COMMUNICATING FRIENDSHIPS: A CASE STUDY OF WOMEN IN AN AUSTRALIAN „SEACHANGE‟ TOWN
A thesis in fulfilment of the requirement of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
written and submitted by
Orit Rivka Ben Harush
Master of Arts, Tel Aviv University Bachelor of Arts, The Hebrew University
Media and Communication Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia
2011
Principal Supervisor: Dr. Christina Spurgeon
Associate Supervisor: Dr. Lynda Andrews
Communicating friendships: A case study of women in an Australian ‗seachange‘ town
Keywords
Friendworks; adult women; Australia; across-media communication; mobility; population mobility; seachange communities; communication use; friends; friendships; face-to- face; fixed-telephone; internet; mobile phone; Byron Shire; social network; social support; spatial proximity; women‘s work
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Communicating friendships: A case study of women in an Australian ‗seachange‘ town
Abstract
This thesis proposes ‗friendworks‘ as an important sub-group of social networks, comprised of networks of friends. It investigates friendworks of a particular group of adult Australian women as a way of understanding neglected aspects of social networking practices. Friendworks are contextualised to highlight two main themes of interest: population mobility and communication practices.
The impact of relocation on individuals, local communities and the wider society is explored through a case study of female friendworks in a seachange community. Research findings point to the importance of friendworks in building and cohering social and emotional support, well-being, belonging and senses of place and community.
Different types of communication methods were used by research participants for mediating different kinds of social ties within the friendworks considered here. Communication patterns were influenced by geographical proximity to friends, and the type of social support required of them (emotional, instrumental or companionship).
Most findings were consistent with broader social patterns of communication. For example, face-to-face interactions were the dominant and most favoured communication method between local friends, regardless of whether they were weak or strong ties. The fixed-telephone and the internet were commonly in use to maintain old and geographically distant social ties, while mobile phones were used the least among friends in comparison with other communication methods.
The key finding of this thesis is that friendworks are an extremely important solid network in contemporary society, providing mooring relations in a mobile world. Paradoxically, however, for women in this study, the mobile phone, which is popularly perceived as a flexible, multi-purpose communication technology for people on the move, was the least versatile of all technologies for maintaining friendworks. The cost of services was the main inhibitor here. The internet was found to be the most versatile communication technology and was used to support various types of social ties: strong, weak, local and distant.
This thesis also highlights the value of the concept of friendworks as well as networks for communication research and policy investigating individuals‘ motivations and practices.
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Communicating friendships: A case study of women in an Australian ‗seachange‘ town
Table of Contents
Keywords ...... i Abstract ...... iii Table of Contents ...... v List of Figures ...... ix List of Tables ...... xi Glossary of abbreviations and acronyms ...... xii Statement of original authorship ...... xiii Acknowledgements ...... xv 1 CHAPTER 1: FROM FIXED-PHONES AND SOCIAL NETWORKS TO MOBILITY AND FRIENDWORKS ...... 1 1.1 What is the research in this thesis about? ...... 3 1.2 The conceptual framework...... 4 1.3 Women‘s work ...... 5 1.4 The research questions ...... 6 1.5 Methodology ...... 7 1.6 Thesis main findings ...... 8 1.6.1 Seachanging ...... 8 1.6.2 Friendworks ...... 9 1.6.3 Communication within friendworks ...... 10 1.6.4 Women and mobile phones...... 11 1.7 The significance of the study ...... 12 1.8 Thesis outline ...... 14 2 CHAPTER 2: FRIENDWORKS IN THE NETWORK SOCIETY ...... 17 2.1 The network society ...... 18 2.1.1 The space of flows ...... 21 2.2 Social networks ...... 22 2.2.1 Social capital ...... 24 2.2.2 Affective labour ...... 25 2.2.3 Social and emotional support ...... 26 2.2.4 Local communities...... 28 2.2.5 Spatial proximity ...... 31 2.2.6 Social proximity: The impact of technology ...... 31 2.2.7 Women and social networks ...... 33 2.3 Why friendwork? ...... 35 2.3.1 What is a friendwork? ...... 36 2.3.2 What do we mean by friend? ...... 37 2.3.3 Virtual acquaintances ...... 39 2.3.4 Types of social networks ...... 41 2.4 Implications ...... 46 3 CHAPTER 3: MOBILITY IN THE NETWORK SOCIETY ...... 47 3.1 Mobility ...... 47 3.2 The new mobilities paradigm ...... 49
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3.3 Mobility and affection ...... 51 3.4 Population mobility: Relocation in seachange communities ...... 51 3.4.1 Self and social identity: A sense of belonging in relocation situations ...... 53 3.4.2 Immigration ...... 56 3.5 Physical and communicative travel ...... 57 3.6 Across-media communication ...... 58 3.6.1 The role of communication in sustaining friendworks ...... 60 3.6.2 Communication and proximity ...... 61 3.6.3 Choosing a communication method ...... 63 3.6.4 Mediated communication via interactive technologies ...... 64 3.7 The mobile phone ...... 76 3.7.1 Why people love using mobiles ...... 78 3.7.2 Uses of the mobile phone ...... 79 3.7.3 Uses and gratifications of mobile phone use ...... 82 3.7.4 Who do we contact over the mobile phone? ...... 85 3.7.5 Women and mobile phones ...... 87 3.8 Implications ...... 89 4 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCHING OCEAN SHORES FRIENDWORKS ...... 91 4.1 The research methodology: The case study ...... 91 4.2 Ocean Shores as the context of the case study ...... 92 4.3 A marginal native ...... 95 4.4 Recruiting adult women ...... 98 4.5 Demographic profile of the case study sample ...... 100 4.6 The research instruments ...... 102 4.6.1 Online surveys ...... 103 4.6.2 In-depth interviews ...... 103 4.6.3 Datasets of national surveys ...... 111 4.6.4 Pilot focus group ...... 112 4.7 Methodological limitations and ethical considerations ...... 112 4.7.1 Method limitations ...... 112 4.7.2 Ethical considerations ...... 114 4.8 Conclusion ...... 116 5 CHAPTER 5: POPULATION MOBILITY: RELOCATING IN A SEACHANGE COMMUNITY ...... 117 5.1 Moving to Ocean Shores ...... 117 5.2 Why relocate? ...... 118 5.3 Making New friends in a new place of dwelling ...... 123 5.4 How did you get to know your friends? ...... 127 5.5 Befriending within sub-communities ...... 128 5.6 Failing to befriend ...... 130 5.7 When newcomers become locals ...... 132 5.8 Sense of belonging: Sense of community and sense of place ...... 133 5.9 From befriending to friendworks ...... 137 6 CHAPTER 6: FRIENDWORKS ...... 139 6.1 Friendworks‘ size: The more the merrier? ...... 139 6.2 Benefits of friendships ...... 143
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6.3 Supporting others ...... 145 6.4 Types of friendships ...... 149 6.4.1 The best friend ...... 149 6.4.2 Family as friends ...... 151 6.4.3 Spouses as friends ...... 153 6.4.4 Neighbours as friends ...... 154 6.5 Spatial proximity as a catalyst to social proximity...... 155 6.6 Conclusion ...... 158 7 CHAPTER 7: COMMUNICATION WITHIN FRIENDWORKS ...... 161 7.1 Dominant method of communication with friends ...... 161 7.2 Frequency of communication with friends...... 164 7.2.1 Communication with best friends ...... 166 7.3 Choosing a communication method ...... 169 7.4 Communicating emotional support ...... 171 7.5 Modeling communication practices within friendworks ...... 173 7.5.1 Local strong ties ...... 173 7.5.2 Distant strong ties ...... 174 7.5.3 Local weak ties ...... 174 7.5.4 Distant weak ties ...... 174 7.6 Is it enough? ...... 175 7.7 Conclusion ...... 176 8 CHAPTER 8: WOMEN AND MOBILE PHONES ...... 179 8.1 Mobile phones adoption ...... 179 8.2 Used and ignored mobile phone applications ...... 181 8.3 Who do you contact via the mobile phone? ...... 184 8.4 We don't ring and say: "I love you darling", not anymore ...... 186 8.5 Uses and gratifications of mobile phone use ...... 192 8.6 Emotional support over the mobile phone ...... 195 8.7 Why such a minimal use and why instrumental? ...... 197 8.8 Conclusion ...... 202 9 CHAPTER 9: THE MOORING AFFECT OF FRIENDWORKS IN A MOBILE WORLD 205 9.1 Towards increased population mobility ...... 206 9.1.1 Relocating ...... 207 9.1.2 Befriending ...... 207 9.1.3 Sub-communities: A case of bonding social capital ...... 209 9.1.4 Facing social challenges in seachange communities ...... 210 9.2 The friendwork society ...... 212 9.2.1 Friendworks‘ composition ...... 213 9.2.2 The role of friendworks ...... 214 9.2.3 Affective labour and social capital ...... 215 9.3 Communicating friendships ...... 216 9.3.1 The fixed-telephone ...... 217 9.3.2 The internet ...... 218 9.3.3 The mobile phone ...... 220 9.4 Limitations ...... 223 9.5 Further research directions ...... 224
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9.6 Conclusion ...... 226 REFERENCES ...... 227 APPENDICES ...... 253 Appendix A: Contact details form (the online survey) ...... 253 Appendix B: The consent form ...... 258 Appendix C: In-depth interview schedule ...... 261 Appendix D: Mobile Phone Log Form (within the in-depth Interview) ...... 268 Appendix E: My network of friends (within the in-depth Interview) ...... 269 Appendix F: Friendwork sociogram sheet (within the in-depth Interview) ...... 270
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Sources of support in time of crisis by sex (Source: Pink, 2007, p. 4, n=13,375) ...... 36 Figure 2: The relation between interpersonal social networks ...... 45 Figure 3: Days of contact per year by communication methods (Source: Hampton, et al., 2009) ...... 62 Figure 4: Communication methods in use to contact family or friends living outside the household in last 3 months (Source: Pink, 2007, females n=4341, males n=4156) ...... 65 Figure 5: Methods used to communicate with family or friends living outside the household in last 3 months (Source: Pink, 2007, n=13,375) ...... 66 Figure 6: Percentage of Australians with fixed-telephone, by age (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396) . 67 Figure 7: Voice service most often used by household consumers, by age (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396) ...... 67 Figure 8: Type of calls made from fixed-telephone based on telephone bill (Source: ACMA, 2009a, based on Roy Morgan Single Source database) ...... 69 Figure 9: Types of calls made by Australian consumers using VoIP (Source: ACMA, 2009b) ...... 73 Figure 10: Australian household consumers - Mobile phone user profile, by age (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396) ...... 76 Figure 11: Mobile phone ownership rates by work status, May–June 2008 (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396) ...... 77 Figure 12: Mobile phone use (personal/work) by gender (Source: Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, n=3735)80 Figure 13: What percentage of the respondents‘ phone bill is spent on which uses (Source: Mackay & Weidlich, 2008, p. 37) ...... 81 Figure 14: Reasons why respondents don‘t use their mobile phone beyond voice and SMS as a percentage of those who said they only use their phones for voice and SMS (Source: Mackay & Weidlich, 2008, p. 63) ...... 82 Figure 15: Mobile phone calls made by recipient (Source: Wajcman, et al., 2008, p. 18) ...... 86 Figure 16: Ocean Shores‘ location ...... 92 Figure 17: Ocean Shores‘ view from the local lookout (Photo by Scott MacLeod Liddle 2006) ...... 93 Figure 18: Friendship relations between the research participants (created by UCINET, a social network analysis software, http://www.analytictech.com/ucinet)...... 99 Figure 19: Percentage of close family members by distance of the overall indicated family members (Source: case study, n=26) ...... 102 Figure 20: Network of friends – sample form ...... 105 Figure 21: Mobile phone log sample ...... 106 Figure 22: Network of friends‘ sociogram sample ...... 108 Figure 23: Place of residence prior to the move to Ocean Shores (Source: case study, n=26) ...... 118 Figure 24: How did participants get to know their friends (Source: case study, n=599 friendships) .. 128 Figure 25: Number of friends by work situation (Source: case study) ...... 141 Figure 26: Mean number of friends by level of education (Source: case study, n=26) ...... 141 Figure 27: Assistance provided by age and by relation type (Source: Pink, 2007, n=13,375) ...... 147 Figure 28: Assistance provided – by sex (Source: Pink, 2007) ...... 148 Figure 29: Type of assistance provided by males and females (source: Pink, 2007, n=13,375) ...... 148
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Figure 30: Mean number of friends by residence proximity (Source: case study, n=25)...... 156 Figure 31: Average distance from friends by number of years residing in Ocean Shores ...... 157 Figure 32: Percentage of friends segmented by distance - Australia vs. overseas born (Source: case study) ...... 158 Figure 33: A comparison of mostly used and favoured communication method with friends (Source: case study) ...... 163 Figure 34: Frequency of communication with total number of friends (Source: case study, n=25) ... 165 Figure 35: Percentage of friends communicated by communication method and by frequency (Source: case study, n=25) ...... 166 Figure 36: Dominant communication method with frequently contacted (every day and a few times a week) best-friends (Source: case study, n=16) ...... 167 Figure 37: Dominant communication method with best-friends (Source: case study, n=25) ...... 168 Figure 38: Communication methods used within the case study friendworks (filtered by tie strength, spatial proximity and communication purpose) ...... 173 Figure 39: Mobile monthly expenditure – Compared data: 2007 AIMIA survey (only women over 35 years old), all 2008 AIMIA survey respondents and the case study participants ...... 181 Figure 40: Frequency of use of mobile phone applications (Source: case study, n= 26) ...... 182 Figure 41: Twenty two of the 26 mobile devices of the research participants ...... 183 Figure 42: Participants‘ primary person of communication over the mobile phone (Source: case study, n=26) ...... 184 Figure 43: Percentage of overall mobile interactions by type of contact (Source: case study, n=26) . 185 Figure 44: Contacted people over the mobile phone, a comparison of the case study and the AMTA survey (Wajcman, et al., 2008) mobile phone logs ...... 186 Figure 45: Percentage of mobile phone interactions by motivation (Source: case study, n=25) ...... 188 Figure 46: Purposes of mobile phone interactions by types of contacts (Source: case study, n=25) .. 189 Figure 47: Sorting mobile activities by significance (Source: case study) ...... 191
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List of Tables
Table 1: Thesis outline ...... 14 Table 2: Types and attributes of interpersonal social networks ...... 43 Table 3: Reasons provided by Australian residential users for considering replacing/not replacing a fixed-telephone service with a mobile phone (Source: ACMA, 2008, p. 11, n=1,426, all those with a mobile phone in household, multiple choice question)...... 68
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Glossary of abbreviations and acronyms
3G – Third generation; refers to mobile phone applications which involve internet data exchange over the mobile phone
ABS – Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACMA – the Australian Communications and Media Authority
AIMIA – Australian Interactive Media Industry Association
AMTA – Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
F2F – face-to-face
GSS – General Social Survey
IM – Instant Message over the internet (also known as chat)
LGA – Local Government Area
MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service
NSW – New South Wales, Australia‘s most populous state
SMS – Short Message Service (also known as text messages or texting)
SNS – Social Network Sites over the internet (most commonly facebook, myspace and linkedIn)
VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol (in this thesis, mostly relate to the Skype application)
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Statement of original authorship
The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.
Signature: ______
Name: ______
Date: ______
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Communicating friendships: A case study of women in an Australian ‗seachange‘ town
Acknowledgements
In this thesis I propose the ‗friendwork‘ as a particular type of social network that plays an important role in integrating increasingly mobile populations. As a woman over the age of 35, a wife and a mother recently migrated to a coastal Australian town, much of my personal story is reflected in the research objectives of this project. I found that interviewing women in my own town reflected on and reaffirmed my own experience. It helped me to positively accept the challenge of establishing a sense of belonging to a new place and a new community, and the process of making local friends in my adult phase of life. Above all, I have realised that I am not alone and I am not different, regardless of personal and cultural differences; similar stories of challenge are evident throughout the interviews. This meant a lot to me. It made me ponder the extent to which the befriending pattern of newcomers is common, regardless of obvious differences of culture, age, social roles, gender, place of origin, residential location, education, profession and personality.
Through my personal story, as well as the experiences of the study participants, I have realised the power of friends, friendships and friendworks to adult women, to newcomers, to locals: to all those interviewed. They all had friendworks and they all worked in sustaining them, using various communication methods and technologies. I was surprised to discover that in media and communications saturated environments, face-to-face interactions between friends still play a crucial role, even if such interactions tend to be spontaneous and brief. It was also heartening to see that the women in my study were highly resourceful in developing alternative communication methods and strategies for the purpose of ‗friendworking‘ when face-to-face encounters could not take place.
The task of facilitating friendworks via telecommunications is so obvious to most of us, that it seems we rarely take a minute to imagine how our social world (and personal life) would look in their absence. Would I be able to keep in touch with my family and friends overseas? Could I have constant communication and support from my two best friends, each living in a separate continent? And those nearby: how easily could we chat about last week‘s events or our next get together, exchange impressions about the local school, inform about a sick child or provide crucial information when needed?
In solving these problems, friendworks and communication methods are inseparable to me. Together they compose a meaningful part of my life. However, if I had not changed my place of dwelling, I might not have discovered the significance of what it feels like to start all
Page xv Communicating friendships: A case study of women in an Australian ‗seachange‘ town over again, establishing a local network of support to fulfil significant needs, and the positive impact it has had on my life. I am also thankful for the opportunity to share this knowledge of the significance of friendworks.
I would like to thank and acknowledge Dr. Christina Spurgeon, my principal supervisor, for all of the support, guidance, dedication, inspiration, motivation, attention, empathy and sympathy she provided along the way. I could not have asked for a better advisor. My thanks and acknowledgment to Dr. Lynda Andrews, for stepping in as an associate supervisor supporting, advising, enlightening and encouraging in such a graceful, constructive and professional way.
I would particularly like to thank Gami, my husband and friend, for his love, patience, encouragement and never-ending belief in me. I could not have finished this thesis without him. Special long hugs are sent to my beloved children Omri, Roni and Naomi, for putting my life in proportion, surrounding me with love, light and laughter during these long hours of study indoors. Hopefully when they grow up they will have a better idea of ‗what Mum did in that room all that time‘.
I would like to thank my personal friendwork: my parents, my sister and my brother, my lifelong best friends and my friends, near and afar, for all their support, comfort, encouragement, belief and optimism. Special thanks are in order to the case study participants, the beautiful women of Ocean Shores, for their warmth, attentiveness, cooperation and most of all for their inspiration for a healthy, happy, social life.
I would like to thank Karyn Gonano and the International Student Services team, for useful, constructive and fruitful assistance in improving my English language skills, to Alice Steiner, for her willingness and helpful support and to Dr. Glen Murphy for introducing social network analysis and for his willingness to share his experience and knowledge. I would like to acknowledge the support of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) and the Mobile Content Industry Development Group for conducting the Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index surveys and making the research datasets available for educational research through the CCI Creative Industry Statistics Repository.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank Queensland University of Technology, the Creative Industries Faculty and the Research Students Centre, for their great and constructive support, flowing communication and good spirit. Special thanks to Dr. Susan Carson and Jenny Mayes for their positive, willing, ongoing assistance. You are doing a great job.
Page xvi Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks
1Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks
In 1988, a seminal Australian study by communications historian, Ann Moyal (1989b) of fixed-telephone use by women, found that untimed local calls were particularly important to women‘s well-being and that of the larger social fabric. An affordable fixed-telephone service was vital to developing and maintaining social networks. The study evaluated and recognised the social importance of this hitherto undervalued form of women‘s work and further suggested that the public and national interest in telecommunications would not be well served by a shift from untimed to time-based tariffs for local telephone calls, because this would adversely constrain this kind of activity. The findings lent support to a revival of popular resistance to time-based local telephone tariffs in the Australian context and the subsequent prioritisation of social, over economic, considerations in regulating residential fixed-telephone tariffs. To this day, local calls in Australia made from fixed-telephone services are charged on an untimed basis.
Moyal‘s study and its impact provide an important point of departure for the research in this thesis. Though undertaken over two decades ago, Moyal‘s study addresses social concerns that are still significantly relevant today for researching telecommunications use, particularly of the mobile phone. Themes of personal telephone use and wider social implications first raised in Moyal‘s study of the fixed-telephone are revisited in a contemporary case study undertaken in this thesis, of how women use a variety of communication methods within their social networks.
Although Moyal‘s study was undertaken at a time when social networks had yet to be recognised as an area of research by communication scholars, her work reveals the dominant role that family and friends play in many women‘s lives. She approached the telephone as a facilitating tool, a communication method, which enabled women to sustain and maintain their social support system. Moyal‘s study was an early account that highlighted the non-economic productivity of social networks, not just for women‘s state of well-being, but for societies and economies more generally. Moyal‘s study, and others undertaken at the same time, recognised and appreciated the dominant social, political and economic influence of technologically-enabled social networks in people‘s lives (Fischer, 1992; Martin, 1991; Rakow, 1992; Wellman & Tindall, 1993), as well as their major role in community formation (Putnam, 1995). This thesis contributes to this body of scholarship which focuses on the use of communication methods for sustaining and maintaining social relationships by identifying and theorising the ‗friendwork‘, a network of friends (Ben-Harush, 2009), as an important type of social network.
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Like Moyal‘s study, the focus of this thesis is on adult women. Moyal‘s (1989b) focus on adult women was strategic as she saw that they and their broader social contribution could be significantly harmed by a shift to a timed-calls charging policy. Her gender-related conclusions were corroborated by Lana Rakow‘s (1992) ethnographic study of women residing in a small American town, which found that fixed-telephone use by women is both gendered and gender work. That is, women used the telephone to execute their feminine duties (gendered work) in a feminine fashion (gender work, from the community‘s perspective). Including only female participants in this case study enables findings from these two studies to be updated while focusing on social needs and practices that dominate in contemporary adult women‘s lives.
In her work, Moyal made a distinction between instrumental and intrinsic calls based on previous definitions of these terms by Keller (1977). Instrumental calls included ―calls of a functional nature made in connection with shopping, making appointments or business arrangements, seeking information and dealing with emergencies or household crises‖ (Moyal, 1992, p. 53). Intrinsic calls covered ―personal communication with relatives and friends, volunteer work, counselling and all intimate discussion and exchange‖ (p. 53). In practice, all intrinsic calls were activities motivated by socialising purposes, resulting in the development and maintenance of participants‘ social networks and were the majority of the calls. They lasted much longer than instrumental calls (average of 20 minutes versus 2 minutes) and were mostly local. Moyal argued that the social value of intrinsic telephone use was generally underestimated and pejoratively viewed as low status, gossip and a costly waste of time. She suggested that these assumptions needed to be re-evaluated, and concluded that the primary justification for the fixed- telephone infrastructure could no longer be limited to business purposes. This thesis, too, recognises the importance of exploring motivations of interactions while regarding communication between friends as social support. This primarily includes instrumental aid, emotional support (intrinsic) and companionship (intrinsic), but also relates to information exchange (instrumental), work-related (paid) purposes (instrumental), and self and social identity issues (intrinsic).
New values of intrinsic communication have, since, been theorised in association with an increased understanding of the significance and centrality of non-economic communication to the development and maintenance of social networks (Agneessens, Waege, & Lievens, 2006), network societies (Castells, 2000b) and creative economies (Hartley, 2005). Some of them, such as women‘s work (Staples, 2007), social capital (Putnam, 1995), and affective labour (Hardt, 1999), are addressed in this thesis.
Moyal‘s study provides the background to, and the motivation for, the research in this thesis, which explores social relations via communication practices. The rest of this chapter
Page 2 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks briefly overviews the thesis by focusing on the conceptual framework and its context within the world of ‗women‘s work‘, the research questions, the case study methodology, the main findings and the significance of this thesis. Finally, this chapter concludes with a concise description of the thesis outline.
