want to offer support or so. Or sometimes if I see something online that reminds me of a certain person I’ll send it to their way and say “hey”. Whatever it may be, I think you might enjoy it. I did that yesterday when we are doing college football and communicating to a lot of folks. It’s the same with, a lot of times when you feel like starting up, when you’re relaxing, not doing much and you still communicate you strike up conversations with friends about whatever it might be. I tend to stay away from more controversial topics because I don’t have the energy to dig into that online. Especially on my phone. I have a lot of friends 218 who are towards [...] though we communicate through that. It depends on how much time I have. If I’m more like engaged with friends online when I’m sitting at home, browsing through my phone and when I’m driving from work or if I’m eating a lot of it kind of depends on my time and place.

I: What do you think how open and emotional are you on social networks?

U_3_M: I think, there are certain times that bring it out of me. I’m not the one to wear my emotions on my sleeve, especially online. In case of the emotional, I do it more personally through a phone call or text message. Through public forums, I, every now and when a cause will arise where I want to give my opinion. Certainly, at my political opinion about different things, but I just frankly don’t have the energy to fight hundreds of people that have a different opinion than me. Because I don’t have the energy, I’m not accomplishing anything by sitting there and by wearing my emotions online. I’d rather work towards a productive way of solving the issues I have or the emotions I feel. It gave me some kind of a productive thought I have rather than spewing out on social media. I’m a big believer that social media is a two-way communication space. It’s not just say: “Hey, I’m own name I feel this way about this topic, blablabla” I think it is a good way to gaze people in an efficient way at least until it gets lost. I tend to only engage with people if I see value in it, if I see productivity in the end.

I: What do you think about other people’s openness and expressions of emotions or authenticity?

U_3_M: I also think free speech has its limits, I think the whole point of social media is to express your opinions and share who you are. People are certainly within their rights whatever they want they can post their political opinions, their opinions on sports, or fashion or other current events. I think that is the whole point and people should be encouraged to speak out, speak up on what they believe in, obviously there are limits on that. Hate speech is pretty ramped on the internet, racism and sexism and bigotry and we hate to see that, but I think obviously there are ways to fight that while you try to fight that you still have to encourage people that the internet is an open forum, such a powerful communications tool to still positive change and positive messaging. I think it is a great thing that we have this kind of technology that can help boost the sharing of ideas and help connect people in ways that could never been connected before. We would not be able to connect otherwise without the connection of the internet. It’s such a great tool. It’s so important to continue to encourage people to expand their variety. I think that is honestly a big root of why I see bigotry and why I see hatred – it’s a lack of understanding. While the internet can also serve as a basis for hate speech, it can also be 219 great forum for people to learning more and the more we learn about each other, the more we learn about globalism, the more you learn about other people’s cultures and backgrounds that’s how you become a more connective world and a more understanding peaceful loving world.

I: When you post something or when you comment something on social networks. Do you think about your actions before you put them online?

U_3_M: Absolutely. Everything I post online has my name, my reputation, my family's reputation, my, everything that is attached to me is attached to that user name, to that account. If I post something that doesn’t reflect well on me, that reflects not just on my social profile that reflects poorly on me as a person, that's going to impact the way that people treat me, the way that people hire me. So, you have to consciously think about, everything you post online, is completely voluntary. You don’t have to have social media accounts, you don’t have to pull all this information out there. When you choose to do so, you have to consciously think about, what it is that you are putting out there. Everybody has a brand you have to consciously think about what kind of message and what that message says about my brand, about me as a person. Those people who post blindly or post everything what they are saying, what they try to communicate gets them into trouble. So absolutely you have to think about everything you post online, every action you take using your smartphone and using technology.

I: Okay. My last question I think I know already the answer because you already talked about it before but I just ask it again and I want to go in detail into this. Can you imagine to give away your smartphone?

U_3_M: No, it’s for better or for worse this is the way we function, we communicate, or how we organize our live.

I: Just reflect yourself, what would be different in your daily life?

U_3_M: Sure, I think I would lose the ability to communicate. I would lose the ability to organize for both personal and work purposes. I would lose the ability to organize my daily tasks, and kind of function daily. I would lose the ability to run errands. You don’t value the strong communications when you have your smartphone until you lose it. Losing this is, it wouldn’t be a loss of identity but it would just make it. I put it this way: It would be such a roadblock to lose my phone. Especially when everyone else has theirs, and everyone else is able to get through their daily lives and their daily functions. If you took everyone's smartphone away, maybe we could learn to adjust and learn to work 220 around it. In fact, it matters the way a society is intertwined with communication and modern technology and modern social sharing, it would be nearly impossible, especially with a job I have, I couldn’t do it.

I: Okay. What would you miss the most?

U_3_M: Communication and social media sharing. I think we humans are social creatures and I know I’m that to the Nth degree because my job is communications. I would miss the ability to keep in contact with family and loved ones and not being able to stay in tune with things that are happening both personal and work. Being without information is a dangerous, dangerous thing and my smartphone that puts me in that space that would be the worst parts, missing the ability to constantly be in touch with the outside world and your personal contacts and all that jazz.

I: Okay, that were my questions. Two more things. You already talked about your job, so you are just a normal employee?

U_3_M: Yes.

I: It’s not like a freelancer.

U_3_M: No, full time employee.

I: And your date of birth?

U_3_M: Date of birth.

I: That where my questions. Do you have any questions or something to add or that came up to your mind?

U_3_M: No, I think that was about it.

I: Okay, then, thanks again for taking your time and for your answers. It was really a pleasure to talk to you.

U_3_M: Great, thank you so much for including me part of your project, hopefully everything goes well.

I: Thank you, then have a nice day! 221

U_3_M: Yeah, thanks for the time, talk to you soon.

I: Okay, bye bye.

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