1.1 WHAT IS THE RESEARCH IN THIS THESIS ABOUT? The research in this thesis follows Moyal‘s approach by examining social relations among adult women mediated by communication methods. However, it is not strategic, in the way that Moyal responded directly to developments in Australian telecommunications policy. The scope of this study also differs from Moyal‘s in a few important ways: this is a case study focusing on adult women who reside in a small Australian town, and in this respect it is methodologically closer to Rakow‘s study (1992). By mainly examining women‘s friendships and the role of various communication methods in maintaining and sustaining these relationships, it also differs from its forebears. This focus supports the key proposition of the thesis: that friendworks constitute an important and distinct social network sub-group that, as yet, is not well-understood in social network theory and communication studies (Ben-Harush, 2009).
The 26 women who took part in this case study live in one specific location, a small Australian coastal town. They all relocated to this town as adults, thus representing a growing population mobility trend of seachanging1 (Burnley & Murphy, 2004), resulting in change in relocators‘ lifestyle while highlighting issues of proximity, self identity through befriending situations and social identity, such as developing a sense of belonging. All of these are dealt with in Chapter 5.
While Moyal focused on the use of the fixed-telephone, this study examines across- media (Baym, Zhang, & Lin, 2004) practices for four communication methods: face-to-face interactions, the fixed-telephone, the internet and the mobile phone. Together they shape a comprehensive overview of interpersonal interactions commonly practised in real-life situations (Chapters 7- 8).
Therefore, friendworks (Chapter 6) are contextualised with aspects of location and mobility: physical mobility of relocation to a seachange town and virtual mobility by using
1 Seachanging is an Australian term referring to people relocating in coastal small population centres: seachange communities. This phenomenon is dealt in further detail in Section 3.4.
Page 3 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks communication methods when interacting with existing and new friends. Consequently, this thesis addresses three main themes: population mobility, friendworks and communication methods. Population mobility is the setting of the case study, influencing friendworks and practiced communication methods. Friendworks provide the motivation for communication, which correspondingly contributes to understanding friendworks from a communication perspective, while particularly focusing on mobile phone use. Though these topics are dealt with in this thesis in separate chapters, they constantly interplay, intersect and intertwine throughout the thesis, somewhat similarly to real life situations.
1.2 THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Two connected concepts underpin this study: the network society (Castells, 2000b) and its consecutive concept of the new mobilities paradigm (Sheller & Urry, 2006). Both are dealt with in further detail in the following chapters (Chapters 2- 3), yet are briefly presented here.
The network society is the theoretical starting point of this study. It refers to a contemporary organisational structure of society based on the morphology of the network. Though network formations have been documented since early days of civilisation (Mann, 1986), information technology has facilitated the pervasive expansion of networks ―throughout the entire social structure‖ (Castells, 2000b, p. 500). Networked relations depend on a network economy of flow and interaction. Under the modern economic system, communities and social activities have been restructured, overcoming limits of time and space. Emerging from Castells‘ approach, in which the network society depends on media and information technology in general, this thesis investigates the role of communication within society, and particularly the use of communication within networks of friends.
Based on the theory of the network society (Castells, 2000b), the new mobilities paradigm (Sheller & Urry, 2006) completes the conceptual framework of this thesis by providing a socially-oriented approach to mobility that goes beyond the physical-geographical movement perspective to multiple aspects of mobility, including imaginative, virtual and communicative travel (Sheller & Urry, 2006). This thesis is mainly concerned with two sets of mobility practices: a particular case of population mobility (physical travel): seachanging, and one aspect of communicative travel (virtual mobility), the use of communication methods within friendworks.
Both concepts, the network society and the mobilities paradigm, heavily rely on communication and telecommunications, which are a basic condition of the network society and an important aspect of mobility. In both theories, communication functions as a mediator. The
Page 4 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks major role that communication plays in contemporary society led this thesis to embrace a communication perspective when examining female friendworks in seachange situations.
1.3 WOMEN‟S WORK
This study examined women‘s behaviour, concepts and perceptions within their life routines, contextualised by their social roles. It captured a snapshot of a particular group of females: adult, seachangers, most of them mothers and, to a lesser extent, wives. As women, mothers and wives much of their friendworking practices, that is to say, their socialising interactions with friends, can be understood as women’s work, work that is associated with traditional beliefs about female gender roles and which limits the participation of women to the private, domestic sphere of the family and the household (Staples, 2007). Moreover, women‘s work not only includes (and excludes) particular activities, it also shapes them; it influences the context in which this work is practiced, primarily how, when, where and why daily actions are performed. As a result, women‘s work is evident in most behaviour aspects, whether gendered or not (Rakow, 1992).
Since the time of ‗second wave‘ feminism, there has been substantial theoretical development of ideas of women’s work (J. Butler, 1999; Plumwood, 1993). New concepts have been theorised, a number of which are used in this thesis as refinements, including: ‗affective labour‘ (Hardt, 1999), ‗intrinsic communication‘ (Keller, 1977), ‗social and emotional support‘ (Wellman & Wortley, 1990), ‗social capital‘ (Woolcock, 1998), ‗sense of belonging‘ (Marsh, Bradley, Love, Alexander, & Norham, 2007) and my own proposition, ‗friendwork‘. These terms have been proposed and used in a variety of different ways, and are applied to understanding women‘s work within the context of this thesis, as a way to frame the findings and comments made by participants, and which are reported here. Affective labour is work intended to produce or modify emotional experiences in people. In most cases, no tangible goods are produced in this process of work. Intrinsic communication, is a term coined by Keller (1977) and used by Moyal (1989b) to describe intimate discussions and exchange with relatives and friends. It is also referred to as a gendered activity (Rakow, 1988). Emotional support is one type of social support and is associated with comfort (Burleson, 1984, 1994 #525) and reassurance situations involving intimacy, trust, openness and close relationships (Samter, et al., 1997). Social capital is generated from the relations between individuals through exchange within and between social networks (Coleman, 1988). This type of capital is defined as a resource for action since it impacts on the productivity of individuals and groups (Putnam, 2000). In this work, social capital is examined in the context of women‘s friendships and is translated through aspects of self and social identity, particularly sense of belonging. The latter term relates to social bonding, loyalty, security and acceptance of individuals within society (Marsh, et al., 2007) and is used in this thesis to explore
Page 5 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks a sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) and a sense of place (Kijas, 2003). Finally, Friendworks, which are networks of friends (Ben-Harush, 2009), is the social structure within which women‘s work and related concepts are examined in this thesis. These terms are described in further detail in the following two chapters.
Together, these terms form the gendered social context of the study—friendworks, which practice women‘s work, involve affective labour and emotional support via intrinsic communication, and are crucial to the development of sense of belonging and social capital which, consequently, positively impact upon women‘s well-being and their social identity. Though these terms might apply to the wider population, they are used here to generate new insights about the productivity of friendworks, understood as historically important elements of women‘s work.
1.4 THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The main objective of this thesis is to explore friendships in particular mobile situations. Therefore, the overarching research question is:
What is the contribution of friendworks to individuals in the mobile network society?
As this thesis is contextualised by two main themes of population mobility and communication methods, it further explores this specific social setting of friendworks by focusing on communication between women in a particular geographical location. More specifically, it examines the ways adult women in a seachange town interact with their friends, directly or via telecommunications, while paying particular attention to mobile phone use. Consequently, four main sub-questions derive from the overarching research question, reflecting the following areas of interest: seachanging, friendworks, communication methods and use of mobile phones. These themes are informed by aspects of gender, age, location and community.
The first sub-question addresses the relocation process and the social changes individuals undergo following seachanging, while focusing on relocation motivations, befriending situations, disparity between locals and newcomers and a sense of community and place:
1. What is the social impact of seachanging on seachangers?
The second sub-question examines friendworks practicalities. It seeks to understand the nature, role and significance of the friendwork by examining the composition of this social group, particular types of friendships within friendworks and the impact of spatial proximity on friendship relations. This question uses information about friendships to inform friendworks as a particular type of social network. Nevertheless, dynamics of friendships:
Page 6 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks friendly or unfriendly behaviours, are outside of the scope of this thesis and cannot be answered by the research questions explored in this study:
2. What is a friendwork of adult women in a seachange community and why is this social network important?
The third sub-question addresses communication practices within friendworks. It explores quantitative data, comparing and contrasting across-media communication use as well as qualitative aspects of the role of communication and the motivations for using different communication methods:
3. How are communication methods practiced within seachangers‘ friendworks?
The fourth sub-question explores mobile phone use among participants. Particular attention is paid to general use patterns, such as adoption, expenditure, applications in use and contacted people, compared with national datasets. Additionally, it qualitatively investigates motivations and gratifications of mobile phone use:
4. How do adult seachange women use the mobile phone?
Based on these research questions, a postpositivist philosophical orientation has been followed to employ a case study methodology incorporating qualitative and quantitative research methods, as explained in the following section.
1.5 METHODOLOGY
The research in this thesis follows a postpositivist philosophy that reflects understandings about the nature of reality and the conduct of social research in a modern era (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). This philosophy accepts that human knowledge is based on human conjectures and, therefore, reality can never be known perfectly (Crotty, 1998; Lincoln & Guba, 2000). This research represents reality, but only imperfectly and probabilistically (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). Accordingly, the researcher cannot totally separate herself from what is being researched; therefore, complete objectivity is not possible (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). Research findings are only likely to be true, since any findings can be falsified at any time, as is suggested in Popper‘s falsification principle (Crotty, 1998; Lincoln & Guba, 2000). Nevertheless, postpositivists acknowledge that there are lawful and reasonably stable relationships among social phenomena that may be known, even if only in a partial and probable manner (Lincoln & Guba, 2000; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998).
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The postpositivist philosophy supports the use of a modified experimental methodology to examine the research problems while acknowledging that the truth can never be fully understood (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). Following this view and based on the defined research questions, the overarching methodology chosen for this research was the case study, which consisted of a combination of research methods, enabling examination of a phenomenon of interest from different perspectives (Lincoln & Guba, 2000).
The empirical research focus was on one coastal community, Ocean Shores. The case study included 26 local adult women who completed online surveys and who took part in an hour and a half long in-depth interview. These interviews included closed and open ended questions, as well as the completion of a mobile phone log, a network of friends form and a friendwork sociogram. Additionally, a comparative analysis of some of the case study findings with national survey datasets has been conducted. The case study methodology and the research methods are described in detail in Chapter 4.
The research methods yielded a vast amount of information. Following transcription, coding and analysis of data, findings relating to the four main research themes are presented and discussed in Chapters 5- 8. The following section previews the main findings of each theme.
1.6 THESIS MAIN FINDINGS
The key proposition of this thesis is that friendworks are an increasingly important social network in contemporary society, providing moorings for relations in a mobile world. Friendworks are established, maintained and sustained by a variety of communication practices that facilitate continuous relations regardless of spatial and temporal constraints. This reinforces the fundamental and critical social role of communication in contemporary society.
1.6.1 Seachanging
Moving to a seachange community transforms individuals‘ lifestyles, restructures friendworks and consequently changes communication patterns with friends. When moving to a new place, people establish new local ties. The longer participants live in town, the more local their friendwork is.
Participants detailed two main befriending situations as newcomers: with the mediation of local friends and without it. When locals mediated befriending situations, participants often reported a flowing and quick befriending process. When support of locals was absent, participants reported a long and challenging befriending process, sometimes, resulting in the
Page 8 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks disappointment of failed befriending attempts associated with loneliness and self and social identity implications.
Within this process of establishing a local friendwork, spatial aspects played a major role. Spatial proximity fostered new local friendships, while spatial distance discouraged existing friendships. Another spatial aspect: relaxed lifestyle in a small seachange community impacted befriending situations. Availability (free time and a short distance from other community members) and the intimacy of a small town facilitated spontaneous, frequent and amiable face-to- face interactions, which strengthened social relations and fostered the establishment of newcomers‘ sense of belonging to the local community.
The difference in the sense of belonging (especially in the sense of community, which is one aspect of a sense of belonging) perceived by locals and newcomers was striking. Locals‘ testimonials depicted a strong sense of community enhanced by local friendworks. They expressed emotional attachment and identification with the place and its community, by volunteering and being politically active in local initiatives. In contrast, newcomers‘ local knowledge was limited. They generally reported a feeling of isolation from the local community. Their sense of belonging was mainly expressed by their sense of belonging to the physical location, as they were all charmed by its natural beauty. This experience of social isolation was even more extreme among international immigrants, where cultural differences were even more apparent.
Sense of community was stronger when related to sub-communities within Ocean Shores, whether geographically or culturally oriented. Smaller and older population centres within the town exemplified social solidarity and shared environmental goals. Overseas born participants tended to befriend others of the same ethnicity, at the expense of establishing local ties with the wider population. Additionally, sharing a similar cultural background motivated overseas born locals to take an active mediation role in welcoming newcomers. Both geographically and culturally oriented sub-communities generated bonding social capital.
1.6.2 Friendworks
All participants maintained friendworks which varied in size (from 10 to 48 named friends). Though three socio-demographic factors correlated with friendwork size, the composition of friendworks was primarily influenced by personal preferences and personality characteristics.
Subject to, and motivated by, their traditional affective social roles, participants reported they practiced friendships and cherished their friends by providing or seeking social support,
Page 9 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks including instrumental aid, companionship and emotional support. Emotional support was the most commonly practiced form of friendship among strong ties, mostly best friends, with whom participants often maintained long term and distant relations.
Most participants reported having one or two best friends, who were named first within friendworks and who were perceived as crucial support providers. Varied opinions were expressed by participants regarding the inclusion of spouses and family members as friends. Though all participants included life-partners within their friendworks, most commonly they were regarded as a separate category because of the intimacy of the relationship. Most participants also included some, but not all, close family members within their friendwork, particularly siblings. Only a few participants named a life-partner or a family member as a best friend.
Lastly, relationships with neighbours reinforced the dominant role of spatial proximity in befriending situations, though some participants restricted their relations with their neighbours due to privacy concerns. In most cases, friendships with neighbours were regarded as weak ties.
1.6.3 Communication within friendworks
Participants reported using different communication methods for maintaining different social ties (strong or weak). Communication patterns were influenced by geographical proximity (local or distant) and the type of social support required (emotional support, instrumental aid or companionship).
Communication with local strong ties fulfilled all three main gratifications of social support (emotional, instrumental and companionship). All communication methods (face-to-face, the fixed-telephone, the internet and the mobile phone) were used more frequently than with other types of ties. Interactions with strong distant ties (for example, distant best friends) were held mainly via the internet and the fixed-telephone and fulfilled the three main gratifications. Local weak ties were communicated mainly via face-to-face and less frequently via the fixed- telephone and the internet for instrumental and companionship purposes. Distant weak ties were the least communicated, mainly via the internet, for instrumental and companionship purposes. Overall, participants constantly evaluated, prioritised and chose which communication method to use based on set of characteristics adjusted to specific situations.
Overall, amongst the case study women, face-to-face interactions were the dominant and most favoured communication method between local friends, weak or strong ties. The fixed- telephone and the internet were commonly used to maintain old distant social ties, while the mobile phone was used the least among friends in comparison with other communication
Page 10 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks methods. The internet was found to be the most versatile communication method practiced among all types of ties: strong, weak, local and distant. The mobile phone was the least versatile communication method, used mainly among local strong ties. Face-to-face was practiced more than any other communications method among local ties, implying that spatial proximity motivates physical encounters. This method was also most favoured of all methods. Face-to-face interactions were the most dominant communication method for emotional support with local or distant strong ties, while the fixed-telephone was the second most used method for emotional support among distant strong ties.
Frequent communication with best-friends who mostly lived at a distance was primarily practiced via email, followed by the mobile phone, especially among local best friends. The fixed-telephone was the least used method for ongoing communication among best friends, with the exception of using the fixed-telephone more often for emotional support interactions when communicating with best friends.
Emails were particularly popular among older participants (60 to 76 years) to communicate with friends, as this online communication service suited the needs and gratifications of this age group (convenient, not intrusive, cheap and suitable for global communication). Despite reports of greater technological challenges among older people (Marquie, Jourdan-Boddaert, & Huet, 2002), the retired participants of Ocean Shores preferred to use the internet when communicating with friends.
1.6.4 Women and mobile phones
Participants reported lighter mobile phone use than national statistics (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008). They spent less on mobile phones, most of them were prepaid customers and they almost exclusively used only basic mobile phone applications: voice calls and SMS. These variations suggest a specific mobile phone use pattern among this population segment of adult women in a seachange community.
The Ocean Shores women reported contacting their partner and kids, primarily, followed by friends. These contacts were identified as local strong ties. Work-related contacts were the least communicated. A comparison with the AMTA national survey (Wajcman, Bittman, Johnstone, Brown, & Jones, 2008) shows that the case study participants contacted their friends and children more often than those in the national survey, who contacted more family members (excluding partner and children) and work-related contacts.
An analysis of participants‘ mobile phone log indicates that the most dominant motivation to use the mobile phone was coordination (58%), followed by socialising purposes
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(33%) and work-related reasons (9%). Even when sorting interactions by types of contacts and by motivation of interaction, coordination was the dominant reason for communication among all type of contacts, excluding work-related contacts.
Emotional support interactions over the mobile phone were particularly scarce. As these interactions were often regarded as long conversations, they were also costly activities that participants tended to avoid. Additional considerations, including richness of cues, physical contact, privacy, social mores, radiation and discomfort, led participants to prefer alternative communication methods, primarily communicating face-to-face when seeking emotional support.
Most women reported that the mobile phone had not dramatically changed their way of life, though it made coordination easier. Among reported benefits were: mobility, immediate access, instrumentality, reassurance and affection and sociability. The first four categories affirm the main function of the mobile phone as a coordination tool.
1.7 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Moyal‘s research on women and the telephone had important implications for Australian telecommunications policy. Its findings regarding the significant role that the fixed-telephone played in facilitating women‘s well-being, sense of community and social support also anticipated academic and policy recognition of the importance of technologically mediated social networks to national prosperity in an increasingly globalising economic context. Sharing similar research interests regarding use of communication technologies, while particularly focusing on mobile phone use, this research acknowledges the importance of prioritising social issues and users‘ needs when considering communication practices.
Moyal‘s work was ahead of its time, emphasising the national, as well as the personal, significance of sustaining and maintaining social networks and the role that the fixed-telephone, as a communication platform, played within this social structure. However, even nowadays, when social networks are highly recognised and valued, there is still a lot to be discovered. This thesis addresses this issue by exploring social networks using a distinctive approach. It contextualises friendworks with two aspects of mobility: population mobility (physical mobility) and use of communication methods (virtual mobility), which are increasingly practiced in contemporary society.
As mobility increases, new social challenges arise. In this mobile world, friendworks represent stability. They are a key social structure which mediates and addresses some of these social challenges. By researching the interaction between these three themes, this thesis
Page 12 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks highlights theoretical as well as practical implications of real life scenarios. Together, these interests highlight under-researched social aspects, especially among adult women.
To date, only a few studies have specifically addressed adult women‘s use of mobile phones. Women over 35 years comprise over 30% of the Australian population (ABS, 2007a), almost all are mobile phone users (AMTA, 2007), thus composing a meaningful, powerful and dominant interest group. Nevertheless, they are underrepresented in mobile phones and social network research, as Australian scholars either focus on the overall population (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008, 2009; Wajcman, et al., 2008) or on younger age groups (Donald & Spry, 2007).
This thesis is also significant because of its multi-method approach, which combines online surveys, in-depth interviews, mobile phone logs, social network sociograms and comparative analysis with national surveys. These different methods generate different types of information, which, in turn, provide complementary views on the research themes. While the national surveys provide broad insights to the demographics of current Australian mobile phone users and social networks, in-depth interviews capture qualitative aspects of communication methods used by a focused, local group. Combining various quantitative and qualitative methods in this study illuminates the research themes from a unique perspective, providing fresh observations.
In attending to the role of communication methods within networks of friends, this thesis increases the visibility of the work undertaken in, and by, women‘s friendworks, and opens it up for study and investigation. In refining our understanding of the friendworks, this thesis also deepens and extends our understanding of the non-economic, as well as the economic, significance of social networks in contemporary society.
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1.8 THESIS OUTLINE
The thesis structure follows the three themes discussed above: population mobility, friendworks and communication methods, including mobile phone use. It consists of nine chapters, as described below:
Table 1: Thesis outline
Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks
Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society
Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society
Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks
Chapter 5: Population mobility: Relocating in a seachange community
Chapter 6: Friendworks
Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks
Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones
Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world
Following this introductory chapter, which overviews the background of the study and the focus of this thesis, the next two chapters highlight the conceptual framework of the study. Chapter 2 discusses the network society as an umbrella concept for contemporary life, emphasising the dynamics of the space of flows within which social networks are practiced. The latter term is thoroughly introduced while addressing related topics, including: social capital, affective labour, social and emotional support, local communities, spatial and social proximity and women and social networks. This then sets the context to identify and theorise a sub-group of social networks: the friendwork, which is the primary theme of this thesis. This new term is defined and explained within a typology of social networks.
The third chapter presents a consequential concept of the network society: the new mobilities paradigm. This concept, which consists of a few types of physical as well as virtual mobilities, provides a theoretical ground for the two other researched themes: population mobility and communication methods. Within the population mobility theme, which manifests an aspect of physical travel, attention is paid to an increasing demographic trend: relocation in coastal communities, also known as seachanging. This trend results in social implications of self identity and belonging. It also concerns aspects of immigration, which are also explored. Within the communication methods theme, four main communication methods are of interest: face-to-face
Page 14 Chapter 1: From fixed-phones and social networks to mobility and friendworks interactions, the fixed-telephone, the internet and the mobile phone. The role of communication in sustaining friendworks is reviewed, as well as proximity issues and the process of choosing a communication method. The mobile phone is presented in further details as a specific communication method of interest in this thesis.
The fourth chapter introduces the methodology of the research preceded by a description of the research location and participants. The recruiting method is presented and explained, followed by a demographic profile of the case study participants. The rest of the chapter describes the methods used within this study, including online surveys, in-depth interviews, comparative analysis with national surveys and a pilot focus group. A rationale for, and an outline of, the design of each method are presented. This chapter concludes with a discussion regarding ethical issues and limitations of the research.
Chapters 5-8 analyse the research data and include findings and discussions. A chapter is dedicated to each of the researched themes. The fifth chapter focuses on findings related to population mobility. This includes reasons for moving to Ocean Shores and the befriending processes in the new place of dwelling, and how participants got to know their friends. Social integration processes among immigrants within an ethnic sub-community are examined and the use of communication in befriending situations is analysed. Failed befriending attempts are also addressed. The process by which newcomers become locals is examined. The concluding section of this chapter focuses on the role of friendship in developing a sense of community-and-place.
The sixth chapter focuses on friendworks. It starts with a general overview of friendwork size and proceeds with evidence of the significance of friendworks. Cases of people supporting friends are discussed, based on a national survey (Pink, 2007). The next part of the chapter focuses on a few unique social ties within friendworks, including: the best friend, family members, spouses and neighbours. This chapter concludes with a discussion on the effect of spatial proximity over social proximity in friendships.
The seventh chapter focuses on communication methods within friendworks. Across- media practices are examined when communicating with friends. Among addressed topics are: the dominant methods of communication and frequency of communication with friends; the process of choosing a communication method; the use of communication methods for emotional support; a model of communication patterns with strong, weak, local and distant friends for three main purposes: emotional, instrumental and companionship; uses and gratifications theory (Blumler & Katz, 1974); the role of communication in diaspora communities; and whether participants reported they have enough interactions with their friends.
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The eighth chapter presents findings focusing on mobile phone use. This chapter starts with an overview of the mobile phone use of the case study participants, including ownership, payment methods, monthly expenditure, used and ignored mobile phone applications and who users contacted over the mobile phone. The uses and gratifications of mobile phones and their impact on the reasons for not using the mobile phone are discussed, including the lack of emotional support over the mobile phone. The influence of cost considerations on the minimal mobile phone use pattern of the case study participants is also discussed.
Finally, the ninth chapter concludes the research findings and suggests a framework which supports future scenarios in which increased mobility, growing significance of friendworks and the expanded use of communication methods can take place. This thesis concludes by emphasising the limitations of this study while calling for further study in related fields of research.
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2Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society
The theoretical framework of this study is based on two connected ideas: the network society (Castells, 2000b) followed by the new mobilities paradigm (Sheller & Urry, 2006). Together they provide the theoretical point of departure for the three main themes of this thesis: population mobility, friendworks and communication methods. These two theories are strongly associated with the modern lifestyle while also being complementary to each other. Both are socially oriented and emphasise the interdisciplinary nature of the study of society and its components. The network society theory primarily defines the morphology of contemporary society as a network, while the new mobilities paradigm brings forth practices of mobility embedded within the network society. Hence, the network society represents a social construct, within which mobility is practiced. Applying these theories to this thesis highlights friendworks as a social construct within which two practices of mobility are explored, namely population mobility (physical mobility) and use of communication methods (virtual mobility). Therefore, this chapter reviews the network society theory and relevant critiques which support the theoretical background of this thesis, while the following chapter examines the theory of the new mobility paradigm and its implications to this thesis.
First, this chapter reviews the network society concept and its relation to information and communication technology. Second, the social network structure is explored as an example of the network society theory. This includes related concepts such as: social capital, affective labour, social and emotional support, local communities, spatial and social proximity and women and social networks. The last part of this chapter focuses on friendworks as a sub-network within social networks. As this is the social structure of interest in this study, as well as being a new term, it is defined, and the motivations to focus on this type of network are explained. Friends and friendship, as the building blocks of friendworks, are defined, and their significant role in the daily life of individuals is examined. This chapter concludes by locating friendworks within a typology of social networks. Once the friendwork concept is clarified, the next chapter reviews the second theoretical framework of interest in this thesis: mobility. The two main theories of the thesis are then combined to inform the following chapters, which thematically present the findings of this thesis.
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2.1 THE NETWORK SOCIETY
Manuel Castells uses the term network society2 (2000b) to describe the new social structure of humanity in the information age. He defines the information age as:
A historical period in which human societies perform their activities in a technological
paradigm constituted around microelectronics-based information/communication
technologies, and genetic engineering. It replaces/subsumes the technological paradigm
of the Industrial Age, organized primarily around the production and distribution of
energy. (Castells, 2000a, p. 5)
The informationalisation of society is associated with a new technological and economic framework that is global and networked, and, since the 1980s, has been based on the mass diffusion of information and communication technologies. Every aspect of society, including economy, politics, organisational structures, urban environments, culture, and social identity, has been affected. While Castells (2000b) thoroughly explains and examines the network society theory through a wide range of contexts, for the purpose of this thesis, only a few relevant issues will be highlighted, primarily the network morphology and the concept of the space of flows.
For Castells, society in the information age functions as a web of social ties, as a network. He defines a network as a set of interconnected nodes through which communication flow occurs. Social networks are a longstanding form of social organisation for humanity, supporting biological, evolutionary and survival mechanisms. Social networks are particularly dynamic, open-ended, flexible and potentially able to expand without limits. Networks are ―adaptable forms of organisation, able to evolve with their environment and with the evolution of the nodes that compose the network‖ (Castells, 2000a, p. 15).
Traditionally, social networks have been subordinated to centralised and hierarchical forms of organisation to maximise control and to overcome coordination and management challenges of goals, tasks and activities in large scale organisations. However, moving from the industrial age to the information age, which is characterised by information and communication technologies, has enabled management and coordination of organisations as networks, despite
2 The term network society was coined by Jan van Dijk in 1991 (2006). It was later on used by Castells and became a term globally known and used.
Page 18 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society their size. Nowadays, running organisations as networks based on information technologies results in resilient, effective, adaptable and connected distributed entities. The network society is not produced by information technology, but without the latter the network society could not have become such a comprehensive, pervasive social structure, globally linking human activities.
The material structure that supports the global expansion of the networked society is based on three components: 1. material infrastructure which enables the construct of networks of communication, 2. hubs which coordinate the flow and 3. Actors—"dominant, managerial elites"—who direct and dominate the interests behind the organisation of networks. These components highlight similarities with the actor-network theory (Callon, 1986; Law & Hassard, 1999).
The network society theory primarily explores the wider impact of recent social changes and suggests a global perspective on various fields of interest, including economy, technology, work environments and politics. This is different to the perspective of this thesis, which primarily focuses on a domestic, individual, locally-situated social context. Nevertheless, the morphology of the network is applicable and fundamental in both cases, hence its use in this thesis as a critical theoretical framework of friendworks, comparatively small, intimate social networks that compose a significant and an integral part of contemporary life. To bridge the gap between the global scope of the network society theory and the domestic, individual, social interest of this thesis, the following section reviews those theories that are associated with personal (egocentric) social networks.
The network society theory as presented by Castells (2000b) conveys an ambiguous relation regarding the structure/agency debate (Berger & Luckmann, 1967; Anthony Giddens, 1984) which questions the role of technology in enabling or determining society. Castells shows how technology is a product of social forces while also embracing a social view of communication (Castells, 2000b, 2001). Based on this view, telecommunications are a resulting effect rather than being generators of social change. Other scholars similarly show how technological developments throughout history were born of a social need: economic, political or military (MacKenzie & Wajcman, 1985; R. Williams & Edge, 1996). Technology is developed with a specific purpose or objective in mind (Green, 2002). This social shaping of technology contrasts with technological determinism, which emphasises the dominant role of technology in creating social change (for example: Innis, 1950; Marshall McLuhan & Fiore, 1967). Paradoxically, in line with this deterministic approach, Castells, too, seems to be elevating technology to a privileged topic of analysis (Granham, 2004), hence highlighting the deterministic nature of technology. This duality might be settled when embracing a less binary distinction between technological and social determination, by examining how society and
Page 19 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society technology shape each other in an ongoing interaction and co-production processes (MacKenzie & Wajcman, 1985; Wajcman, 2004) between actors and networks. Within the spectrum of these approaches, the most appropriate for this thesis, is an approach based in the social shaping of technology, since it emphasises the use of communication by the case study participants as a means of achieving certain goals. For this purpose, the thesis also incorporates the uses and gratifications theory (Blumler & Katz, 1974), which examines needs and motivations of participants while using telecommunications (see Section 3.7.3).
Critical appraisals of Castells‘ work (1998; 2000b; 2009) have raised other concerns. The most central issue relevant to this thesis is the general questioning of whether the information age is indeed an entirely new stage of human development. Whereas Castells claims that the cumulative impact of information and communication technologies is as significant as the industrial revolution, other scholars (Granham, 2004; Van Dijk, 2006; Webster, 2004) challenge this notion. They perceive the recent societal changes as evolutionary rather than revolutionary, suggesting that the network society is not an altogether different type of society. The findings of this thesis reinforce the evolutionary approach.
Castells also suggests that networks shape the prime mode of organisation. However, other scholars emphasise the view that networks are not the whole substance of society. Society still consists of individuals, pairs, groups and organisations (Van Dijk, 2006). This is also apparent in this thesis. Additionally, Castells stresses the significant role of media networks and mediated communication, suggesting they replace social networks and face-to-face communication. Van Dijk (2006) clarifies this inference and argues that both direct and mediated forms of communication become tied up with each other and that this benefits individuals. This was a main finding in the thesis, too.
Finally, Castells strictly differentiates between ‗the Net‘ and ‗the self‘ (Castells, 2000b). ‗The Net‘ relates to network organisations and ‗the Self‘ denotes personal practices that reaffirm social identity and meaning in contemporary society. As Flew observes, this seems to be ―too strong an attempt to maintain a distinction between structure and agency ... when in practice cultural technologies promote techno-cultural forms of identity and communication that do not lose their distinctiveness as they utilise ICTs and global networks‖ (Flew, 2004, p. 75). Flew‘s critique relates to the interrelation-between and the confluence-of ‗the Net‘ and ‗the Self‘, while distinctions between both concepts are not that obvious or necessary.
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2.1.1 The space of flows
Castells emphasises the role of space of flows (1989) within the network society mediated by information and communication technology, which creates a new social morphology of time and space (see also Wajcman, 2008). This term combines two physical factors: space and time, which are significantly and constantly challenged in the information age (S. W. Campbell & Park, 2008; Carey, 1988b; Hassan, 2006). According To Castells, ―the space of flows is the material organisation of time-sharing social practices that work through flows‖ (1999, p. 407). The space of flows is a space of technical, topological and social layers rather than space in its physical sense. It is a new type of space, enabling synchronicity and real-time interaction without physical proximity. The space of flows is the domain of networks: ―while organizations are located in places ... the organizational logic is placeless, being fundamentally dependent on the space of flows that characterizes information networks‖ (Castells in Nyíri, 2004, p. 23).
Nevertheless, physical proximity is dealt with in this study as an important factor in contemporary friendships, despite the space of flows that technology facilitates. As reported also in this thesis, people prefer to physically interact with friends (Mok, Wellman, & Basu, 2007), though an increasing number of interactions are nowadays mediated by communication technologies (ITU, 2009). This tension between direct and mediated communication methods is expressed in a long lasting debate discussing whether technology replaces or complements face- to-face encounters3.
A somewhat similar term to the space of flows is suggested in the new mobilities paradigm (Sheller & Urry, 2006): communicative travel. I found the latter term more relevant to the purpose of this thesis. While the space of flows term is rooted within a spatial frame and, therefore, is a static concept, communicative travel derives from a mobile, dynamic view, representing one of five different forms within a wider mobilities paradigm (see Chapter 3). Such a mobile view fits well into the network structure which is characterised as dynamic and flexible. The new mobilities paradigm also deals better with problems of scale, in that it relates both to global as well as individual and local aspects of the network society. It is more accommodating of the interest of this thesis about the role of communication in shaping individual and interpersonal social structures that construct the network society: social networks.
3 This debate is presented in Section 3.5, supported by findings from the case study discussed in Section 6.5.
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2.2 SOCIAL NETWORKS
According to the sociologist Claude Fischer, who investigated social networks and the social impact of the fixed-telephone in the United States (1975, 1982a, 1982b, 1992; 1983), a social network is a social structure of:
Individual's relatives, friends and associates, the set of people with whom an individual is
directly involved.... [People] whom we know and whom we can depend on. [A social
network] influences our success in life, our security and sense of well-being, and even
our health. (1982a, p. 2-3)
Litwin (1996), a social gerontologist and social networks researcher, defines social network as:
The collection of interpersonal ties that individuals maintain and that provide them with
several possible benefits, such as the augmentation of self-concept, the fostering of
feelings of belonging, and the provision of both cognitive guidance and tangible
assistance in fulfilling the tasks of daily living. (p. 1)
These two definitions relate to social networks from the individual‘s perspective who actively maintains relations with familiar people (i.e. egocentric network according to Wellman, 2007). Both emphasise the meaningful benefits of social networks, including success, security, sense of well-being, health, feelings of belonging, cognitive guidance and tangible assistance.
People choose their networks. Even if some of the relations are imposed it is up to individuals to decide who to pursue, who to ignore or to leave as a casual acquaintance and who to neglect (Fischer, 1982a). People usually network with family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours (Wellman & Tindall, 1993). Friends tend to be intimate (Bryan, Fitzpatrick, Crawford, & Fischer, 2001), while active neighbourhood and organisational ties tend to have non-intimate relations. Among the factors that will increase the chance of networking with others are similarity, proximity, reciprocity and beauty and competence. Similar people provide social validation for a person‘s beliefs and characteristics, for example, similarity in age, sex, marital status, social role, ethnicity, religion, personality, position, life-style and education (Byrne, 1971; Kalmijn & Vermunt, 2007). People tend to like most people they see most often, that is, those who live in proximity (Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950; Greenbaum & Greenbaum, 1985; Zajonc, 1968). Symmetric relationships are an important factor in social interactions (Hinde, 1979) and, finally, beauty and competence—preferring contact with people we consider as competent, affects social relations (Plickert, Cote, & Wellman, 2007).
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Social networks are ―our greatest motives for action: to protect relatives, impress friends, gain the respect of colleagues, and simply enjoy companionship‖ (Fischer, 1982a, p. 3). Society is composed of social networks. Similarly, social networks are influenced by society, which has an active role in our choices of who to include in our social network, whether through social norms, expectations, values, roles or physical location (Fischer, 1982a). Communication (whether face-to-face or mediated via telecommunications) is a key factor in establishing and maintaining social networks (Aronson, 1971; Bott, 1957).
Social science scholars have been exploring social networks for over a century in many different ways. Durkheim, a French sociologist, coined the term social facts: ―ways of acting, thinking, and feeling, external to the individual‖ (1964, p.3), to explain how societies could maintain their integrity and coherence in the modern era. He argued that social facts have an existence in and of themselves and are not bound to the actions of individuals. In contrast, Tönnies (2002 [1887]), a German sociologist, stated that social groups can exist as either personal and direct social ties that link individuals in traditional communities of family and localities (gemeinschaft) or as impersonal, formal and instrumental social links identified with the modern, industrial society(gesellschaft). Barnes (1954) was the first to systematically use the term social network to denote patterns of social ties (formal organisations, unstable associations and interpersonal links). Bott (1957) investigated the anthropology of familial and community networks. In the 1970s the systematic study of networks evolved to what became known as social network analysis, an analytic paradigm focused on the structure of ties while emphasising structural constraints on people‘s actions (Scott, 1991; S. Wasserman & Faust, 1994). Of main interest to this thesis is the work of Barry Wellman, who has made a considerable contribution to the literature on the interaction between social networks and mediated communication, emphasising the seamlessness of real-life as well as virtual networks (1996, 2007; 2002; 2001; 2002; 2005; 1979; 1993; 1990).
Studies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives show that social networks are important because they provide social support (Wellman & Tindall, 1993). Moreover, social networks are fundamental to emotional well-being (Agneessens, et al., 2006). Health related studies emphasise the direct impact of social networks on individuals‘ physical and mental health status. For example, social support correlates with emotional strength, physical well-being, good health, lower stress and longevity of individuals (Cohen & Hoberman, 1983; Lin & Ensel, 1989; Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon, 1997; Thoits, 1983; Umberson, Chen, House, Hopkins, & Slaten, 1996). These health and well-being benefits of social networks are especially important among the elderly (Crohan & Antonucci, 1989).
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The structure of social networks is also important. Relationships within the network motivate flows of support, information and companionship. Social networks increase efficiency of actions (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998) and information is diffused more effectively with minimum redundancy (Putnam, 1995). Being connected to others empowers individuals and their networks and affects their productivity. Such attributes can be translated into economic value, highlighting the significant role of social networks in generating different forms of capital (Putnam, 1995). Of particular interest in this thesis is the non-economic value of social networks that generates social capital.
2.2.1 Social capital
Social capital is created as a result of connections and interactions between individuals. It is a resource that comes from relations between people, and impacts both individuals and societies. It makes life more productive and easier (Ridings, 2005). Scholars define different kinds of capital. The sociologist Bourdieu (2002, 2006) is known for distinguishing between three forms of capital: economic capital, cultural capital and social capital. Economic capital is durable goods available for use as a factor of production. Cultural capital is forms of knowledge, skills or education, or any advantage that gives a person a higher status in society, including high expectations. Social capital is the relations within and between social networks.
Coleman (1988) identifies two types of capital: physical capital (which is similar to Bourdieu‘s economic capital) and human capital (similar to Bourdieu‘s cultural capital). He considers social capital as a form of human capital. Since social capital is generated from the relations between individuals through exchange, it is jointly owned. Social capital benefits individuals as well as the group as a whole, while encouraging cooperative behaviour (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Coleman (1988) distinguishes between three forms of social capital: obligations and expectations (which depend on the trustworthiness of the social environment), information channels (selectively open within social networks) and social norms (which facilitate certain actions while constraining others). These forms of social capital assist in highlighting some of the characteristics of different social networks that are discussed further on (see Section 2.3.4).
Woolcock (1998) mentions three types of social capital: bonding, bridging, and linking. Bonding social capital involves trust and reciprocity in closed networks and acts as a social support safety net. Bridging social capital involves overlapping networks. It is crucial in one‘s professional life. Linking social capital involves social relations with those in authority, which might be used to accumulate resources or power. Each of the three forms of social capital is arguably essential to a strong family and a strong community (Narayan, 1999). Social capital,
Page 24 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society especially of the bonding type, was apparent in participants‘ reports regarding their sense of belonging to local sub-communities (see Sections 5.5 and 5.8).
2.2.2 Affective labour
Alongside social capital, the growing interest in social networks has yielded an increasing scholarly attention in additional theories of value, such as affective labour. Affective labour is work intended to produce or modify emotional experiences in people. Sometimes affective labour is described as immaterial labour since, often, no tangible goods are produced in this process of work. Though many activities involve affective labour, it is primarily associated with practices of care and emotions. As women have been traditionally and directly involved in such practices, it is not surprising that feminists have been the main promoters of recent discourse on affective labour (Fortunati, 2007).
Until the resurgence of feminism, theories of value generally did not recognise, or tended to undervalue, affective labour. It is an important part of women‘s work that has been invisible for much of the industrial era, located in the home and within social networks. However, as social networks become more important, better explanations of the importance of affective labour are developing. One such example is Hardt‘s statement regarding affective labour: ―[it] is itself and directly the constitution of communities and collective subjectivities‖ (1999, p. 89), hence referring to affective labour as a binding element that plays a key role in the modern society: ―what affective labour produces are social networks, [and] forms of community‖ (Hardt, 1999, p. 96).
Though immaterial in nature, affective-labour frequently ―sets material labor in motion‖ (Fortunati, 2007, p. 140). For example, according to some critical appraisals of their social relations, industries such as commercial media seek to commodify the affective capacity of audiences (Smythe, 2001). The idea of affective labour is gaining broader attention from various social fields, including new media studies (for example, Banks & Humphreys, 2008; Fuchs, 2009), and is acknowledged as the primary factor in constituting social networks, collective subjectivities and society in general (Hardt, 1999). In the modern world, where society is viewed as a factory, affective labour becomes a dominant consideration in the global capitalist economy. It is regarded as ―one of the strongest links in the chain of capitalist postmodernisation‖ (Hardt, 1999, p. 90), as services and the manipulation of information becomes central to economic production. Though Hardt (1999) criticises the way modernisation has shifted the process and nature of being human into the very same process of economic production, this process results in recognition and evaluation of the importance of affective labour within society. Therefore, from a feminist point of view, it is a new constructive way to examine and appreciate women‘s work.
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Hardt (1999) distinguishes between immaterial labour and affective labour. While immaterial work involves analytical and symbolic tasks, affective labour accounts for human contact and interaction. Affective labour is the binding element between people. Nevertheless, ―its products are intangible: a feeling of ease, well-being, satisfaction, excitement, passion—even a sense of connectedness or community‖ (Hardt, 1999, p. 96). Following this analysis, social capital manifests the overarching outcome of immaterial and affective labour. Overall, these concepts go one step further in clarifying the complicated, vague, yet significant benefits of social networks and their outcomes.
To better explain the term, Hardt refers again to traditional women’s work: caring labour, kin work, nurturing and maternal activities. What is new is ―the extent to which this affective immaterial labor is now directly productive of capital and the extent to which it has become generalised through wide sectors of the economy‖ (Hardt, 1999, p. 97). Projecting the postmodern interpretation of affective labour as a dominant factor within the capitalist economy re-ignites interest in women‘s work and its significance. Of particular interest to this thesis is the case of female social networks residing in a seachange community as an example of social capital and affective labour.
One important example of affective labour which has been examined within the case study is social support, within which three main factors are of interest when exploring social relations between friends: instrumental aid, information, companionship and emotional support. While instrumental aid and information might be considered as immaterial labour, companionship and emotional support relate directly to affective labour, as they involve human interaction and emotional experience. These issues are presented in the next section.
2.2.3 Social and emotional support
Cobb (1976) was one of the first to define social support as ‗‗information leading the subject to believe that he or she is cared for and loved, that he/she is esteemed and valued, and he/she belongs to a network of communication and mutual obligation‘‘ (Cobb, 1976, p. 301). This definition implies that social support involves positive interactions between individuals within a defined social network. Later interpretations of this term refer somewhat similarly and broadly to the provision of different kinds of personal aid, such as: ―socioemotional aid, instrumental aid and informational aid‖ (Thoits, 1985, p. 53). Other scholars include affect, affirmation, encouragement, and validation of feelings as a part of the social support concept (Abbey, Abramis, & Caplan, 1985; Kahn & Antonucci, 1980). Social support, as a comprehensive term of different types of assistance, is beneficial to individuals as it positively affects physical and psychological aspects of individuals (for example: Cohen & Hoberman,
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1983; I. G. Sarason, Levine, Basham, & Sarason, 1983; Umberson, et al., 1996). Generally, it correlates with quality of life (Abbey, et al., 1985).
Studies differentiate between a few types of social support, among which are instrumental support, social companionship and emotional support (Agneessens, et al., 2006; Wellman & Wortley, 1989, 1990). This thesis follows this distinction. Instrumental support involves practical help when someone is sick, when kids need to be taken care of, when the car breaks down, or when financial aid is needed. Social companionship relates to occasions in which an individual is interested in spending time with particular others (going out for a day, visiting at home, hanging out, but also when interacting over the phone or the internet for companionship purposes). Lastly, emotional support is associated with comfort (Burleson, 1984, 1994) and reassurance; when a person needs to talk to someone, to confess, to reinforce self confidence, or work through personal feelings. Emotional support is associated with intimacy, trust, openness and close relationships (Samter, Whaley, Mortenson, & Burleson, 1997).
Though breaking down the social support term into different types of assistance, it is important to note that, most commonly, in real-life situations, support involves a mixture of all these types. Consider an interaction primarily made for emotional support: it involves companionship (as both contacted people accompany each other throughout the interaction) and instrumental support (if following the interaction the support receiver could practically function better).
Social support depends on ―the existence or availability of people on whom we can rely, people who let us know that they care about, value, and love us‖ (I. G. Sarason, et al., 1983, p. 127). However, not all people provide all kinds of support. Often, social support is provided by people within one‘s social network (Agneessens, et al., 2006) and within this network, different social relations provide different social support; work colleagues and neighbours commonly provide instrumental support, whereas most individuals would rather communicate with friends when in need for emotional support (Wellman & Wortley, 1990). Research found that immediate kin are somewhat more important in providing instrumental support, while friends are generally more significant for emotional support and companionship (Agneessens, et al., 2006; Wellman & Wortley, 1989). Following this observation, special attention is given to emotional support within friendworks (Chapter 6) via communication methods (Sections 7.4 and 8.6).
Following the general discussion on social networks as personal social structures, their significance, practices and benefits, the next section focuses on another social structure: the community. Local communities emerged as a theme within participants‘ reports especially when
Page 27 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society discussing sense of belonging following relocation scenarios. Therefore, communities are discussed next, in order to clarify similarities with, and differences from, social networks.
2.2.4 Local communities
Wellman argues that communities are undergoing a change from groups associated with neighbourhoods and villages, to ―sparsely-knit, spatially-dispersed social networks (Wellman, et al., 2002, p. 151). Nevertheless, local communities still play major roles in people‘s lives; the main difference is that in the information age, people use telecommunications to support their local social relations (Hampton & Wellman, 2003).
Local communities are an example of social networks bounded by place. While an individual is at the centre of a personal social network, it is the locality that unites people in the case of the local community. Location is an inseparable part of human relations (Axhausen, 2007; Crang, 2002; Harvey, 1989; Tsatsou, 2009). In this thesis, location is a major contextual factor and among the main investigated themes. Testimonials of the case study participants reinforced the importance of the local community and a sense of community in their lives4. This section clarifies the main similarities and differences between the concepts of community and social network.
The literature offers many definitions of community. The traditional, widely held definition generally refers to a group of people who maintain interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, solidarity and activities of members who reside in a common locality (Hillery, 1955). The emphasis is primarily on the common locality and, to a lesser extent, on the solidarity aspects (Wellman & Leighton, 1979). An interesting argument has been raised by Anderson (1983) who claims that certain types of communities (for example, the ‗nation‘) are imagined social constructions by the people who perceive themselves as part of that group. People perceive themselves as a part of a community, though in practice they had contact only with limited numbers of community members. Nevertheless, "in the minds of each [member] lives the image of their communion" (Anderson, 1983, p. 6).
The imagined community concept also deploys some form of virtuality or co-presence (Hjorth, 2009a), suggesting that a community involves face-to-face encounters and virtual practices. The virtual aspect of communities is particularly evident in the information age. Since
4 Relevant findings are presented throughout Chapter 5.
Page 28 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society the wide adoption of the internet and the mobile phone, which facilitates practices of social and communal activities, the term ‗community‘ has been extended beyond the traditional spatial boundaries, to a conceptual definition that relates to a group of people with shared interests where spatial boundaries are not a prerequisite, such as in the case of virtual communities (Rheingold, 1993). This shifts the common ground of communities from location to shared interests while blurring the difference between the community and social network concepts, as the latter is also a social structure organised around a shared interest: one individual. Following this view, the only difference between the two concepts is whether the shared interest is an individual, in the case of a social network, or an alternative interest, such as a place of dwelling, an idea, value or activity, in the case of a community. Consequently, it could be argued that the two concepts function similarly though originate from different perspectives: like looking through either end of a telescope. So the social network perspective locates ‗interests‘ in the individual and asks how the individual finds/develop a network with which she/he can share interests, while the community perspective locates ‗interests‘ in the group and asks how individuals align with or develop them.
This similarity in functionality between the community and the social network concepts sometimes makes it challenging to discern between virtual communities and online social networks (social network sites). While a personal network of contacts within a social network site might be regarded as a social network, the overall infrastructure, which hosts many personal social networks, might be more accurately regarded as a ‗virtual community‘, where all are sharing the interest of interacting online with their private social networks.
What are the similarities shared by social networks and communities? Both concern people with whom individuals most likely maintain ongoing contact (though this is not a mandatory criterion for local community members, for example). Following such interactions, both of these social structures potentially provide social support to individuals: instrumental, emotional or companionship (Agneessens, et al., 2006). Both are important in reinforcing a sense of self identity and in creating a sense of belonging (Kijas, 2003; Marsh, et al., 2007). Both involve affective labour and generate social capital.
From the individual‘s perspective, being a part of a community means that one firstly and directly affiliates with certain concepts (such as an idea or an activity), which also attracts others. Mutual activities with these others might later generate personal social relations that lead to inclusion of certain people within one‘s social network. In contrast, social networks and friendworks are primarily and mandatorily based on personal social interactions of an individual with specific others, which might lead to mutual activities within certain communities. This way or the other, both structures involve networked based personal interactions (either as a primary condition in the case of social networks or as a resulting effect within communities); hence
Page 29 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society highlighting the important role communication plays in sustaining and maintaining social structures.
Another difference between the two concepts is within the political arena. Communities are often public entities recognised by authorities and, hence, can influence decision makers; they have a political power (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003). This is especially relevant for location based communities. As these communities represent defined and recognised population centres, they can influence local policies and politicians in order to address their interests and to fulfil their needs. Until the internet era, social networks lacked this recognition, influence and power that communities have in the public arena. However, with the emergence of social media and social networks, interpersonal social networks have become considerably more visible in online platforms, with overwhelming numbers of participants. This draws attention to social structures. Again, it is communication technology that has made these social networks manageable, as claimed by Castells (2000b). As predicted by Rheingold (2002), technology based social networks gain increasing power in the political arena.
Though virtual communities are nowadays common worldwide, this study solely centres on location-based communities, particularly the community of Ocean Shores. This location- based-focus follows participants‘ testimonials which exclusively refer to their local community and ‗real-life‘ friends when reflecting on friendworks. Only one participant classified one virtual acquaintance as a friend (see Section 2.3.3) while none of the participants mentioned friends within virtual communities. The reasons for this pattern were not investigated within this study; only location-based communities were explored. This makes the distinction between communities and social networks more explicit. All those living in Ocean Shores are members of the local community; even if their sense of belonging to this community varies (relevant findings are discussed in Section 5.8).
Though there is a distinction between communities and social networks, they commonly intertwine. There is a significant overlap between members of the local community and individuals within one‘s social networks. This is valid also when considering other communities of interest; a shared interest motivates interaction which in many cases results in the establishment of social relations. These findings were evident in the case study. Often, people who had got to know others within a shared community became friends. Ultimately, people‘s social relations consist of a mixture of communities and networks (Wellman, 2002, p. 20).
This thesis follows the social network structure, rather than the community structure, while focusing on one specific sub-network of social networks: the friendwork. The main reason for this is the fact that this study focused on individuals‘ needs, motivations and practices, rather
Page 30 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society than on a communal perspective originating from a particular location or set of ideas. Following this rationale, the friendworks is the focus of the research, while the study location, an Australian coastal town and its community, is the context. Nevertheless, location played a major role in the researched social networks and so did the local community. Therefore, aspects of location and community are evident throughout the study.
2.2.5 Spatial proximity
The main shared concept between the local community and social networks is spatial proximity. This concept plays an important role in social relations and is examined in this thesis as a main factor in establishing and sustaining friendworks. Distance and spatial proximity affect social networks, such as in how networks are developed, how they survive and provide social support (Mok, et al., 2007; Wellman & Leighton, 1979). Throughout history, as a direct result of physical restrictions, humans socially networked with nearby others within their spatial location (Geser, 2004; Mok, et al., 2007). This was the case when living in a cave, in the village and, nowadays, in urban neighbourhoods (Hillery, 1955; Mok, et al., 2007). Wide ranging academic research and a long lasting debate has focused on spatial proximity in regard to urbanism and its impact on social networks. Early urban studies show inconsistent approaches regarding the impact of urban developments and their favourable or undesirable social consequences; optimistic accounts supported large-scale communities which led to a variety of distinct and intense social worlds (Fischer, 1982a), while counter approaches considered urban life to be socially, mentally and morally unhealthy (Tilly, 1974; Wirth, 1938). Proximity is still a dominant field of research in urban studies and social networks research (Foth & Hearn, 2007).
Spatial proximity influences relationship patterns at different stages of life (Fischer, 1982b); relocation results in changes in relationships (Licoppe & Smoreda, 2005). People who live in the same household share common experiences, which facilitates strong interpersonal connections (Wellman & Wortley, 1989). In contrast, keeping in touch with physically distant people requires greater effort to produce common experiences, which breeds interdependence as an indication of closeness (Berg & Clark, 1986). Work colleagues or neighbours who become friends are yet another example of the influence of vicinity on one‘s social relations.
2.2.6 Social proximity: The impact of technology
Transportation and, especially, telecommunications such as the telephone, the internet and the mobile phone, have notably changed the nature of social interactions. These technologies have had a major impact on the theorisation of social structures (communities as well as social networks) and on perceptions and practices of proximity (Mok, et al., 2007, p. 431). At first, it was argued that industrialisation and urbanism would break up community groups while leaving
Page 31 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society only isolated individuals (Park, 1969; Simmel, 2005). Nevertheless, communities continued to thrive, sometimes more as sparsely-knit, spatially dispersed social networks than as densely-knit, village-like local groups (Cunningham & Sinclair, 1999; Wellman, et al., 2002). People have been able to maintain and expand their relationships beyond the limit of space. Most common nowadays is the perception that people increase the range and diversity of weaker connections in addition to strengthening strong bonds: ―we have become more adept at filling some of the same emotional and context-generating functions that have traditionally been associated with the importance of community with a network of overlapping social ties that are limited in duration or intensity‖ (Benkler, 2006, p. 15). It is no longer only within neighbourhoods that social networks flourish, but also in the virtual space where the main common denominator of the network does not necessarily depend on spatial proximity. Contemporary social networks are composed of people actively in contact with each other while exchanging companionship and social support over the space of flows, regardless of spatial proximity (Castells, 2000b).
Such social relations provide evidence for social proximity (Alba & Kadushin, 1976), emotional closeness between individuals. Social proximity is an interpersonal concept within the wider perception of social identity, which is addressed in Section 3.4.1. Social proximity concerns solidarity, interdependence and a secure bond between individuals, which is one aspect of social identity. Social proximity, regardless of spatial proximity, relies on telecommunications. This has resulted in changes in many social spheres, including blurring the distinction between public and private behaviours, reshaping traditional group identities, modifying socialisation processes, the merging of gender identities, and, generally, demystification of the operation of traditional social institutions (Meyrowitz, 1985).
Nevertheless, even though mediated communication is used ubiquitously and extensively, it is evident that spatial proximity retains a dominant role in social relationships (Foth & Hearn, 2007; Mok, et al., 2007). Distance still influences relations; for example, interaction and exchange for physical, instrumental assistance (such as providing small household items) can only happen between geographically close people (Mok, et al., 2007).
The debate around physical proximity (or its absence) and its dominance in shaping relations within social networks is crucial to the understanding of this study. On the one hand, the geographically centric approach in which proximity is still a major factor in structuring social networks (Mok, et al., 2007; Wellman, 1996), seems to be valid in real-life situations within modern neighbourhoods. On the other hand, the network approach, which centres on the capacity of technology to overcome spatial limitations, results in reconstruction of our social network, shifting its focus from location-based to content-based (Wellman, et al., 2002). This is the tension between the spatial proximity and the social proximity approaches when constructing one‘s
Page 32 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society social network and to a greater degree when maintaining and sustaining one‘s friendworks. The most relevant attitude for this thesis is a combination of both approaches when spatial proximity leads to social proximity, which then might be freed from geographical constraints.
2.2.7 Women and social networks
There is no conclusive answer to whether women socialise differently from men. As presented in this section, findings from different studies vary and are sometimes contradictory. Though gender-based comparison of social networks requires further investigation, it is not the focus of this thesis. As the explored case study consisted of only female participants, comparative analysis between women and men cannot be drawn. Moreover, this study does not aim to suggest gendered conclusions. It does not revolve primarily around gender related issues, but, rather, explores overall social implications. Therefore, findings might also apply to men. Yet, it is important to acknowledge gender-based research in order to better understand women and men‘s motivations and practices within friendworks. Accordingly, this section reviews gender-based characteristics of social networks.
Historically, till the 1960s, with the rise of the second wave of feminism (Carden, 1974), traditional gender roles resulted in different gender behaviour which led to different composition of social networks for men and women (Booth, 1972; K. E. Campbell & Lee, 1992; McPherson & Smith-Lovin, 1982; Michelson, 1977; Wellman, 1985). According to Campbell (1990) the gender role definition of women as bearers of emotional and social responsibilities resulted in this behaviour difference. Based on gender roles in those days, husbands were at work, away from the neighbourhood most day-time hours, while women were doing ‗women‘s work‘ at home within neighbourhoods. For women, the combination of living in proximity and fulfilling defined gender roles (responsibility for household matters) resulted in close gendered network relationships. American women were more likely to report a female neighbour as the person with whom they had most frequent contact, while men were more likely to report a non-neighbour male friend as the person with whom they had most contact, in most cases a work colleague (Michelson, 1977, Table 5.8). These female neighbourly networks also indicated a higher level of a sense of belonging to the local community in women. Studies have found male groups to be larger, job-related and ‗instrumental‘, while women‘s networks were more likely to be affiliated with smaller, local, domestically related ‗expressive‘ groups (Booth, 1972; McPherson & Smith- Lovin, 1982). These findings are partially contrasted with later research indicating that women have larger and more complex social networks than men (Moore, 1990).
The literature indicates that men and women structure their social networks differently and that social relations may serve them in different ways. Fischer and Oliker (1983) suggest that
Page 33 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society age and lifestyle account for network differences, with young married men having larger networks than their wives, and the reverse being true for older married couples. Other studies show that married men tend to name their wives as their primary confidants and sources of support, whereas women tend to name friends and children as sources of support (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1987). Generally, women are more likely than men to request assistance from network members (T. Butler, Giordano, & Neren, 1985).
Women's networks tend to have larger proportions of kin compared to men; hence networks of women may lack the heterogeneity of networks of men, which is especially effective when looking for a job (Wellman & Wortley, 1990). Women who have large, diverse social networks are more likely to be working for pay (Stoloff, Glanville, & Bienenstock, 1999). In households where women were involved only in domestic work, social relations and support from kin, friends and neighbours were most likely to be maintained by women rather than by men. Households in which women were involved in domestic work as well as paid employment, had far less dense networks of relations and, as a result, were able to obtain less support and fewer services from their contacts (Wellman, 1985). Research also found that women are more supportive than men in friendships (Wellman, 1985; Wellman & Frank, 2001; Wellman & Wortley, 1990), though a recent study on a similar topic did not find gender specific behaviour patterns (Plickert, et al., 2007).
A bio-behavioural study (Taylor, et al., 2000) found that women respond to stress differently to men, due to a gendered behavioural mechanism. In such situations, men, influenced by specific hormonal activity, activate a ‗fight-or-flight‘ mechanism. In contrast, women, under the influence of a different hormone, liaise with other females, joining forces in a method titled ‗tend-and-befriend‘. The feminine response of befriending is the actual process of creating and maintaining friendworks aimed at reducing distress. This bio-behavioural study concludes that there is a biological gender difference expressed in stress situations that can explain differences in the structure of social networks and the practice of social relations between men and women.
Other research shows no gender difference in psychological well-being and social network characteristics (size, density, frequency of interaction, geographic dispersion, reciprocity and type of support: affective or instrumental) within social networks of women and men (Israel & Antonucci, 1987). Lack of gender difference in network size was also evident in a comparative analysis of data from the American social survey from 1985 and 2004 (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, & Brashears, 2006), which reported a quite uniform and significant decline in Americans‘ social networks size, with no gender difference. A study of middle class Tehranis (Bastani, 2007) also did not find distinctive gender differences in network size or composition.
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Conflicting findings regarding gender-based social networks as those presented here highlight the significance of context (demographic, social, cultural) when researching social networks and underlines the complexity of this topic. The presented studies contribute to situating this thesis within a wider gendered context, with accenting gendered features within the investigated social networks.
This chapter started by reviewing the global concept of the network society in the information age. The second part of the chapter focused on personal social networks as an example of an egocentric social structure within the network society. The final section further focuses on one particular type of social network which is the focus of this thesis: the friendwork.
2.3 WHY FRIENDWORK?
‗Social network‘ is an important term. Nevertheless, it is not clearly and fully defined. From a pilot focus group conducted early in this research which examined social networks and mobile phone use, it was apparent that research participants failed to understand the term ‗social network'. It is explicitly defined as the sum of the people one knows: ―a social network consists of a finite set … of actors and the relation … defined on them‖ (S. Wasserman & Faust, 1994, p. 20). However, field-based application of the term reveals confusion, vagueness and wide generalisation, especially when analysing the complexity of personal social networks. While some types of relations (such as family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues) were easy to define and were more likely to reflect people within one‘s social network, there was vagueness regarding the inclusion of people with whom one might have more indirect and less clearly defined types of relations, such as acquaintances (including the postman, the children‘s teacher, the gardener, the bus driver, school children‘s parents), distant family members, virtual friends and public figures. As a result, there was confusion around who to include within one‘s social network. When participants were asked to name people within their social network, providing the general definition of ‗social network‘ (―sum of the people one knows―) was not clear enough to fulfil this task. I had to provide a description and examples for potential people that might be included within a social network, hence intervening and directing participants‘ responses.
Moreover, in certain circumstances, when studying social behaviour, it could be useful to break down the holistic social network concept. This would enable focusing on variations of behaviour nuances, motives for actions and their outcomes (i.e., the different type of capital that is produced) within individuals‘ social networks (Ben-Harush, 2009). This claim is especially valid when considering the growing use of social network sites ("Facebook company timeline", 2010) which results in an expansion of social relations, an overwhelming increase in individuals‘
Page 35 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society social network size and, consequently, an establishment of new types of social ties (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
From the pilot focus group, it was evident that participants‘ most intensive everyday communication was with family and friends. This communication pattern is reported in existing everyday mobile phone studies (Sørensen, 2006; Wajcman, et al., 2008) as well as in fixed telephone studies (Moyal, 1992; Rakow, 1992). The Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] social survey (Pink, 2007) provides somewhat similar findings in relation to support from different social ties. It reinforces the crucial role of family and friends in times of crisis in comparison to others within individuals‘ social networks. Ninety three per cent of the respondents reported they could get support in times of crisis from persons living outside the household, primarily from family members (80%) or friends (67%). Neighbours (33%) and work colleagues (22%) were also mentioned as support groups, but not as substantially as family and friends, as presented in Figure 1. No significant gender difference has been found.
Figure 1: Sources of support in time of crisis by sex (Source: Pink, 2007, p. 4, n=13,375)
Family and friends were found to be the most relevant type of relations within social networks for the purpose of this study, which follows a communication perspective. Consequently, the research focused on one particular social relation type: a friend, rather than on an overall social network, when questioning how communication methods were used within friendship networks rather than social networks in general. Friendwork (Ben-Harush, 2009) was the succinct term that I developed in the context of my earlier fieldwork to describe the particular sub-network of interest to me and which I theorise in further detail here.
2.3.1 What is a friendwork?
A friendwork is the set of people with whom an individual maintains a friendship. A friendwork is one specific type of social sub-network; however, different types of sub-networks
Page 36 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society intersect and overlap. In order to understand the composition of friendworks within other networks, a typology of social networks is useful and is discussed in Section 2.3.4. Hereafter, I relate to a friendwork when addressing one network of friends of a particular individual and use friendworks when discussing a few of these networks in general. When referring to more general social relations, I use the term social network.
Building a network of friends takes time and requires some stability in a person‘s life (Trimberger, 2005, p. 247). A friendwork incorporates friendship relations from one‘s family, childhood, studies, work, neighbourhood, church, politics, shared recreation and other daily life situations. Within a network, a variety of social ties can be found: intimate friends, ones to socialise with, others to share a particular interest, or casual recent friends. A friendship network is flexible and ―open to friends leaving and new ones entering‖ (Trimberger, 2005, p. 229). Not everyone knows everyone else within a friendwork, but most people know of each other.
When defining networks of friends, one must be familiar with the meaning of a friend. Though basic and meaningful terms in human nature, friend and friendship are ambiguous concepts subject to many definitions and related to various practices (Fischer, 1982b). While most scholars (and people in general) take these concepts for granted, both will be defined here, as they are crucial to the understanding of the context, the orientation and the motivation of this research.
2.3.2 What do we mean by friend?5
Fischer (1982b), who studies the meaning of friend among Californian adults, found that although the term was very commonly used, there was no consensus about its meaning. Friend was found to be ―a residual label, a description applied to almost all associates for whom no more specific title is available‖ (p. 305). Relatives were typically not referred to as friends. People also tended to label as friend others they were in contact with (a neighbour, a colleague and a partner). Similarity in age and long acquaintance with associates were common features of friendship. Friendship ties also tended to be primarily voluntary relations of sociability that involved visiting, going out, discussing shared pastimes and participating together in an organisation. Friendships did not appear to involve extensive material exchanges. Close friends primarily described intimate relationships (discussing personal matters, seeking advice), as well as sociability and material aid (especially ‗being available for a sizeable financial loan‘). Adams and Allan (1998)
5 This is the title of one of Fischer‘s publications (1982b).
Page 37 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society suggest that friendship is culturally dependent and people use the term differently in different cultural communities. Following Fischer‘s (1982a, 1982b) findings and for the purposes of this thesis, a friend is referred to as a familiar person with whom one holds a personal relation of affection through voluntary interactions. Friendship is a personal and voluntary relationship of affection with a familiar person.
According to this definition, four main conditions apply when defining a person as a friend: familiarity, personal relation, affection and voluntary interaction. The first criterion, familiarity has been constantly challenged and updated following the progress of telecommunication technology, particularly the internet. A familiar person in the pre-internet era was someone an individual knew following face-to-face interaction. Knowing a person suggests that one would be able to recognise the other‘s face, look and voice, as well as know some details about the other person‘s personality and background. A face-to-face interaction implies that friends are geographically proximate people, or people who shared physical proximity in the past. I regard this type of closeness as spatial proximity. Recent studies still prove that spatial proximity is a significant factor in social relations (Mok, et al., 2007), particularly in friendships (Baym, et al., 2004). However, today, when online communication in many societies is ubiquitous, the meaning of a familiar person might be extended to include virtual relationships and virtual friends, thus redefining proximity as a social rather than as a spatial parameter. I refer to closeness which is established only via the agency of telecommunications as social proximity. I choose to differentiate between direct and virtual familiarity. Direct familiarity is established in face-to-face encounters (in spatial proximity situations) even if they lead to mainly social proximity situations later on. Virtual familiarity exclusively involves social proximity. Subsequently, when referring to types of social networks, this differentiation results in two separate sub-networks; the friendwork and the virtual acquaintances network, as discussed in further detail in Section 2.3.4.
The second condition of the definition of a friend is a personal relation that involves one-on-one interaction. Therefore, celebrities, public figures, and non-physical entities (such as deceased, fiction heroes or religious figures) are excluded from being friends in this thesis. In general, people who individuals get to know via mass media cannot be regarded as their friends. Additionally, reciprocity is an associated factor of personal relations, though not mandatory. Most personal relations involve reciprocal interaction. The personal relations criterion is also challenged by modern communications technology, when online communication (emails, forums, social network sites) allows one-to-many relations. This thesis focuses on one-to-one relations only.
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Affection is another mandatory criterion in defining a friend (Boyd, 2006; Fischer, 1982b). It refers to a supportive behaviour that involves a feeling of fondness, liking, esteem and trust. This is a personal feeling and is not necessarily mutual (Rubin, 1985, p. 7). Often people regard those they have affective relations with as friends. Consequently, if social relations lack supportive behaviour, they cannot be considered friendships. The affective aspect of friendships is referred to in this thesis in relation to social and emotional support, which is a form of affective labour resulting in sense of belonging and social capital as well as improving individuals‘ well- being.
Finally, voluntary interaction emphasises that a certain activity concerning the other is done by one‘s own free will (Plickert, et al., 2007), which means a self motivated decision not influenced primarily by financial or political incentives. Social norms (such as the moral expectation to support family members) might also influence people to act against their own will. In contrast with such forced relations, friends are regarded as ―the chosen family‖ (Goodman & O'Brien, 2001, p. 248). Any case of involuntary relation cannot be considered as a friendship. Voluntary interaction is a crucial parameter when defining distinct sub-networks, as described in Section 2.3.4.
Each person can be regarded as a friend even though s/he might have additional social relations with the other. This is particularly notable when considering the social relation of immediate kin to individuals, who can be simultaneously regarded as family and friends. Social science scholars often distinguish between close friends (or core/strong ties) and other friends (significant/weak ties), within one‘s social network (for example: Boase, Horrigan, Wellman, & Rainie, 2006; Granovetter, 1973; Hampton, Sessions, Her, & Rainie, 2009; Haythornthwaite, 2002; Wellman & Wortley, 1990). This distinction, though vague and subject to personal interpretations, correlates with particular communication practices, as was also observed in this study (for example, see Section 7.2.1). Among strong ties, this thesis focuses on communication practices with best friends, spouses, and family members (Section 6.4). Among weak ties communication with neighbours is examined (Section 6.4.4). One particular type of a weak tie that was not found in this case study is the virtual acquaintance. However, as this type of relation attracts recent attention, the next section briefly addresses this social tie.
2.3.3 Virtual acquaintances
Earlier in this chapter, the dominant role of spatial proximity in establishing and maintaining social relations was considered (Section 2.2.5). Additionally, familiarity which is suggested as a mandatory condition in establishing a friendship (Section 2.3.2), requires present or past geographical proximity between people. Yet, once friendship is established, spatial
Page 39 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society proximity is optional; communication technology enables maintenance of friendships regardless of their location (Section 2.2.6).
However, social opportunities expanded with the information age. Not only are people now able to maintain and sustain relationships via the fixed-telephone, the internet and the mobile phone, but they are able to have new purely online relationships. This social phenomenon was originally observed over the internet within online forums (Kendall, 2002) and with various virtual communities (Rheingold, 1993). Nowadays it is particularly apparent via online social network sites such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn.
The term used in social network sites for these social relations is ‗friends‘. Though it is similar terminology, I find crucial differences between friend, as discussed so far, and the social network sites‘ version of it. Friendships, according to social network sites, relate to social interaction resulting in a sense of social proximity regardless of any spatial proximity. I regard this type of social proximity as virtual acquaintances. Technically, these social relations are easily established. Often, they are based on one method of communication, the internet, and in most cases are not tested in real-life situations. As a result, virtual acquaintances lack important (mainly sensual) aspects of real-life social interactions (Baym, et al., 2004; Deresiewicz, 2009). Consequently, the strength of these virtual ties is limited (Boyd, 2006), though they can have social significance as change agents, for example in anti-globalisation movements (Castells, 2009). Online friendships have been found to be less developed than off-line relationships (Parks & Roberts, 1998). The net benefit of online relations depends on ―whether they supplement or substitute for offline social relationships‖ (Cummings, Butler, & Kraut, 2002, p. 103). Nevertheless, some online relationships might tighten and expand via additional communication technologies (telephone, mobile phone), and might lead to face-to-face or real-life committed relationships. In line with the perspective presented in this thesis, once they reach a stage of face- to-face interaction, virtual acquaintances become friends.
From the point of view of this thesis, friends and virtual acquaintances are different social relations. I have chosen to focus my study on the former, while excluding purely online relations. This decision was taken after an initial analysis of the case study data. Of the 26 participants and 599 named friends, only one person (39 years old, Israel-born) included a virtual acquaintance within her friendwork; a female friend she hasn‘t met face-to-face but frequently (few times a week) communicated with over the internet (via social networks site, emails, VoIP calls and instant messaging). This highlights the fact that virtual friendships are still a marginal phenomenon among the researched population, namely, seachange women over 35 years old and possibly among wider groups, though this requires further investigation and was not addressed in this study.
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2.3.4 Types of social networks
Social networks literature does not consist of a widely agreed typology of this term. However, several related social studies use unique criteria for network typologies. The following mentioned typologies share three characteristics: they are comprised of humans only (and not mixed humans-systems networks, for example), they represent social networks from the individual‘s point of view (ego-centric) and they focus on nature of relationships.
Tönnies (2002 [1887]) was the first to identify two types of social groups: gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. Gemeinschaft is a group of people who are primarily obligated to the group‘s collectivity and then to their own self interest. In this group, the individuals‘ behaviour is governed by well known norms. This category explains well traditional, pre-modern societies and families. In contrast, Gesellschaft refers to modern organisations in which the individual‘s self interest precedes the importance of the larger association. Additionally, these organisations lack the level of shared norms. Gesellschaft is maintained through individuals acting in their own self interest and better describes modern societies and friendworks. Tönnies‘ paradigm classifies two basic types of social networks that are too general for this thesis. Another early typology of social networks by Barnes (1954) suggests three categories of social relations: formal organisations, unstable associations and interpersonal links. This research concerns the latter.
Litwin (2001), who researched interpersonal environments among an elderly population, distinguished between five network types, indicating the dominant relations within one‘s social network:
1. The family-dependent network, a small grouping that relies primarily on close family members.
2. The locally integrated network, a large grouping that includes relationships with family, neighbours, and friends.
3. The local self-contained network, a small and mostly neighbour-based network.
4. The wider-community-focused network, a large and primarily friendship-centred group.
5. The private-restricted network, a group characterised by an absence of local kin, and only minimal ties with neighbours.
Though Litwin‘s typology presents important aspects of social networks, it assigns only one type of network to a person while excluding more complex descriptions of social networks which involve a mixture of relation types. Additionally, as this typology focuses on the
Page 41 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society elderly population, it primarily focuses on instrumental support available within spatial proximity, while social support aspects of emotional support and companionship potentially available from distant contacts are of secondary importance.
Fischer (1982a) mentions three types of relations within social networks: formal, sentimental and interaction-and-exchange. The first, formal relations are socially recognised roles with reciprocal rights and duties, such as mother and daughter, employer and employee, neighbour and neighbour. The second, sentimental relations, encompasses those that one cares about and feels close to. The third, interaction and exchange, includes involvement with people with whom one mutually shares activities, providing and receiving material and emotional assistance. Usually people are involved with others in more than one of these ways. These types of relationships share similarities with the types of support suggested by Agneessens, Waege and Lievens (2006): emotional support, instrumental aid and companionship, which, together, comprise social support (Section 2.2.3). For the purpose of this research, I use the terminology of Agneessens, et al. (2006) when presenting a typology of social networks.
This thesis draws upon these definitions to offer an alternative and more detailed typology of social networks. Characteristics of social networks used in this typology include members’ type (family, friends, locals, colleagues, online acquaintances); network size (small—1 to 10 people; medium—10 to 306; large— over 30); type of support (motivation), as suggested by Agneessens, et al. (2006), including emotional support, instrumental support and companionship; spatial proximity (whether it is required for maintaining the relation: mandatory, optional, not relevant); and voluntary interaction (yes or no).
Table 2 presents this typology of social networks and their key attributes. It includes the friendwork, the particular type of social network proposed in this thesis. Each of these network types is discussed in further detail below. This structure fills an important gap in social networks typologies proposed so far.
6 Based on data collected in the case study reflecting friendworks‘ size.
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Table 2: Types and attributes of interpersonal social networks
Attributes Spatial Voluntary Members Size Type of support Network type proximity interaction
emotional Family dependent family small companionship optional no instrumental emotional Friendwork friends medium companionship optional yes instrumental Work related colleagues flexible instrumental optional no companionship Location based familiar locals large mandatory yes instrumental Virtual online emotional large not relevant yes acquaintances acquaintances companionship emotional (mostly) Global all acquaintances large companionship not relevant yes instrumental
The most intimate group is the family dependant network mostly comprised of immediate kin (parents, siblings, children) and life partners. This is a closed group consisting of only a few members. They might not be spatially proximate, though often they live nearby. This network potentially ensures all types of support, primarily instrumental assistance, in everyday activities or financial support in times of need, mental and emotional assistance, companionship, intimacy and help with crucial decisions. The aspect of voluntary interaction is ambiguous; some people feel an obligation to support their family, others might feel differently. Support and obligation to family members are encouraged by social and cultural norms and are reflected in government policy (Cochran & Gunnarsson, 1990), yet to some extent they are subject to personal interpretation. Though many scholars express concern regarding the declining importance of the family, others show how it remains one of the most important ways in which people think about belonging (Marsh, et al., 2007). The dominant attribute of this network is the intense support that originates from genetic relatedness.
The second network is the friendwork comprising of all the people considered friends from an individual‘s point of view. Therefore, different people, including kin, peers, colleagues and neighbours can be found in this network. Friendworks grant all kinds of support, though different people might provide different social support. Close friends are most likely to supply all three types of support (emotional, instrumental and companionship), while less significant relations might ensure only instrumental support or companionship. Spatial proximity is crucial in establishing most friendships, but once set, even when members are distant, relations can be maintained via telecommunication technologies. Based on the definition of a friend, voluntary
Page 43 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society interaction is mandatory. The dominant attribute of this network is the voluntary nature of interactions and the overall significant support that individuals‘ benefit.
The next type is the work-related network. Most adults take part in the labour force and are surrounded by people in a similar situation, motivated by financial incentives, the dominant attribute of this network. Network members are work colleagues, clients and service providers, usually working in spatial proximity, though not always. Accordingly, the network size is flexible and might include a few, dozens or hundreds of people. The common support provided by this network is instrumental, aimed at promoting shared financial targets. Sometimes relations might evolve into friendships. Principally providing one type of support (instrumental), this network is less beneficial for individuals from a social support perspective. It is managed by business decision makers, hence in most cases is not subject to the individual‘s free will.
The fourth type is the location based network, which consists of all the familiar people one meets, hangs out with and knows in the local area of residence. Kin, friends, neighbours and also service providers and acquaintances might be part of this network. They comprise a potentially large network. People in this group are also members of the local community, though not all community members are a part of one‘s location based network, as this group consists of only people one knows. The main difference between this network and a friendwork is the type of support given. It is often characterised by instrumental support and companionship, lacking the aspect of emotional support sought-after in friendworks. Spatial proximity is the dominant attribute of this network. Participation in a local network is usually voluntary.
The fifth type of network, the virtual acquaintances, emerged as a result of the massive diffusion, adoption and everyday use of the internet (Haddon, 2004). It consists of online users a person is in mediated contact with, principally via the internet (without ever meeting face-to-face). Virtual acquaintances are familiar to the person to some extent. Their attributes might not correlate with the attributes of the real-life individuals they represent. Based on the internet characteristics, infrastructure and applications, this network can consist of dozens, hundreds or thousands of people. Exclusively internet-based familiarity usually involves virtual companionship, non-physical instrumental assistance (mainly exchange of information) or/and some emotional support. Support is limited, in comparison to real-life relations (Boyd, 2006), as a result of internet characteristics such as lack of a physical dimension and unsubstantiated credibility (Baym, et al., 2004). Spatial proximity is not relevant. Interactions are purely voluntary and commitment is usually lower than in real-life situations (Boyd, 2006). These relations are often ‗weak‘ social ties (Marsden & Campbell, 1984) because they are easily established (or forsaken). However, though virtual acquaintances are regarded as a distinct social relation to friendworks, they could evolve into friendships subject to the four friendship
Page 44 Chapter 2: Friendworks in the network society conditions (familiarity, personal, affectionate and voluntary). Due to such cases, there might be overlap between these two sub-networks. The dominant attribute of this network is the online communication mode, which notably impacts the nature of the social relations.
The last group is the global network which consists of all the people an individual is familiar with in person. A global network is one‘s social network. It is the sum of all the people mentioned within the sub-networks. Dunbar (1992) suggests that, on average, the number of individuals within one‘s social networks is 150. This represents the cognitive limit of the number of people with whom any person can maintain stable social relationships, the kind of relationships that go with knowing who each person is and how each person relates socially to every other person. However, inclusion of virtual acquaintances within one‘s social network considerably expands the potential number of contacts within an individual social network.
Global (social) network
Friendwork
Location based Family
Virtual acquaintance
Work-related
Figure 2: The relation between interpersonal social networks
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The relationship between the different sub-networks within one‘s social network is displayed in Figure 2. As mentioned, some of them overlap, hence some people are included within more than one sub-network. This sociogram suggests that friendwork sub-networks interact with all the other groups within an individual‘s social network. As this is a general description, variations of sub-network size, overlapping degree and proximity between the groups should be taken into consideration when customising it at the individual level.
2.4 IMPLICATIONS
This chapter reviews literature related to the network society as a basic concept of social networks and friendworks. The latter directly addresses a distinct and meaningful sub-network within personal social networks. A discussion regarding the significance of social networks, their contribution to social support, their performance of affective labour and social and emotional support and their role in creating social capital sets the rationale for focusing on this social structure in this thesis. Comparing social networks and communities directs this thesis towards an examination of social networks that are influenced and contextualised by location-based communities. The impact of location on social relations is questioned when spatial and social proximities are discussed. The general overview of social networks closes with gendered practices within these networks.
While drilling down from social networks to the friendworks sub-network, two fundamental friendworks-related concepts, friends and friendships, are explored. Though these terms are somewhat vague and subject to various definitions, their importance is evident, hence reinforcing the role of friendworks in the modern society. This vagueness around friendships might also explain why the contribution of friendships as affective labour in contemporary capitalism is not well understood and appreciated. This study aims to address this issue and clarify the significance of friendworks in this context.
This chapter also presents the spatial and non-spatial concepts that are significant to this study. Presenting the space of flows, local communities, spatial proximity, social proximity and virtual acquaintances sets the foundation to discuss mobility, which is another basic theory of this study that originates from the network society approach. The next chapter reviews in detail the mobility concept while specifically focusing on two mobility aspects: population mobility as an example of physical mobility and communication use as an example of virtual mobility.
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3Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society
This chapter reviews literature associated with the concept of mobility in its wider social context, and the new mobilities paradigm. This builds on the literature review of the previous chapter, which examines the concept of the network society and its particular manifestation in friendworks. Both concepts of mobility and friendworks complement each other and provide a broad understanding of the setting of this interdisciplinary study and its significance as a part of the modern life experience. This chapter also begins to build the empirical context of the case study reported in this thesis.
Two of the main themes of this study, population mobility and use of communication methods, are addressed by what is described here as the new mobilities paradigm. This in turn addresses the physical travel of people and communicative travel, and seeks to explain the important role of mobility in contemporary society. Within such context, the significance of friendworks is highlighted as a source of stability and affection, reassuring and reinforcing the sense of belonging, support and companionship.
3.1 MOBILITY
Mobility is a spatial concept. It is the displacement of something across, over and through space. The concept of mobility includes large-scale movements of people, objects, capital and information across the world, as well as the more local processes of daily transportation, movement through public space and the travel of material things within everyday life (Hannam, Sheller, & Urry, 2006). Mobility is a fundamental human process ―which make[s] our world work the way it does, however big and small and however imperfectly, from tourism to migration, from transport to communications, at multiple scales and hierarchies, all depend upon mobility‖ (Adey, 2010, p. 11). Mobility requires effort. It demands work and it costs.
There is much more to mobility than its connotation to movement. It is movement with social significance, with meaning (Cresswell, 2001). Mobility in recent research is interpreted within a wider context of societal norms, codes of conduct, belief systems and ideologies (Adey, 2010). Context makes a vital difference to the ways mobilities are given meaning and understood. Moreover, mobility is positioned in relation to something or somebody; it often occurs with others, as a social activity. It is an outcome or an achievement of social relations. Mobility is ―a lived relation‖ (Adey, 2010, p. xvii).
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In recent years, scholars have expanded the idea of mobility from its initial physical meaning to a wider, more socially-oriented approach. As a result, contemporary mobility research refers to multiple aspects of mobility. Larsen, Urry and Axhausen (2006) define five interdependent mobilities: physical travel of people, physical movement of objects, imaginative travel (such as memories, text, images, TV and films), virtual travel (often in real time over the internet) and communicative travel through person to person messages via telecommunications (such as fixed and mobile telephone calls, emails and instant messages). Sheller and Urry (2006) regard this expanded outlook as the new mobilities paradigm. The next section further examines this concept. Of the five mentioned mobility aspects, this thesis is mainly concerned with two: a particular case of physical travel of humans, population mobility, and one aspect of communicative travel, the use of interactive communication methods between friends. Both are addressed in further detail in this chapter.
Some scholars associate mobility with globalisation (Robins, 2000), suggesting that mobility, as with globalisation, is an inseparable part of modern life. Even the relative stabilities of communities, associations of friendship, work and leisure, that may at first appear to contradict any notion of fluidity are ―everywhere shot through with the woof of human motion, as more persons and groups deal with the realities of having to move, or the fantasies of wanting to move‖ (Appadurai, 1990, p. 297).
There are two different viewpoints to mobility: sedentarism and nomadic (Cresswell, 1993; Kaplan, 1996; Urry, 2000). The sedentary approach sees the world in fixed and bounded ways: nodes, networks, places and lines connecting between them. The node is regarded as immobile, while the line is a means to get from one node to another. This approach associates mobility with movement. The early, sedentary approach to mobility is that it goes with "meagre environments" (Sauer, 1952, p. 22). Mobility is an exception. It is perceived as a threat to stability, a hazard to normal life. Mobility is also contrasted with economic rationality; it is "neither with reason nor experience that a people should exist without roots, that is, without a domain in which to carry on its life activities, one which will ensure and provide for its existence" (Vidal de la Blache, Martonne, & Bingham, 1965, p. 52). In a way, human communities draw away from mobility, which is a natural way of living for animals, by insisting on stability and fixity. Sedentarism is somewhat reflected in Heidegger‘s perception, for whom dwelling means to reside or to stay in a place (Heidegger, 1971). Such places of dwelling are regarded as the fundamental basis of human identity and experience and are used as the basic units of social research (Cresswell, 2002, p. 12-15).
The nomadic, more recent approach to mobility, takes movement as its starting point. It emphasises the power of movement, marking mobility with meaning, linking it to freedom and
Page 48 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society liberty (Bachelard, 1988). However, emotional anchoring is an important aspect for people, even for nomadic people, as a part of the quest for a sense of belonging: "everybody wants to be part of something.... People want to know that they are part of something larger like that they also want to know where it is they fit in‖ (Hetherington, 2000, p. 83). When people are wandering, they use emotional anchoring by objects they travel with, such as books, photo albums and souvenirs, or by travelling with family and friends, who share similar culture and memories. This nourishes feelings of place while on the move (Adey, 2010).
Following the nomadic perspective, places could also be seen as always moving on (Massey, 1993). Places manifest temporal networks of relations: "what is special about place is not some romance or pre-given collective identity or the eternity of the hills. Rather what is special about place is … the unavoidable challenge of negotiating a here and now‖ (Massey, 2005, p. 140), a throwntogetherness (Massey, 2005, p. 149) of space. Places are constituted by ephemeral practices within wider networks of flows and mobilities (Massey, 2005). Places are more than an immobile fixing. They might be associated with ―transient, mobile and momentary senses and experiences‖ (Merriman, 2004, p. 146).
3.2 THE NEW MOBILITIES PARADIGM
In the last decade, scholars from different disciplines have re-examined mobility, developing its physical meaning into a wider extended approach of the new mobilities paradigm (Sheller & Urry, 2006). This paradigm goes beyond geographical boundaries and extends into interdisciplinary arenas, while observing mobility primarily from a social perspective: ―putting social relations into travel and connecting different forms of transport with complex patterns of social experience conducted through communications at-a-distance‖ (Sheller & Urry, 2006, p. 208).
Research of migration, diasporas and transnational citizenship were among the first studies to criticise the bounded and static categories of nation, ethnicity, community, place and state (Ahmed, Castaneda, Fortier, & Sheller, 2003; Basch, Schiller, & Blanc, 1994; Brah, 1996; Gilroy, 1999; Ong, 1999). Feminist transnational studies reinforced this critical view while examining how migrants reconstruct belonging and mobilise place-based identities across geopolitical borders (Fortier, 2000; Joseph, 1999; Tolia-Kelly, 2006). This extended and more flexible perception was later evident also in a social network theory study when Musolesi, Hailes and Mascolo presented a new mobility model founded on social network theory (2004).
Drawing on social network studies, the mobilities paradigm emphasises that networks connect between places so that ―nowhere can be an island‖ (Sheller & Urry, 2006, p. 209), hence
Page 49 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society going beyond spatial terms into social processes. This also challenges definitions of nations, states and societies, which now tend to comply with contemporary theories such as the liquid modernity (Bauman, 2000), redirecting attention from static, solid, spatially-oriented structures to social entities of people, machines, and information in light and liquid systems of movement.
Thus mobilities in this paradigm relates to broad-ranging generic perception that consists of physical movement (walking, running), movement enhanced by technologies (transportation) and movement of images and information (media and, generally, information communication technologies). Paradoxically, mobilities depend on highly embedded and immobile infrastructures (Graham & Marvin, 2001; Sassen, 2002) such as transmitters, roads, stations, airports, as well as cities and geographically based communities, which are also a part of the mobilities research. Places, technologies and other hubs that facilitate mobilities become obligatory for those who wish to fully participate in a networked society while reinforcing immobility on others (Sheller & Urry, 2006).
The new mobilities paradigm argues against separating places and people. Rather, ―there is a complex relationality of places and persons connected through performances....Thus activities are not separate from the places that happen contingently to be visited‖ (Sheller & Urry, 2006, p. 214). Mobility, as well as places, revolves around relationships: ―about the placing of peoples, materials, images, and the systems of difference that they perform‖ (Sheller & Urry, 2006, p. 214). Therefore places are dynamic, but they also involve special proximities: ―the bodily copresence of people who happen to be in that place at that time, doing activities together‖ (Sheller & Urry, 2006, p. 214). Proximities result in social relations which might last through long distance. Hence both proximity and distance are inseparable aspects of social relations:
Indeed all forms of social life involve striking combinations of proximity and distance,
combinations that necessitate examination of the intersecting forms of physical, object,
imaginative and virtual mobility that contingently and complexly link people in patterns
of obligation, desire and commitment, increasingly over geographical distances of great
length. (Urry, 2002, p. 256)
The new mobilities paradigm rearranges social and spatial terms. Spaces and places are no longer considered fixed, while social relations represent emotional mooring. Especially, relationships with family and friends are no longer regarded as fluid and in states of constant change, but are rather perceived as a ‗dynamic stability‘ (Benkler, 2006, p. 366).
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3.3 MOBILITY AND AFFECTION
As mobilities are primarily viewed from a social perspective, they are also strongly connected with emotions, with affective labour. Mobility is felt in an emotional and affective sense: ―motion and emotion are kinaesthetically intertwined and produced together through a conjunction of bodies, technologies and cultural practices‖ (Sheller, 2004, p. 227). For example, immigration scenarios involve the establishment of emotions towards the new place of dwelling and the social and cultural setting as well as sustaining emotions towards people, culture, experiences and places that were left behind. Telecommunications play a major role in maintaining the long distance connections as they facilitate shared moments while apart. Mediated by communication, feelings are diffused in a process similar to physical contagion (Brennan, 2004).
It is important to understand feelings associated with mobility situations, as they are often projected into wider economies and industries, selling sensations, feelings and experiences (Thrift, 2000). They also play a major role in setting political activities, including radicalism, protests and crime (Barbalet, 2001). This thesis explores emotions and affective labour within friendworks associated with two mobility situations: relocating in a seachange community, as a case of population mobility and use of communication between friends. Both are addressed in the next sections.
3.4 POPULATION MOBILITY: RELOCATION IN SEACHANGE COMMUNITIES
Population mobility is a dominant aspect of the modern world that crucially influences nations as well as individuals (Larsen, Axhausen, & Urry, 2006; Larsen, Urry, et al., 2006; Sheller & Urry, 2006; Urry, 2007). Information about population mobility in Australia is provided in the recent census which indicates that 43% of the population reported changing their place of residence in the five years between 2001 to 2006 (Pink, 2006, p. 4). Historically, population mobility in Australia has been characterised by several demographic trends during the twentieth century, gradually moving from inland rural areas to cities. In 1911, Australia's settlement was strongly rural, with 42% of the population living in inland rural areas and following agricultural patterns and the mining industries (Pink, 2006 , p. 16). However, by 2006, only 12% of Australians were located in inland rural areas, while 77% of the population resided in towns and cities of over 1,000 people within 50 km of the coast (Pink, 2006 , p. 16).
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Simultaneous with a general population growth in Australian capital cities (Pink, 2006), counterurbanisation, the movement of people outside metropolitan areas to rural places, has also been identified in recent decades7. Specifically, relocation to rural settlements along the coast has been succinctly described as seachange (Burnley & Murphy, 2004; Hamilton & Mail, 2003; Murphy, 2002). As an example, Burnley and Murphy (2004) report that more people moved out of Sydney to non-metropolitan New South Wales in the intercensal period, 1991 to 1996, than had moved in any other five-year period from 1971 to 1986. This demographic movement is expected to continue into the future (New South Wales statistical local area population projections, 2006-2036, 2010; Salt, 2003). Today, over 20% of the Australian population resides in seachange centres and communities, excluding capital cities (Stokes, 2004). The growth in these coastal areas is consistently higher than the national average (Trewin, 2004).
These figures highlight the important impact of population mobility on seachange communities taking in newcomers in great numbers. A similar scenario is occurring in the United States with population growth increasing in coastal areas adjacent to, or one county beyond the major metropolitan cities (Crossett, Culliton, Wiley, & Goodspeed, 2004). The American case suggests that the seachange phenomenon goes beyond Australia and is of interest to wide expanse countries with an extensive coastline. The Australian government identified this coastal growth as a national phenomenon. In 2004 it established the National Seachange Taskforce, a national body that addresses the impact of the seachange phenomenon and provides support and guidance to coastal councils attempting to manage the impact of rapid growth.
Of all of New South Wales coastal regions, the Richmond-Tweed region (where the case study was conducted) has the fastest recent growth rates (ABS, 2009b). This population increase has been consistent throughout the last twenty years (Salt, 2003). According to the 2001 Census (ABS, 2001), the three shires8 of Tweed, Byron and Ballina recorded some of the highest average annual growth of all New South Wales coastal regions. Ocean Shores, the seachange community in which the study took place, is a town within the Byron shire.
7 Counterurbanisation was originally observed during the 1970s in the United States (Champion, 1989) as well as in Europe (Boyle & Halfacree, 1998).
8 A shire is a Local Government Area (LGA - a third level of government under the federal and the state levels in Australia). Within the Richmond-Tweed region (which is a part of the Northern Rivers area of NSW), there are six local government areas; three of them are mentioned here in relation to the highest average annual growth.
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Australian demographer Bernard Salt (2003) suggests that throughout Australian history, demographic changes correlate with different cultures: first, the move from the bush to cities is identified with the emergence of urbanism. Then, growth of suburbia has been motivated by familial values. Finally, the current demographic change has been defined as seachange. A shift to provincial coastal communities is characterised by lifestyle-seekers, mostly baby boomers, those born in the expansion years between 1946 and 1961 after World War Two, who are looking for a certain lifestyle in the latter years of their working life and in retirement. However, this recent demographic shift is also common among younger people and families moving to coastal areas and is motivated by the desire for alternative lifestyle, though some are forced to relocate due to financial restrictions (Marshall, Murphy, Burnley, & Hugo, 2003). Unlike urbanism and the growth of suburbia, which were population mobility trends led by financial considerations (where people could find work), seachanging is motivated mostly by leisure opportunities. The trend suggests that a higher percentage of the population nowadays are leisure oriented.
This demographic change triggers major challenges for local, state and federal representatives. However, while implications for communities are apparent in infrastructure, employment, education and health, as a social support concern, it receives little attention9. To fill this gap and to highlight the importance and the impact of social support in seachange situations, this study examines friendworks as a social infrastructure contextualised by population mobility in the seachange town of Ocean Shores10. Findings generated from this study provide a grounded analysis that might generate insights that lead to, or inform, policy development.
3.4.1 Self and social identity: A sense of belonging in relocation situations
Once people move to new places, conceptions of place and belonging become central (Kijas, 2003). The concept of belonging is a central aspect in people‘s self identity, to how they define who they are and how they give meaning to their lives. It is also an important part of shaping their social identity, their perceptions and behaviour as part of social groups (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Though in contemporary society people are primarily considered as individuals, it is ―membership of particular groups that is most important in constructing a sense of identity. Social identity is a fundamental aspect of what it is to be human‖ (Marsh, et al., 2007, p. 4).
9 See for example the agenda of the last Australian Coastal Councils conference ("Australian coastal councils conference‖, 2010).
10 More about Ocean Shores in Section 4.2.
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Sense of identity is most commonly founded on social interactions that reinforce belonging to specific social groups through shared beliefs, values, or practices. Choices that people make position them as part of the groups, networks and communities that make up human society.
In most cases people develop different ways of belonging, among which are geographical senses (sense of place), and political, cultural, social and even commercial senses (consider brands and lifestyle markers). Together they construct the social identity of individuals. Nowadays, sense of belonging is far more flexible than it used to be in traditional societies and people can choose some of the categories they wish to belong to. Nevertheless, people still seek the same gratifications: social bonding, loyalty, security and acceptance (Marsh, et al., 2007), which are all associated with sense of belonging. Though belonging in contemporary society involves both global and local means of social interaction, most of people‘s social interactions are still local (Larsen, Urry, et al., 2006, p. 6). Not only do people develop a sense of social belonging associated with their locality, they also develop a sense of place. The need to belong and be a part of a place is well expressed in the following quote:
In settler colonies it is not enough just to occupy the new landscape, you must inscribe it
culturally. The new country must begin to reflect your presence. To cease being
foreigners and start being citizens, to start being of a place instead of merely being in a
place, the landscape needs to begin tell your story. (Byrne, Brayshaw, & Ireland, 2001,
p.49)
While this citation refers to the notion of place among Australian early settlers, it describes a relationship of people to the actual landscape, their place of dwelling. When moving to a new place, this sense of belonging is revamped and adjusted to the new environment. People seek attachments to new and old in an ongoing fluid process of place making. (Kijas, 2003). A sense of place is often used to describe mixed natural and cultural features in the landscape and usually includes the community that resides in that particular place. Together, these spatial and social aspects compose what makes the place special or unique, from the individual‘s perspective, resulting in fostering of a sense of belonging. Though this feeling is individual, it depends on social engagement for its existence.
Sense of belonging is also regarded as one of the attributes that form a sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). A sense of community focuses on the experience of community rather than its structure and formation. It is the individual's perception, understanding, attitudes and feelings about community and their relationship to it. Sense of
Page 54 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society community is considered ―one of the major bases for self-definition‖ (S. B. Sarason, 1974, p. 157). Sarason defines sense of community as:
the perception of similarity to others, an acknowledged interdependence with others, a
willingness to maintain this interdependence by giving to or doing for others what one
expects from them, and the feeling that one is part of a larger dependable and stable
structure. (1974, p. 157)
Doolittle and MacDonald (1978) use five factors to evaluate the level of a sense of community: informal interaction (with neighbours), safety (having a good place to live), pro-urbanism (privacy, anonymity), neighbouring preferences (preference for frequent neighbour interaction), and localism (opinions and a desire to participate in neighbourhood affairs).
Two additional terms to sense of belonging refer somewhat similarly to individuals‘ perception of their established bonds in a given society: social integration (Blau, 1960) and social cohesion (Forrest & Kearns, 2001). They also indicate the level of connectedness of an individual to a specific society and in many cases they involve local communities and neighbourhoods (K. E. Campbell & Lee, 1992). However, most commonly these social terms are explored from a deficient position reflecting social exclusion associated with ethnic minorities and poverty which originate from wider contemporary phenomena of globalisation and marginality. Social exclusion results in crime and insecurity and declining social welfare and social capital (Putnam, 2000). Therefore, in this thesis, which primarily focuses on friendships of internal migration populations rather than marginalised groups, the preference is for the concept of a sense of belonging, which is more positively oriented than is social integration or social cohesion.
The literature on identity and place points toward a strong affiliation between the discussed terms; a sense of place is commonly incorporated into a sense of community. Both concepts are influential when forming a sense of belonging as a part of an individual‘s social identity. These factors intertwine while shaping one‘s self identity. This thesis focuses on a sense of belonging, mainly from the viewpoint of newcomers, those relocating to seachange communities and who are establishing their sense of belonging to the place and its community. Contextualised by the particular location of the study, sense of belonging and the role of communication are addressed and examined. Among the study sample, one specific example of relocation is further investigated: immigration. One third of the case study participants (eight
Page 55 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society women) were born overseas and emigrated to Australia as adults11. Five of them emigrated from Israel12. This group was a part of the Israel-born sub-community, uniquely characterised among the case study sample13.
3.4.2 Immigration
International migration is a case of population mobility. In Australia, due to consistent supportive immigration policies, immigrants compose a notable portion of the overall population; over one quarter of residents of Australia were born overseas, migrating from over 200 countries (Australian citizenship: Our common bond, 2009, p. 51). According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, net overseas migration contributed 66% of the population growth in Australia between September 2008 and September 2009 (2010a).
Social and cultural challenges are associated with the process of immigration. The sudden cutting-off of past and familiar social and cultural environments motivates immigrants to establish new local ties to people with whom they share cultural experiences, to others with a shared ethnicity. According to Werbner (1990; 1999), diasporas constitute place-like attachments along extended social networks, also described as pathways. For immigrants, being mobile together in time is ―critical in both establishing and enhancing a sense of collective purpose and a common understanding‖ (Brennan, 2004, p. 70). This leads to developing feelings of solidarity and belonging, hence contributing to immigrants‘ sense of well-being. Immigrants tend to socialise with similar others, hence composing an ethnic segregated community, as was evident from the case study findings (Section 5.5). In an attempt to overcome social detachment, immigrants also form material and mobile cultures of national identity (Tolia-Kelly, 2008), e.g. celebrating homeland holidays and exchanging culturally significant gifts. This, too, intensifies their social cohesion with similar others. Simultaneously with the process of establishing local, ethnically related social ties, immigrants also sustain social connections with family and friends in their homeland (Brah, 1996). Interactive communication technologies play a major role in this process (Miller & Slater, 2001, p. 56), which was also reported by the Israel-born participants within this study. Borrowing a term originally used in mass media and diaspora studies (Cunningham & Sinclair, 1999), telecommunications act as social agents cultivating existing
11 With an exception of one participant arriving to Australia as a teenager.
12 To learn more about the recruiting method please refer to Section 4.3.
13 Data analysis of findings relating to this group of participants is presented in Section 5.5.
Page 56 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society social relations, rather than promoting the establishment of new local ties. When people are physically travelling, telecommunications facilitates affordable interaction that sustains and maintains social relations. Though originating from different areas of study, physical mobility and communication have much in common when investigated in social contexts. The next section discusses similarities between these two forms of mobility.
3.5 PHYSICAL AND COMMUNICATIVE TRAVEL
Marshall McLuhan was one of the first to observe that the term communication has gradually became divided from transportation (1964). Thrift (1990) regarded this notion quite a few years later when claiming: "transport and communication cannot be split apart" (p. 453). McLuhan (1964) asserted that the division between communication and transportation originated from the separation of informational mobility (words, ideas, imagery) from their physical objects and commodities (stones, coins, papyrus) leading to roads and wagons separated from their fluidity (Adey, 2010, p. 176). Nevertheless, both, communication and mobility technologies (such as railways and aeroplanes), which resulted in a time-space compression (Harvey, 1989), enabled the expansion of human beings‘ abilities to sense, and to receive-and-transmit information, constructing an extended and prosthetic nervous system (M. McLuhan, 1964) within the space of flows (Castells, 1989).
From a social point of view telecommunication and transportation facilitate human interactions, as both mobility concepts directly involve social relations. Kakihara and Sorensen (2002) explain this idea when arguing that being mobile is not only a matter of humans travelling, rather it is a much broader concept which involves human interactions. Not only do these technologies bring social relations together, they also enable the stretching of social relations across increasing distances. Giddens (2007 [1990]) named this ability time-space distanciation: the ability for social obligations, ties and networks to occur over a considerable amount of space.
Meyrowitz (1985) explains how the nomadic approach of mobility extends beyond physical travel to virtual mobility. He argues that the information age returns society to ―the most primitive of social and political forms: the hunting and gathering society. Nomadic people ... [with] little ―sense of place; [whose] specific activities and behaviors are not tightly fixed to specific physical settings‖ (1985, p. 315).
Use of communication technology has generated scholarly debate regarding the substitution of physical travel by telecommunications, mainly via the internet and the fixed- telephone (Plaut, 2004, p. 163). Nowadays scholars tend to agree that mediation of physical
Page 57 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society mobility by communication technologies stimulate and augment real-world travel, rather than substitute for it (for example: Baym, et al., 2004; Boase, et al., 2006; Chen, Boase, & Wellman, 2002; Wellman, et al., 2002). Communication technologies complement physical travel by virtual mobility and by increasing efficiency and productivity of systems, allowing more movements to be performed in smaller amounts of time (Plaut, 1997). Larsen, Urry and Axhausen (2006) follow this line of thought by suggesting that ―rather than replacing physical transport of people and objects, communication technologies make the planning and coordination of travel more efficient and smoother. So rather than substituting for physical travel, it will enhance its volume‖ (p. 54).
This study provides additional evidence to support the complementary interaction between physical travel and communication (relevant findings are presented throughout Chapter 7) when practiced within friendworks. Following the first part of this chapter, which focuses on physical travel and, specifically, population mobility, the following part reviews the second form of mobility explored in this study: communicative travel, namely: practiced communication methods within friendworks.
3.6 ACROSS-MEDIA COMMUNICATION
Communication is a concept used in many ways. In this thesis, communication primarily involves person-to-person interactions in which content of communication may vary. Communication relates to the process of exchanging information (Cherry, 1966), or evoking social or cultural experiences; emotions which result in the production, maintenance, correction and transformation of reality (Carey, 1988a). As communication plays a fundamental role in the network society, one way to learn more about social networks, sub-networks and, in particular, friendworks is to examine their communication use patterns. Derived from the notion that friendworks are a distinct sub-network, specific communication patterns apply. Additionally, based on the crucial role of friendworks in people‘s lives, communication with friends comprises a significant segment within one‘s everyday communication (Moyal, 1992; Wajcman, et al., 2008). These perceptions suggest an interesting field of research: communication patterns within friendworks, which are of main interest to this thesis.
Interpersonal communication is practiced directly or via mediated communications. Direct communication involves face-to-face interaction and requires physical proximity. Mediated communication relates to different communication methods facilitated by communication technologies. The use of technology facilitates communication regardless of spatial proximity. Among these communication technologies are the fixed-telephone, the internet and the mobile phone. In modern society, mediated communication technologies enable the
Page 58 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society extension of existing relationships as well as the creation of new, mainly virtual, social ties (Boase, et al., 2006). The growing accessibility and variety of communication methods gives rise to new, diverse and more complex communication practices that highlight new forms of social relations.
People frequently use a combination of communication methods when communicating with others (Baym, et al., 2004; Foth & Hearn, 2007; Geser, 2007; Hearn & Foth, 2007 ; Tacchi, Slater, & Hearn, 2003), while outfitting a communication method for each situation. Consequently, this study, which examines real-life scenarios, focuses simultaneously on a few communication methods. This approach is in line with the communication ecology theory (Tacchi, et al., 2003), in which communication is understood ―as processes that involve a mix of media, organised in specific ways, through which people connect with their social networks‖ (Tacchi, et al., 2003, p. 17). However, instead of including every medium of communication (including roads, transportation, mass media, public and private places) within the researched communication ecology, as originally suggested by Tacchi, Slater and Hearn (2003), this study focuses only on four interpersonal communication methods, namely: face-to-face, the fixed- telephone, the internet and the mobile phone. Therefore, a more suitable term for the communication focus of this study is across-media communication (Baym, et al., 2004), which is a specific case of communication ecology, referring to some, but not all, communication media in use. This approach to communication is primarily individual and centres on individuals‘ motives, practices and impact.
Considerations such as technological capabilities of communication methods, attitudes towards the social relation and cost provide a wider context and a better understanding of communication practices. Nevertheless, such characteristics are often studied separately and, hence, distance themselves from concrete social interactions (Dijst, 2009). This study addresses this gap by analysing a combination of variables in real-life scenarios.
The literature reviewed in this segment relates to research that examines the role of communication in sustaining friendworks, the effect of spatial proximity on communication and the process of choosing a communication method. Subsequently, each communication method is discussed. Specific attention is given to women‘s studies of each of these communication methods as a point of reference to this case study. As the mobile phone is of particular interest in this thesis, the mobile phone literature is examined in greater detail in Section 3.7.
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3.6.1 The role of communication in sustaining friendworks
Communication addresses deep and basic social needs (Carey, 1988a). It affects individuals‘ level of social support, their probability of having fulfilling personal relationships, their sense of meaning in life, their commitment to social norms and to their communities, and their psychological and physical well-being (Cohen & Hoberman, 1983; Cohen & Wills, 1985; Deiner, Suh, Oishi, Lucas, & Smith, 1999; Gove & Geerken, 1977; Thoits, 1983; Wellman & Wortley, 1990). The act of communication is an expression of interest in relationships. By communicating, people reinforce their closeness. Both direct and mediated communications connect people around shared experiences, thus strengthening their social bond.
Examination of social relations and, particularly, friendworks predominantly involves the exploration of communication patterns between friends, as communication is a fundamental facilitator in creating and sustaining friendworks. Consequently, friendworks and communication are deeply interrelated. Communication patterns within friendworks derive from the nature of the social relations with friends. Concepts of friendships include specific beliefs about the role of communication in friendship, the functions it serves and how communication may be used to express liking and intimacy to friends (Argyle & Henderson, 1984). These concepts are only a part of the overall context of communication. Context is a key term in analysing the role and the meaning of communication. Context of communication consists of any information that might interpret communication interactions including circumstances, reasons, conditions, background, setting and effects of situations. In this respect, when focusing on communication patterns, friendworks and seachanging function as context.
While inspecting purposes of communication, it is evident that people communicate with each other not only to request and share information and coordinate activities, but also to establish and maintain social relationships (Bonvillain, 1993). Somewhat similarly to social support among social relations (Section 2.2.3), Patrick and Metcalf (2001) suggest three main purposes for communicating. 1. Exchange of purposive information that is unambiguous and goal-oriented (such as seeking driving instructions, or asking for certain information). This falls under the instrumental aid category of social support. 2. Exchange of intimate personal information or casual conversation that builds and maintains social relationships. This responds to the emotional support and companionship categories of social support. 3. Transfer of behavioural directives that serve as social sanctions, that is, reassurance and reinforcement of social norms and expectations. These communication purposes nourish social relations instrumentally and emotionally. A similar notion has been acknowledged by Moyal when exploring the role of the fixed-telephone in sustaining social relationships among Australian women (1989b). Moyal differentiated between instrumental and intrinsic calls. Instrumental calls
Page 60 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society concerned the ongoing arrangements needed to be done as a part of women‘s responsibility of running the household, while intrinsic calls revolved around social affairs, emotional support and kin keeping. These observations of instrumental and intrinsic communication as well as social and emotional support were used in this study. Related findings are discussed in Chapters 7- 8.
Recent research based on an analysis of empirical studies of communication practices within social networks (Dijst, 2009) found that prolonged social interactions are facilitated by fixed devices (the fixed-telephone and the internet) at home, at work or elsewhere, while short interaction were held on the mobile phone. Commonly, close friendships involve two types of communication: high and low intensity. High intensity communication refers to interactions that take time and require thought and concentration, often emotionally related. Low intensity communication refers to interactions that take little time, thought, or concentration (Patrick & Metcalf, 2001). In contrast, weak ties are more often characterised only by low intensity communication. This is evident also the other way around; frequent social contact implies relation with a strong tie (Haythornthwaite & Wellman, 1998; Wellman & Tindall, 1993). Frequency of communication is subject to a wider context within which accessibility (whether communication with others could be held directly or via telecommunication) plays a major role. This factor is strongly related to aspects of spatial proximity, as presented in the following section.
3.6.2 Communication and proximity
Even nowadays, when mediated communication is used ubiquitously and extensively facilitating the space of flows (Castells, 1989), it is evident that face-to-face interactions are the dominant mode of social relationships (Baym, et al., 2004; Hampton & Wellman, 2003; Mok, et al., 2007). As a result, despite ‗anytime anywhere‘ techniques, physical proximity is still a crucial factor of real-life social networks (Foth & Hearn, 2007; Mok, et al., 2007; Tillema, Dijst, & Schwanen, 2010), enabling face-to-face encounters to take place. A Canadian study (Mok, et al., 2007) found a decline in frequency of face-to-face contact between people who lived over 8 kilometres apart. The frequency of contact continued to decline steadily. A significant decline was apparent after 80 kilometres (roughly an hour‘s drive) and 160 kilometres (about the limit of a day trip when driving). This study also found that distance influences types of relations; for example, connection based on exchange of tangible minor support (such as exchange of small household items) could only occur in physically proximate relations (Mok, et al., 2007). A recent Dutch study found that the importance of face-to-face interactions increases with increasing proximity (Tillema, et al., 2010).
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Not only does distance matter for direct communication via face-to-face encounters, but it also influences the use of mediated communication methods. People telecommunicate more with proximate friends even when distance is not a barrier for frequent social interaction (Baym, et al., 2004; Mok, et al., 2007; Tillema, et al., 2010). Similar findings have been reported by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (Hampton, et al., 2009), while interviewing a nationally representative sample of American adults, as presented in Figure 3. Distance influenced the choice of communication method; some communication methods, including in-person, mobile phone (voice calls and SMS) and the fixed-telephone, were used most frequently for communication with local ties and much less regularly with those who live at a distance. However, distance did not affect frequency of communication via the internet (email, social network sites [SNS] or instant messaging) or by letters, as presented in Figure 3. The use of emails increases over distance because of the relatively low costs (Dijst, 2009). The Ocean Shores case study, which examined the influence of distance on communication practices with friends, found similar patterns. Relevant findings are discussed in Chapter 7.
Figure 3: Days of contact per year by communication methods (Source: Hampton, et al., 2009)
Overall, communication technology reduces the constraints of distance. This consequently opens new communication opportunities, including better sustainability, maintenance and expansion of relations. However, as concluded in the Canadian study, ―people still have bodies that require physical contact. Proximity continues to promote contact, and few ties thrive as internet-only relationships. Screen-to-screen and face-to-face, the communication tango continues. Distance mattered in 1978, and it still matters today‖ (Mok, et al., 2007, p. 454).
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3.6.3 Choosing a communication method
The main motivation for communicating with friends is social support, including instrumental aid, emotional support and companionship, as discussed in Section 2.3.4. these can be practiced via various communication methods, among which are: face-to-face encounters, fixed, mobile or Voice over IP calls, text exchange via SMS, emails, social network sites ‗walls‘ or chat systems, and video calls. When choosing a communication method, motivations as well as attributes of communication methods are considered. Each method is characterised somewhat differently, hence influencing the media choice process. Clark and Brennan (1991) identify eight communication factors that constrain media choice: co-presence (sharing the same physical environment), visibility (being visible to each other), audibility (communication by voice), co- temporality (receiving and producing signals roughly the same time, for example, face-to-face conversation in contrast with letters exchange), simultaneity (communication can be sent and received at once and simultaneously), sequentiality (communication turns cannot get out of sequence, this is not the case in face-to-face situations when conversation cannot be separated from its surrounding), reviewability (messages can be reviewed. This is not the case in speech conversations, since speech fades quickly), and revisability (communicators can revise the others‘ messages).
Based on this categorisation, physical gatherings are characterised by the highest degree of social presence, of visibility, audibility and simultaneity. Computer-mediated communication is particularly low in co-presence (Rice & Love, 1987). It is often dominated by either text or voice and is, therefore, lean in media richness in comparison to face-to-face encounters (Dunbar, 1999; Walther, 1992). Nevertheless, communication technology might enable reviewability and revisability. Reid (1977) found that fixed-telephone calls were high in richness. Connell, Mendelsohn, Robins and Canny (2001) concluded that the telephone is the favoured mediated communication method, providing optimum blend of richness and presence for natural and satisfying interactions. The internet is considered effective and engaging (Bordia, 1997; Connell, et al., 2001). In some situations, the limited richness is considered as a benefit; in cases of intimate telephone calls (Moyal, 1992), or when sending SMS for quick efficient messages (Goggin, 2006a; Ling, 2004; The mobile life report 2006: How mobile phones change the way we live, 2006).
A fundamental factor when choosing a communication method for social interaction concerns the particular social relationship with the contacted person; the status of the relationship, appropriateness of the communicated content, expected behaviour during the communication process (etiquette), people‘s perception of the effort of the other person in sustaining the relationship (Berg & Clark, 1986), self presentation (Goffman, 1971) and self identity.
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Additional factors of concern when choosing a communication channel relate to practicalities such as cost, accessibility, timing, availability, security, privacy and mobility.
Interaction with friends involves many considerations to bear in mind prior to the actual act of communication. Nevertheless, people seem to make these decisions easily, spontaneously and somewhat unconsciously. However, it is challenging to pin down the actual communication selection mechanism to clarify why people choose to use different media in different contexts (Patrick & Metcalf, 2001) as these might indicate deeper social motivations and considerations. This issue requires further scholarly attention.
3.6.4 Mediated communication via interactive technologies
As humanity is intensively swept into the information age, communication technologies play an increasing role as mediators of human interactions. Without overruling the importance of direct communications, mediated communication play a dominant role within social networks while complementing face-to-face encounters and overcoming physical as well as mental challenges (Haythornthwaite & Wellman, 1998; Mokhtarian, 1990; Salomon, 1986; Wellman & Tindall, 1993).
Studies on the use of technology identify three main approaches: diffusion, adoption and domestication. Diffusion research focuses on distribution processes of a new technology through cultures (Rogers, 1995). Adoption research (Ajzen, 1985; Davis, 1989; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) relates to decisions by end users (Pedersen & Ling, 2002; Rice & Katz, 2003; Smoreda & Thomas, 2001), while domestication research explores adoption and use of technology in everyday life (Haddon, 2001; Livingstone, 1992; Silverstone & Haddon, 1996; Silverstone & Hirsch, 1992). The latter approach is the focus of this study, which examines practices and impact of use of communication methods within daily routines.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics social survey (Pink, 2007) examined domestic practice of communication across-media. Ninety six per cent of informants reported having contact in the previous week (in person, via telephone, mobile, mail or e-mail) with family or friends with whom they did not live in the same household. Of those, 79% had contact in person while 93% had weekly contact via telecommunications, including fixed-telephone, mail or e- mail. This survey shows that most people frequently meet friends (and family) in person, while simultaneously interacting with them via mediated communication methods.
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100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Fixed telephone Mobile calls SMS Internet Mail or fax All persons 91 77 50 47 31 Females 93 77 53 49 37 Female over 35 95 65 41 41 39 Males 88 74 47 44 26 Male over 35 91 68 36 40 27
Figure 4: Communication methods in use to contact family or friends living outside the household in last 3 months (Source: Pink, 2007, females n=4341, males n=4156)
The same survey (Pink, 2007) also found that fixed-telephone is the most popular mediated communication method used when interacting with family and friends14. On average, 95% of females aged 35-7415 years reported using the fixed-telephone to communicate with family and friends, slightly more than men aged 35-74 (91%), as presented in Figure 4. The mobile phone (especially voice calls) was more commonly used than the internet. Women aged 35-74 communicated less via the mobile phone (calls 65%, SMS 41%) in comparison with the wider population (calls 77%, SMS 50%). This finding is consistent with the thesis, which also found low mobile phone use among the case study participants (see Section 8.1).
14 Interestingly, the American study reported earlier in Figure 3 (Hampton, et al., 2009) found that respondents used the mobile phone more frequently than the fixed-telephone to maintain contact with core network members.
15 Based on available datasets of this survey, similar age groups to the Ocean Shores case study were investigated.
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1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0 18– 20– 25– 30– 35– 40– 45– 50– 55– 60– 65– 70– 75– 80– 85+ 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 69 74 79 84 Telephone 0.76 0.786 0.84 0.88 0.895 0.935 0.918 0.932 0.938 0.94 0.956 0.959 0.944 0.968 0.955 Mobile calls 0.92 0.929 0.919 0.871 0.83 0.795 0.785 0.739 0.731 0.634 0.549 0.409 0.318 0.203 0.099 SMS 0.873 0.858 0.812 0.747 0.631 0.566 0.506 0.433 0.373 0.258 0.179 0.099 0.064 0.014 0.015 Internet 0.62 0.586 0.64 0.619 0.555 0.528 0.488 0.469 0.446 0.345 0.28 0.195 0.126 0.07 0.025
Figure 5: Methods used to communicate with family or friends living outside the household in last 3 months (Source: Pink, 2007, n=13,375)
This tendency to use the fixed telephone when interacting with family and friends increases with age. A higher percentage of older people reported using the fixed-telephone to communicate with family and friends than did younger respondents, as presented in Figure 5. On average, the internet was reported to be used by fewer people (41%) than those reported using mobile phone voice calls (68%) for the same purpose, but slightly more than were using SMS (38%).
The fixed-telephone
Using the fixed-telephone for domestic purposes is common (Fischer, 1992; Keller, 1977; Lohan, 1997; Martin, 1991; Mok, et al., 2007; Moyal, 1992; Rakow, 1992). It is considered a very effective way of communication (A. A. L. Reid, 1977), used for intimate, multiplex, strong ties (Wellman & Tindall, 1993). Gradually, since its invention over 100 years ago and throughout the twentieth century, the fixed-telephone has changed its status from an instrument for emergency situations and strictly business calls, to diverse practices and, most notably, for social interactions made by practically everyone for everyday purposes (Aronson, 1971; Fischer, 1992; Martin, 1991).
Examination of current use of the fixed-telephone by adult Australians shows that in June 2008, 88% of the Australian population were connected to a home fixed-line phone service and the number of fixed-line call minutes was marginally higher than the number of mobile call minutes, at 60 billion and 56 billion respectively (ACMA, 2009b, based on Roy Morgan Single Source Australia database). The same report (ACMA, 2009b) of 1396 interviewees over 18 years found a strong correlation between age and fixed-telephone subscription, as presented in Figure
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6. Older Australians, particularly those over 35 years, similarly to the case study age group, were more likely to have a fixed-telephone service. Ninety six per cent of older married couples without dependants were fixed-telephone subscribers and 92% of Australian households with both parents and school-aged children maintained a fixed-telephone service, 96% of these households were also connected to the internet while using their fixed-telephone to do so.
100 96 94 94 90 90 88
80 80 75
70 % with fixed-line phone fixed-line with %
60
50 18–24 25–34 35–49 50–64 65–69 70 and over Average Age
Figure 6: Percentage of Australians with fixed-telephone, by age (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396)
Australians reported using the fixed-telephone and the mobile phone as complementary services (ACMA, 2009b). Those aged between 35 and 54 showed no obvious preference for using either mobile or fixed-telephone communication. However, younger users exhibited a clear preference for mobile use, while over 55 years showed a clear preference for the fixed-telephone. See Figure 7.
100%
80%
Equally 60% Mobile Fixed line 40%
20% % most common communications choice communications common most%
0% 18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 65–69 70+ Average Age category
Figure 7: Voice service most often used by household consumers, by age (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396)
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Cost was the primary concern influencing the consideration (or not) of replacing a fixed- telephone service with the mobile phone. A decreasing number of users than was reported in a previous survey conducted in 2007 stated that the fixed-telephone offered cheaper calls (49% of users marked this reason in 2007 and 36% in 2008). Over half the users stated that if mobile phones were cheaper, they would consider replacing their fixed-telephone service. Other reasons for replacing (or not) a communication method were comparatively marginal, as presented in Table 3. Cost was a major concern in the Ocean Shores case study, too. Relevant findings are analysed in Section 8.7.
Table 3: Reasons provided by Australian residential users for considering replacing/not replacing a fixed-telephone service with a mobile phone (Source: ACMA, 2008, p. 11, n=1,426, all those with a mobile phone in household, multiple choice question)
Reasons for considering replacing a fixed- 2007 2008 Reasons for not considering replacing a 2007 2008 telephone service fixed-telephone service
To save costs/If mobile calls were cheaper 58% 54% Fixed lines offer cheaper calls 49% 36%
If happier with mobile service 17% 4% Fixed lines more reliable/better quality 19% 15%
Both not necessary; like one phone/one bill 9% 6% Problems with mobile use and coverage 17% 7%
Do not use fixed line much anymore 9% 17% Need fixed line for internet/fax connection 15% 8%
If did not need fixed line for internet 8% 7% Fixed lines are always there—suit my 10% 19% needs
Technology is moving that way 7% 5% Legacy service—what I am used to 7% 8%
If mobile coverage was better 3% 2% Need it to access emergency call service N/A 4%
Need a landline for business use 2% 2%
Other 7% 20% Other 8% 24%
In line with Moyal‘s findings over two decades ago (1989b) most calls made from a fixed telephone are local16. An analysis of all Australian fixed-telephone bills by ACMA (2009, Figure 8) shows that 81% of fixed-telephone calls made were to local fixed-telephone numbers. Seventy three per cent of calls were made to mobile phones, followed by 65% long distance calls. International calls were the least practiced over the fixed-telephone (25%). The pattern of there being more interactions to spatially proximate contacts, which has been mentioned in Figure 3, is
16 Accordingly, calls‘ cost over the fixed-telephone to local fixed-telephones is most commonly the cheapest compared to other mentioned types of calls (though cost might vary depending on particular plans).
Page 68 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society reinforced by the ACMA survey (2009b), even more so when considering calls to mobile phones, which are mostly held within spatial proximity (Hampton, et al., 2009).
Figure 8: Type of calls made from fixed-telephone based on telephone bill (Source: ACMA, 2009a, based on Roy Morgan Single Source database)
Not only is it that almost all Australians use fixed-telephone services (ACMA, 2009b), they also consider this communication method as the most important in maintaining contact with extended family (Wajcman, et al., 2008). This survey reports that 87% of respondents stated that the fixed telephone was the most important method, followed by face-to-face visits (77%), the mobile phone (68%), emails (53%), texting (48%), letter writing (21%) and VOIP services (12%). Respondents used the landline in the evening for longer conversations with relatives or friends while using the mobile phone for shorter calls (Wajcman, et al., 2008, p. 36).
Women and the fixed-telephone
Research acknowledges the contribution of women to the shift to the use of the fixed- telephone, from business to social practices (Frissen, 1995; Martin, 1991; Moyal, 1992; Rakow, 1992). Martin (1991) explains this change when noting that the fixed-telephone was adapted to male use and was not necessarily suitable to female activities. Consequently, women used the telephone ―in ways unexpected by men‖ (p. 141). Women primarily used the fixed-telephone to facilitate their social-gendered roles as mothers and wives, or their work-related-activities as housewives and wage labour (Cockburn & Ormrod, 1993). This finding is supported by a recent Australian survey (Wajcman, et al., 2008) that notes that even nowadays women are more likely than men to state that contact with family was ‗very important‘, regardless of the communication method (this was consistent for fixed-telephone, mobile phone and emails). Using the fixed-
Page 69 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society telephone for domestic and social practices was not originally predicted or planned, as, generally, women have been excluded from using technologies (Wajcman, 2004). Nevertheless, the fixed- telephone was widely adopted across the population. Years later, Rakow commented on the female use of the telephone stating that:
The telephone is a site at which the meanings of gender are expressed and practiced. Use
of the telephone by women is both gendered work - work delegated to women - and
gender work - work that confirms the community‘s beliefs about what are women‘s
natural tendencies and abilities. (1992, p. 33)
For many years, these uses were denounced, depreciated and socially undervalued as low status uses, e.g. gossip. It was not until the end of the 1980s and in correlation with the increasing awareness of social capital and social networks and their significance, that social use of the telephone was re-evaluated and re-positioned as critically contributing to women‘s well-being. Rakow (1992) found that women executed important work over the telephone, maintaining relationships, fulfilling the functions of the community and giving-and-receiving care. Fischer (1992) similarly concluded that the telephone supported a wide-ranging network of social relations and played a crucial role in community life, especially for women. Moyal (1992) emphasised the positive influence of using the fixed-telephone for the well-being, security, stability, and self-esteem of women. She defined the telephone neighbourhood (Aronson, 1971) as a key environment for women (Moyal, 1989a).
As mentioned, Moyal differentiated between instrumental and intrinsic calls (Moyal, 1989b). Research found that men and women practiced both types of calls. However, Moyal‘s study (1992) showed that most women‘s calls were intrinsic, while other research found that men tended to predominantly make instrumental use of the phone, because they perceived it as a business tool (Lohan, 1997; Martin, 1991; Pool, 1977). Additional findings from Moyal‘s study (1989a) were that women talked more freely and intimately on the telephone with close friends than they did face-to-face. Participants reported that the telephone highlighted warmth and sympathy in the voice. These findings were reinforced in later studies of women and the internet and the mobile phone, and are discussed in the following sections. It suggests that women practice their gender role across communication methods.
The telephone was the earliest interpersonal telecommunication technology that was widely adopted for social interaction purposes. This domestication process of the fixed-telephone stretched over a century. Nowadays, the fixed-telephone still plays an important role in
Page 70 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society maintaining social relations, even when alternative new media such as the internet and the mobile phone are widely used.
The internet
One of the most popular uses for the internet is in socialising (Cole, 2000; Jones, 2002; Kraut, Mukhopadhyay, Szczypula, Kiesler, & Scherlis, 1998). This practice is continuously increasing as a result of the growing popularity of the World Wide Web and broadband internet access. Sixteen per cent of Australian households had home internet access in 1998 (ABS, 2009a), 64% in 2006 (2007b) and 72% in 2009 (ABS, 2009a). Since 2004, broadband access to the internet has increased from 17% to 62% in 2009 (ABS, 2009a). Online social activities flourish due to the growth of recent online social platforms such as the social network sites (Boyd, 2006).
Internet users do not only socialise more online. Studies report that internet users have larger real-life social networks than non-users (Boase, et al., 2006). Internet users were also found to communicate more with people who are geographically distant without decreasing the number of local connections. Benkler argues that the internet improves the ability of individuals to ―add to ... existing proximate relationships new and better-connected relationships with people who are geographically distant‖ (2006, p. 364). Internet users also claim that the number of people they stay in touch with has increased, while there is no effect on the time they spend with their family (Benkler, 2006). This is in line with the common latest approach among scholars that indicates that new media complements rather than substitutes for face-to-face interactions (see Section 3.5). Nevertheless, research has not yet led to consensus on either the nature of social interaction online or its effects on social involvement and personal well-being.
Cummings et al. (2002) argue that computer mediated communication is less adequate than telephone or face-to-face conversations for building and sustaining close social relationships. This is due to the fact that nonverbal, physiological cues like facial expressions and gestures that are essential for listeners to be able to make sense of the intention behind a speaker‘s words are not transmitted via text based communication (Dunbar, 1999). There is also a growing debate around the quality of online social interactions. Wellman and Boase (2002) emphasise the large numbers of contacts users establish over the internet; larger than users can regularly communicate with. The tendency of having large numbers of online contacts is growing in parallel to the increased popularity of social network sites (Boyd, 2006). Wellman and Boase (2002) argue that virtual relations tend to be weak and are sparsely-knit. Moreover, internet characteristics enable anonymity, physical distance, partial or lack of physical appearance and materialisation of time; hence contributing to lower quality of interactions (McKenna & Bargh,
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2000). Nevertheless, as rapid changes take place in the internet arena, especially with the increased attention on social media, social relationships will be redefined, reinvented and re- practiced in creative and unexpected ways.
Many internet use studies focus on this medium as a single entity (Baym, et al., 2004). However, it is evident that different online activities (email, chat, forums, web sites, social networks) are used differently based on distinctive social, economic, educational, cultural and political motivations. Therefore, there is a growing need to differentiate online activities (Baym, et al., 2004; Matei & Ball-Rokeach, 2002). This study follows this notion while focusing on four different internet formats: email, instant messaging, voice/video calls and social network sites. This distinction is a bit confusing as most platforms offer a combination of these formats. For example, online email systems such as Gmail include a chat option, Buzz (similar to writing on a wall at social network sites) and even a voice and video calls plug-in (‗google talk‘). VoIP platforms such as Skype enable instant messaging, voice and video calls as well as an option of transferring files. I briefly consider each of these internet formats.
Email (electronic mail) is primarily a textual medium. It lacks audio and visual signals (Bordia, 1997). Nevertheless, it is a main internet medium for social interaction (Jones, 2002), as well as for business purposes (Madden, 2003). This could be partially credited to the application‘s seniority (since 1961), but also due to it allowing versatile communication: short or detailed, formal or informal, addressed to one person, a group, or large numbers of people. Most importantly, emails are a form of written documentation that can be forwarded, replied, revised, saved, stored, ignored, deleted and, to a certain extent, verified. Though email messages are sent and received very quickly, email is not a real-time application but rather an asynchronous service. Therefore, usually it does not resemble real-life situations when a flowing dialogue is in place. Email is used more frequently than the fixed-telephone when keeping in touch with people who live far away and in different time zones (Baym, et al., 2004), yet it also connects those who live nearby (Boase, et al., 2006). Email is used more with friends than with relatives (Chen, et al., 2002). It is more capable than face-to-face or the telephone to facilitate regular contact with large networks (Boase, et al., 2006). People tend to use emails to put their social networks into motion when they need help with important issues in their lives (Boase, et al., 2006).
Instant messaging is a quick and efficient way for brief near-synchronous interactions (Connell, et al., 2001). Originally text-based, it imitates real-life face-to-face oral conversations over an internet application. It allows a quick, spontaneous, brief and informal way to stay in touch, usually with friends, less with family members or work colleagues who are not categorised also as friends (Nardi, Whittaker, & Bradner, 2000). Nevertheless, applications facilitating communication with colleagues have been widely developed and adopted by organisations in
Page 72 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society recent years as an effective working tool (Michael, 2003), not only within enterprises, but also as a client service platform that replaces or complements the use of the fixed-telephone. However, its main function (even within organisations) is social (Nardi, et al., 2000). Instant messaging requires use of the same platform by both communicators. It usually enables use of emoticons and hypertext, allowing insertion of attachments and, recently, voice and video calls. The latter ability blurs the distinction between instant messaging and voice/video calls applications.
Voice/video calls technically became available in 1995 (Varshney, Snow, McGivern, & Howard, 2002) but have only been widely used more recently. These calls are based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology that enables internet users who share the same application to communicate free of charge. It emulates the dynamics of the fixed-telephone call. Though originally developed as a working tool for business purposes, once implemented in the domestic arena, VoIP has been widely adopted worldwide, mainly as a means of communication between distant, international friends and family members, due to its cost-saving benefits (ACMA, 2009b) in comparison to fixed-telephone calls.
80 69
60
45 38 40
% VoIP users VoIP % 25
20
2 0 Local calls Long distance Calls to mobiles International calls Other calls within Australia Type of calls
Figure 9: Types of calls made by Australian consumers using VoIP (Source: ACMA, 2009b)
In Australia, 69% of VoIP subscribers used this service for international calls, 45% for long distance calls and 38% for local calls. The smallest portion of users (25%) conducted VoIP calls to mobile phones, as presented in Figure 9. The Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA] survey (2009b) found that the highest rates of VoIP adoption in Australia are among 25 to 34-year-olds and 45 to 54-year-olds. In the Ocean Shores case study, use of Skype, a VoIP application, was reported mainly by those born overseas who regularly communicated with family and friends overseas.
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Social network sites provide an online environment for individuals and groups who share interests and activities. These websites offer interactive applications and formats, such as instant messaging, messages, ‗walls‘ (which are actually a updated version of bulletin boards), events invitations, photos and files sharing, personal records publishing (blogs), group discussions and much more. New social applications are available on an ongoing flow, motivating users to domesticate new online practices. This ‗supermarket‘ approach is the main difference between the dedicated applications that have been discussed earlier and the social network sites. The latter is based on users logging into the social network site, mainly in order to interact with new or familiar users or to send and receive personal updates. People who use social networks to communicate, first choose the platform (the specific social network site), login to their online profile, and then communicate with accessible others in the various available techniques. This approach represents an original and different socialising pattern to the other communication methods which involve predetermined decisions by users regarding who they wish to communicate with, followed by a selection of the most appropriate platform to do so (either online or offline).
Most commonly internet users pay a monthly fixed rate for a defined internet service. At December 2009, there were 9.1 million active internet subscribers in Australia, nearly 90% non dial-up (ABS, 2010b), who pay a fixed monthly fee. This charging model which is different to the fixed-telephone and the mobile phone motivates users to prefer the internet over other telecommunications when communicating for personal reasons out of cost considerations.
Women and the internet
Worldwide, and throughout the twentieth century, there have been major shifts in the social status of women. One very rapid, crucial factor reflecting this social change is the decreasing gender gap in internet accessibility. In the early history of the internet, men had greater access than women to the internet. Nowadays, this gap is narrowing rapidly, and in some countries (especially developed countries), it no longer exists (Fallows, 2005; ITU, 2002; Rice & Katz, 2003; I. M. Wasserman & Richmond-Abbott, 2005). Nevertheless, such structural barriers prevent women in other parts of the world from participating in the benefits of the information society (Sciadas, 2005).
Research in the 1980s identified explicit gender-based discrimination in education systems that encouraged boys to develop technological skills while teaching girls domestic oriented activities (Dryburg, 2000). This policy reinforced the gender gap among young generations in using computers and, years later, in using the internet. Recent studies show that women are catching up to men in most measures of online life (Fallows, 2005). Nevertheless,
Page 74 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society internet research tends to indicate a gender inequality in use patterns (Bimber, 2000; Cushing, 1996; Sussman & Tyson, 2000), as indicated by Herring:
The internet reproduces the larger societal gender status quo ... the idealistic notions that
the internet would create a gender-blind environment and level gender-based power
asymmetries receive little support from the evidence about gender and the internet over
the past twenty years. (2003, pp. 217-219)
Herring (2003) claims that gender differences are visible through discourse style and patterns of disparity and harassment. A study by Pew Internet (Fallows, 2005) reinforces gender differences while indicating that men like the internet for the experiences it offers, while women like it for the human connections it promotes. More recent studies still verify gender differences in internet use patterns (Li & Kirkup, 2007; Witte & Mannon, 2010). While internet access statistics show growing gender equality worldwide, use patterns suggest that gender roles, as practiced in daily life, are evident in internet use. Rakow‘s diagnosis of the gendered use of the telephone (1992, p. 33) is also evident in contemporary internet use and to some extent in mobile phone use, as is discussed in Section 3.7.5.
In conclusion, this section, focusing on across-media communication, emphasises the importance of interpersonal communication in facilitating social relations. It highlights the connection between spatial proximity and use of communication methods. In the next chapter, this is used to justify the methodological decision to focus on a specific research location, aiming to capture social relations within a defined and restricted spatial proximity. This section also reviewed research regarding communication patterns, especially when choosing a communication method. This sets the background needed in order to analyse and explain communication patterns of the case study participants when interacting with friends (see Chapter 7). A focus on the internet and the fixed-telephone, including a gender-based view on use patterns of these technologies, provides a broader understanding of the main orientation, practices and applications of these methods, which set the ground for a comparison with the case study findings (Chapter 7).
Following the general review of across-media communication, as well as a discussion of research regarding the fixed-telephone and the internet, the next section discusses in greater detail the use of the mobile phone. Among the three researched mediated communication methods, most attention was given to this method during the interviews and the surveys (see Section 4.6) and consequently in analysing the collected data (see Chapter 8).
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3.7 THE MOBILE PHONE
Mobile phones were commercially launched in the mid 1980s and in Australia in 1987 (Goggin, 2006b) and became globally ubiquitous during the late 1990s (Agar, 2003; Goggin, 2006a; Guislain, Zhen-Wei, Lanvin, Minges, & Swanson, 2006). By 2002, the number of mobiles worldwide exceeded the global number of telephone fixed lines ("Key global telecom indicators for the world telecommunication service sector‖, 2003). In Australia, by 2008, 83% of the adult population and 78% of Australians aged 14 to 17 owned a mobile phone (ACMA, 2009b). On average Australian families with children use three mobile phones (ACMA, 2007). A national telephone survey undertaken by Roy Morgan Research for the Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA] in 2008 (2009b), which consisted of 1396 interviewees over 18 years, found a strong correlation between age and mobile phone ownership (Figure 10). The case study age group of over 35 years is characterised by a continuous decline in ownership percentage in accordance with age. Nevertheless, among the case study sample of 26 participants, only one (66 years of age) did not own a mobile phone.
% use mobile phone
100 95 92 89 89 90 83 81 80
71 70
60
52 50 18–24 WP 18–24 25–34 35–49 50–64 65–69 70+ Average Age
Key: 18–24 WP= respondents aged 18-24 living With Parents [WP]
Figure 10: Australian household consumers - Mobile phone user profile, by age (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396)
ACMA‘s report (2009b) indicates that lifestyle and the proportion of time spent at home are reflected in the percentage of mobile phone subscribers. The lowest ownership figures were for retirees, followed by people engaged in home duties, students and part time work (Figure 11).
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Two thirds of the case study participants belong to these segments (more details on participants‘ demographic profile are presented in Section 4.5).
100 92 86 83 84 79 80
63 60
% mobile users mobile % 40
20
0 Full-time Part-time Home duties Don't work Retired Students
Work status
Figure 11: Mobile phone ownership rates by work status, May–June 2008 (Source: ACMA, 2009b, n=1396)
Following the unprecedented diffusion of mobile phones, there is a growing interest in mobile phone uses, their meaning and their impact on society and culture (for example: Castells, Fernandez-Ardevol, Linchuan-Qiu, & Sey, 2007; Goggin, 2006a; Haddon & Green, 2009; Katz & Aakhus, 2002; Ling, 2004). Ongoing surveys provide further information on use patterns worldwide (such as ITU, 2008; Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, & Purcell, 2010; Sørensen, 2006; Wei & Lo, 2006) and within Australia (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008, 2009; Wajcman, et al., 2008). This thesis, too, focuses on mobile phone use, addressing a gap in knowledge of how adult women routinely use the mobile phone in daily life.
Drawing on the new mobilities paradigm as a dominant theoretic framework within this study, the mobile phone demonstrates an intersecting point of all types of mobilities. It primarily involves physical movement of the actual device carried when people physically travel, while facilitating communicative travel by enabling interpersonal communication. Additionally and as a result of convergence of the mobile phone with the internet platform, it also allows imaginative travel of text, images and videos as well as virtual travel when using online applications over the mobile device (Larsen, Urry, et al., 2006, p. 49). This convergence results in new ways of interacting while on the move (Büscher, 2006; J. Jain, 2006).
The pervasiveness of mobile phones and the many dimensions of mobility they facilitate led this research to examine in what ways populations in one situation of mobility (relocating to a seachange community) use mobile phones and whether mobile devices support their personal
Page 77 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society population mobility scenario. Therefore, this review primarily questions reasons for using the mobile phones.
3.7.1 Why people love using mobiles
Mobile phones challenge two main limitations of human communication – physical proximity, and stable dwelling places, which Geser (2004) characterises as spatial immobility. A quite similar notion is developed by Castells et al (2007) and Hassan (2006) who argue that time and space are the fundamental, material dimensions and borders of human existence. Mobile phones interact and reshape boundaries that humanity, up until now, could not readily cross. By doing so, mobile phones respond to deep universal social needs (Geser, 2004).
These social needs originate from an ancient and important human craving for a sense of belonging (see Section 3.4.1). Srivastava (2005) argues that out of four classic facets to the sense of belonging (place, family, country and race) ―mobile phones have certainly had an impact on the first two‖ (2005, p. 112). She predicts that once the restriction of distance is totally challenged by wireless technologies, it can be expected that sense of belonging to a communication network will be the next evolutionary social step. A similar idea has been earlier expressed by Fortunati (2002b), which explains how the mobile phone has shifted humanity‘s sense of belonging to a place towards a sense of belonging within social relations: ―Those affective elements that are lost in the relation with space are transferred to a social level, that is loyalty, the sense of identification, familiarity, stability, security, and so on‖ (pp. 519-520). Developing this idea further, Adey suggests that in the network society, space becomes fluid while social connections are considered as solid: ―mooring of space is lost, but not the mooring of social relations‖ (Adey, 2010, p. 221). Social connections are regarded as a point of stability in an increasingly moving world: "connections are rocks among the quicksand. On them you can count‖ (Bauman, 2003, p. 59). An example of the mobility of places versus the stability of social relations is evident in the Ocean Shores case study and in other population mobility reports where people move from one place to another but stay in social relations with distant family and friends. This is discussed in Chapter 5. Therefore, according to this view, social relations are a solid core at the heart of society, contextualised by space and mediated by communication as constantly changing peripheral characteristics and practices.
Based on this social need to belong, Lasen (2004) states that mobile phones have become an affective technology. They ―mediate the expression, display, experience and communication of feelings and emotions.... Users enjoy an affective relationship with their phones and feel attached to them‖ (Lasen, 2004, p. 1). This tendency to relate to mobile phones as affective technology is enhanced because mobile phones are carried physically close to the
Page 78 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society body and therefore function as an extension of the human body and its abilities (M. McLuhan, 1964). Additionally, mobile phones ―allow the virtual presence of those linked to us by phone communication. Thus, they become an important element in the building and maintaining of groups and communities‖ (Lasen, 2004, p. 1). As a result, Lasen infers that ―people have a more emotional relationship with their mobile phone than they do with other forms of computational devices‖ (Lasen, 2004, p. 2).
Challenging physical limitations combined with social reassurance and affection is among the major incentives for using mobile phones. Overall, people are very satisfied with using mobile phones. The common perception of the mobile phone is positive. Surveys show that most users agree that the mobile phone has improved their quality of life (On the move: The role of cellular communications in American life, 2006; Sørensen, 2006; Wajcman, Bittman, Jones, Johnstone, & Brown, 2007; Women want UMTS 2003) and that they became an indispensable part of their everyday routine (Wajcman, et al., 2007). Similar findings were already apparent in the fixed-telephone research (Aronson, 1971; Fischer, 1992; Keller, 1977; Moyal, 1992; Pool, 1977; Rakow, 1988).
3.7.2 Uses of the mobile phone
The longer people use mobile phones, the more these devices become a major social artefact in every aspect of their life (Castells, et al., 2007; Goggin, 2006a; Katz & Aakhus, 2002). The primary motivation for mobile adoption is its instrumental functions: getting reassuring information about the well-being of loved-ones (Rakow & Navarro, 1993), the chance to call for help in emergency cases (Ling, 2004; Ling & Yttri, 2002), the ability to execute errands on the run (Sørensen, 2006), and work-related obligations (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007). Many new users imagine they will use the phone only in special non-routine situations, not as a ubiquitous personal extension in their daily life (Geser, 2004). However, in time, most individuals develop fascinating relationships with their mobile phones, while significantly expanding their mobile uses beyond their original intent (Srivastava, 2005). This pattern has historical parallels with the motivations underpinning business and residential uses of the fixed-telephone and the internet.
National Australian surveys (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008, 2009; Wajcman, et al., 2008) indicate that mobile phones are mostly used for personal reasons such as social or leisure purposes (34%) and managing home and family (28%). Only 22% of calls are related to work or study. SMS are even more socially oriented (86% by men, 96% by women). Similarly, Mackay and Weidlich (2007, 2008) found that most Australians use their phone exclusively or mainly for personal use (73% in 2008 Survey; 71% in 2007 Survey). The 2007 AIMIA survey data (Figure 12) mentioned particular gender use patterns. Twice as many women (38%) use the mobile
Page 79 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society exclusively for personal reasons than men (19%). Men use the mobile exclusively or mainly for work over three times more than women (14%). This implies that within overall national usage, distinct use patterns are evident. Women tend to use the mobile phone more for personal use.
Exclusively for personal 19% 38% Mainly for personal 40%
About 50-50 40%
Mainly for work 28%
18% 12% Exclusively for work 3% 2% 1% Males Females
Figure 12: Mobile phone use (personal/work) by gender (Source: Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, n=3735)
While these studies (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008, 2009; Wajcman, et al., 2008) provide valuable findings regarding the use of mobile phones, only basic information is collected to describe general perceived use patterns (for example, when respondents indicate their use pattern on a scale from exclusively for work to exclusively for personal, as presented in Figure 12). An actual examination of motivations for mobile phone use (for example: work-related, socialising, coordination) is lacking. Hence, within personal use, communication motivations are unknown. This kind of examination is of primary interest in the Ocean Shores case study.
Some of this uncertainty regarding motivations for using mobile phones is addressed in Wajcman, Bittman, Johnstone, Brown and Jones‘ (2008) study which found that in multi-person households, the greatest importance of mobile phone use is attached to information about the timing of the arrival at home (79%) and arranging to meet with other family members (80%). Among parents, ‗arranging to deliver goods or children‘ and ‗finding out where children are‘ is rated as important by 48% and 47% respectively. These practices fall under the micro- coordination/instrumental category. A recent analysis of communication practices within social networks based on empirical studies (Dijst, 2009) shows that the use of the mobile phone fulfils the need for instantaneous social contacts, which are short in duration. Additionally, the mobile phone enhances communication among couples and provides short signs of affection.
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Mobile phones converge many and different applications into one device, turning it into a very meaningful and effective tool for its users for business as well as everyday purposes. The most popular mobile application is voice calls (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008; Wajcman, et al., 2008) followed by SMS, as presented in Figure 13. A gradual decline is noticeable for both applications with time while use of other services increases, generally implying a change towards more advanced use pattern by mobile phone users.
Numbers represent % of respondents
Figure 13: What percentage of the respondents‘ phone bill is spent on which uses (Source: Mackay & Weidlich, 2008, p. 37)
SMS (Short Message Service) is an asynchronous data application that transmits short text messages to one or more individuals. This service is very handy for adults and extremely popular among adolescents, who use this service because of cost issues and its features, for example, text messages can be planned, reviewed and revised prior to submission, and they are very personal and less intrusive than a voice call and involve special language that embodies much of their phatic purpose (Ling, 2003). SMSs are used for various purposes, such as coordination, information and social support.
When asked the reasons for not using the mobile phone for applications other than voice calls and SMS (Figure 14), one quarter of respondents reported that they lacked the knowledge of what other applications do, how to set them up or how to access content on the internet. However, the other three quarters knowingly chose not to use more advanced applications. Most participants were aware of new features and ways to use their mobile phones, but did not think they could benefit from such use.
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Figure 14: Reasons why respondents don‘t use their mobile phone beyond voice and SMS as a percentage of those who said they only use their phones for voice and SMS (Source: Mackay & Weidlich, 2008, p. 63)
Other applications available on mobile phones are multimedia messaging service (MMS), internet browsing, photo shooting, email, video calls, music and games. These applications are by far less popular than voice calls and SMS (Wajcman, et al., 2007). They are usually practiced by a fairly small number of users who use them relatively intensely, though their proportion within the mobile phone users increases with time and in correlation to technological developments (Mackay & Weidlich, 2009). Accordingly, they are of secondary concern to this thesis.
3.7.3 Uses and gratifications of mobile phone use
An interesting way to analyse mobile phone use is by examining users‘ motivations based on the uses and gratifications theory (Blumler & Katz, 1974). This theory is a way to examine mobile phone use in the light of social and psychological needs of individuals. Though this theory was originally developed to explain the use of mass communications, its principles are relevant to this study. Relevant findings are discussed in Sections 7.3 and 8.4- 8.5. According to uses and gratification theory, media users play an active role in choosing and using communication technologies, thus taking an active part in the communication process while being goal-oriented in their use. Consequently, this theory is in line with the approach of the social shaping of technology (Green, 2002; MacKenzie & Wajcman, 1985).
Leung and Wei (2000) draw on uses and gratifications theory when examining mobile phone use. They group motives and gratifications sought when using the mobile phone into seven
Page 82 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society categories, originally outlined in research of uses and gratifications of the fixed-telephone (Dimmick, Sikand, & Patterson, 1994; LaRose & Herbert, 1993; O'Keefe & Sulanowski, 1995). These categories are: mobility, immediate access, instrumentality, affection and sociability, reassurance, fashion and status, and relaxation.
Mobility allows communication during physical travel, which consequently saves users‘ time (Ishii, 2006) and results in better efficiency (Ling & Yttri, 2002). The ability to communicate while on the move is highly valued among users (S. Jain, 2002; Leung & Wei, 2000; On the move: The role of cellular communications in American life, 2006; M. Perry, O'Hara, Sellen, Brown, & Harper, 2001; Wei & Lo, 2006) and is regarded as a maximisation of freedom (Leung & Wei, 2000). Fortunati (2002a) observes mobility in mobile phone use creates a special space without address and precise location, which activates the replacement of the immobile home in a way that ―the mobile phone in itself becomes a true mobile home‖ (p. 520). This correlates with Castells‘ space of flows (Castells, 2000b). From a social perspective, the mobile phone facilitates the maintenance and sustainability of social relations in new ways while on the move. Friends can be contacted on the way to or from work, while waiting in the medical centre for an appointment, or passing the time until the kids are picked up from their after school activities. Commonly in such scenarios, casual calls can be made, motivated by the desire to express or receive affection and sociability (Wajcman, et al., 2007, 15).
Immediate access enables users to instantly communicate with others, overcoming time and space limitations. This gratification is especially important in emergency situations. It is also significant to business people (Leung & Wei, 2000).
Instrumentality refers to use of the mobile phone for practical purposes including coordination, errands and transformation of information. In addition to business oriented calls, instrumentality also includes social coordination activities, which are defined by Ling and Yttry (2002) as micro coordination, including: coordinating basic logistics (who, when, where to pick up a family member from, what to buy at the store, updates regarding ones‘ whereabouts…), redirecting trips that are already under way, rescheduling meetings and locations (delays, change of meeting details), or making plans with others entirely ‗on the fly‘. Instrumentality as a term has been originally used in fixed-telephone studies (Keller, 1977) to describe one of two motivations (instrumental and intrinsic) for making phone calls. The definition of this term in fixed-telephone studies is broader and includes functional calls made for shopping, setting appointments or business arrangements, seeking information and dealing with emergencies. Leung and Wei (2000) define instrumentality as a business driven motivation resulting in gender difference; male users tend to use mobiles more as a business instrument than women. They conclude that such gender differences are still evident in mobile phone use. In the Ocean Shores
Page 83 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society case study, instrumentality was examined within domestic rather than business practices. It included a wider range of motivations than work-related ones only. Leung and Wei (2000) find that mobility, immediacy, and instrumentality are the strong predictors of mobile phone use. Users who highly appreciate gratifications of mobility, immediacy, and instrumentality are intense mobile phone users. This notion overlooks a dominant segment of mobile phone users, i.e., teenagers, who are identified as intense users, but who use the mobile phone mainly to gratify motivations of affection and sociability (Lenhart, et al., 2010).
Affection and sociability reflects the motivation of using the mobile phone as a means of expressing emotional affinity in order to feel closer to family and friends, of improving family/friends relationships and care for others. Leung and Wei (2000) note that older and less educated users are those who are mainly motivated by social reasons. In contrast, other mobile phone scholars (S. W. Campbell & Park, 2008; Geser, 2006; Ling, 2001, 2004; Ling, 2008; Ling & Yttri, 2002; Oksman & Turtiainen, 2004; S. Williams & Williams, 2005) suggest that affection and sociability is particularly practiced among teens and young adults. The affection and sociability category is similar to the intrinsic calls term used in fixed-telephone studies to describe personal communication with family and friends, volunteer work, counselling and intimate discussions (Keller, 1977). In this case study, affection and sociability relates to social support practices of companionship and emotional support (see Section 2.3.4).
Affection and sociability are expressed via mobile phones in new ways. One example is phatic communication, which is popular among mobile phone users (Sørensen, 2006). Phatic communication highlights the gesture of getting in touch rather than delivering a defined message (Haddon, 2000a; Srivastava, 2005). It relates to the emotional and social communication that mobiles enable: chatting, checking in with friends via text messaging, exchanging fun images. The aim of these activities is to express feelings of empathy, contact, affection and care which reinforce existing social relations. Phatic communication is evident to some degree also when using the fixed-telephone (for example, when checking up on older parents or having a chat with a friend) and the internet (especially when interacting with friends via instant messaging or social network sites). One study found that mobile phones succeeded in transmitting emotions such as loyalty, the sense of identification, familiarity, stability and security (Fortunati, 2002a). Moreover, research in Japan reports that mobile phones evoke intimacy and are used as a personal accessory for social connection purposes (Ito, Okabe, & Matsuda, 2005).
Reassurance reflects the sense of security and safety in having a mobile phone in case of emergency. Though findings presented by Leung and Wei (2000) regarding this factor are relatively low in reliability, other scholars report the significance of the reassurance gratification among mobile users, especially women (Sørensen, 2006). Safety and security are also reported as
Page 84 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society primary motivations in purchasing the first mobile phone for oneself or for one‘s close family members. This is particularly true for women; without the safety factor, the mobile phone would not have been adopted as readily in the first place. The mobile phone symbolises security. People feel secure when they have this device in their pocket17 (Ling, 2004).
The fashion and status category relates to the use of the mobile phone for appearance purposes: looking stylish, fashionable, and using the mobile phone as a status symbol. Since much intimacy is created between users and their mobile devices, mobiles function as the user‘s companion in many aspects (Fortunati, 2002a). As such, identity issues are reflected on to the communication device, which becomes an identity indicator for, and of, its owner (Srivastava, 2005). This was originally argued by Goffman (1971) over 35 years ago in relation to the concept of presentation of self. Self representation can be reflected by the actual mobile phone device and its uses, for example, by the device model and accessories in use, the way it is being carried or held while in use, and where or when it is used (or turned off). Self representation aspects are particularly evident in adolescent practices of mobile phone use, as part of their emancipation process from their parents (Ling & Yttri, 2002). The commercial aspect of females when using the mobile phone for fashion reasons involves designers and marketers targeting women and offering gendered features (thermometers or calorie counters) and feminine accessories (ringtones, wallpapers, faceplates), or through branded phones designed to reflect a distinctive feminisation, to look like jewellery and less like a toy (Ling, 2004; Shade, 2007). Culturally based, and highly commercially motivated, fashion aspects are among the most feminine- oriented gratifications.
Relaxation reflects the pleasure of using the mobile phone to talk, to gossip, to relieve boredom, to relax, and to help pass the time. The mobile phone is also perceived as a pleasure device. In addition to the enjoyment feeling embedded within the mere act of communication (Carey, 1988a), specific peripheral features address the gratification of relaxation. Games are the most obvious example.
3.7.4 Who do we contact over the mobile phone?
As already mentioned, one of the most important characteristics of mobile phones is the ability to contact others regardless of space limitations. Theoretically, each mobile phone user can call anyone at anytime anywhere across the globe. Yet, in practice, mobile users mainly
17 For a more detailed discussion regarding women and safety issues when using mobile phone, see Section 3.7.5.
Page 85 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society contact family and friends (Wajcman, et al., 2008, Lasen, 2004 #880), who are, in most cases, local or within a reasonable distance (Hampton, et al., 2009; Yates & Lockley, 2007). Moreover, research in Japan found that most mobile calls were executed from home (Ishii, 2004). As the mobile phone fulfils not only an instrumental role, but is also a carrier of our affective needs, especially among teens, mobile phone users reported contacting ―people who are physically close but out of sight‖ (Yates & Lockley, 2007, p. 75), e.g., in the next room, across the road or on the other part of the shopping centre. Based on this pattern, mobile phones are understood as managing remote moments, rather than the remote distance of users from people in their friendwork (Yates & Lockley, 2007). In such scenarios, mobile phones are used as a complementary medium to face-to-face encounters, exercising in-person interactions while apart.
Based on mobile phone log data of 13,978 calls made by Australians aged 15 years and older in 2007, Wajcman et al. (2008) found that only 12% of calls were made to work colleagues. Almost half of the calls (49%) were made to family members and one quarter of calls (26%) to friends. Gender differences were apparent, as women communicated more frequently with family than men. In contrast, men made more calls to work colleagues than women, as presented in Figure 15. No gender difference was apparent when communicating with friends.
Figure 15: Mobile phone calls made by recipient (Source: Wajcman, et al., 2008, p. 18)
Over all, the mobile phone is a very common, favoured and effective technology facilitating basic needs and gratifications of individuals in contemporary society. Although adoption rates are very high in Australia, they are expressed differently among particular groups within the population. Adoption rates correlate with age (Figure 10) and to a lesser extent with work status (Figure 11). More precisely, ownership of the mobile phone corresponds with factors
Page 86 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society of lifestyle and the proportion of time spent at home (ACMA, 2009b). Additionally, domestication of the mobile phone is practiced differently by men and women (Figure 12 and Figure 15). These differences highlight different needs, uses and gratifications of particular segments of the population. This is also the purpose of the Ocean Shores case study: to highlight practices of adult seachange women. In line with this focus, the next section reviews the literature on women‘s use of the mobile phone.
3.7.5 Women and mobile phones
Research often expresses differences in mobile phone use attributable to gender in quantitative or qualitative terms. Quantitative measures include access, adoption rate and volume of use. In this respect, there is global evidence for a constant decrease in the gender gap (Castells, et al., 2007; Mackay & Weidlich, 2007; Sørensen, 2006). Gender quantitative equality is particularly evident in teens‘ adoption studies (Ling, 2004, p. 84). Other studies show that women use the mobiles more heavily than men for voice calls and SMS in several countries (ITU, 2004) and that girls are heavier mobile phone users than boys (Geser, 2006). Qualitative studies of mobile phone use consider interests, attitudes, roles and practices. Gender differences evident in qualitative aspects of mobile phone use are generally regarded as being shaped by wider cultural norms (Hjorth, 2006; Rakow & Navarro, 1993) and reinforce affective, intrinsic use of the mobile phone by women (Fortunati, 2009). Gendered practices motivate certain mobile phone uses, but are also influenced by the mobile phone applications that support and stimulate new forms of gender differences (Yates & Lockley, 2007). Van Oost comments on this reciprocal influence by stating that ―the process of shaping gender and technology are closely intertwined. One can even speak of a 'co-construction of gender and technology'― (2004, p. 7).
Generally, scholars argue that gendered personalisation in communication technology use is often overlooked (Fortunati, 2009; Hjorth, 2009b) and that mobile phone use studies tend to focus on youth and young adults (Geser, 2006), while generational gendered use has rarely been examined (Fortunati, 2009; Hjorth, 2009b). Studies connect mobile phone use with intrinsic and affective attributes of this technology (Lasen, 2004), which are influenced by gendered roles of intimacy that reflect a sense of belonging and home. Research indicates that women communicate over the mobile phone for social purposes (Fox, 2001; Ling, 1998; Ling, 2001; Lohan, 1997; Rakow & Navarro, 1993), while men use the mobile phone more frequently for instrumental and business purposes (Wajcman, et al., 2008). As mentioned earlier, this socialising pattern is in line with findings of the fixed-telephone and the internet research.
Rakow and Navarro (1993) were among the first scholars to address the gendered use of mobile phones. They argued that as long as gender differences existed in one‘s culture, they
Page 87 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society would be reflected in mobile phone use patterns, even if behaviour was a matter of choice (Hjorth, 2006). Women‘s mobile phone use patterns replicate pre-existing gender patterns that are consistent with their real life practices (Rakow & Navarro, 1993; Yates & Lockley, 2007). Other research confirms a gender difference when using the mobile phone (Geser, 2006; Igarashi, Takai, & Yoshida, 2005; Ling, 1998; Wei & Lo, 2006). A different view is presented by Lemish and Cohen (2005, as well as DeBaillon, 2005 #195) who found that the use of mobile phones, more than other technologies and specifically the internet, did not follow this gendered pattern and might be playing a role in blurring gender differences, rather than reinforcing existing social roles.
Among the apparent gender differences in mobile phone use are safety and security concerns. Several studies found that women, considerably more than men, tended to perceive the mobile phone as symbolising security. In a UK survey (Sørensen, 2006), 82% of female participants reported that mobile phones made them feel safer when out and about, compared with 49% of men. There was no variation by age. This study also reported that 54% of women felt safer with a mobile phone when driving alone, in comparison to 25% of men (Sørensen, 2006). Users also reported feeling secure when carrying a mobile phone; knowing that they were able to respond quickly to emergencies was perceived as having a protection by the mobile phone (Ling, 2004). Some women stated that the sense of security they associated with the mobile device came from the feeling that their friends were virtually present to protect them (Fox, 2001; Geser, 2004). Additionally, women reported using the mobile phones as symbolic bodyguards (Fox, 2001). Focusing on any sort of mobile phone activity (whether talking, texting, updating contact details or checking messages), women transmitted a very clear message that they were not interested in contact with whoever was around (Ling, 2004; Mackay & Weidlich, 2007; Sørensen, 2006).
Women also project the association of mobile phones with security into the domestic arena, and onto family members. This concern is reflected in decisions to purchase phones for kids, elderly parents or spouses, which also gave them a sense of remote control over familial relations. Rakow and Navarro‘s idea of remote mothering (1993) facilitated by the mobile phone allows mothers to keep track of their kids and to manage their activities even when they are away from home. For example, Wajcman et al. (2008, p. 37) report that 47% of respondents rated ‗finding out where children are‘ as important. This possibility of surveillance can be used both in positive or negative circumstances. Positively, such use pattern might relieve anxiety. Negatively, the mobile phone could be used as a means to control others‘ sense of freedom. This is especially valid with teenagers. In a UK survey, 83% of parents declared they would use their child‘s mobile phone to track their whereabouts, without seeking their permission (Sørensen, 2006). This
Page 88 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society negative use pattern was also reported by women, controlled by jealous and possessive spouses, as described in the case of Palestinian-Israeli young women (Hijazi-Omari & Ribak, 2008).
Referring to gender based literature provides wider understanding of the social and cultural context of mobile phone practices. Additionally, examining across-media communication use by women reveals similar use patterns that are gender and social-roles driven. Together, this literature enabled this case study, which included women only, to compare and contrast findings while suggesting gender related conclusions that might be examined in wider gendered contexts at a later time.
3.8 IMPLICATIONS
The literature reviewed in this chapter highlights the fundamental role of mobility and its wider social context, theorised here as the new mobilities paradigm, to the understanding of population mobility and use of communication methods; two of the main themes which are investigated in this thesis.
One aspect of population mobility, physical travel and relocation in seachange communities is of particular interest to this study. Therefore, this chapter has reviewed social aspects of population mobility, while particularly addressing self and social identity issues of relocators. Seachanging is highlighted as an increasing trend of internal migration. By addressing the role of friendworks in demographic phenomenon, this thesis points towards the emerging social needs and capacities of a growing population segment. It suggests themes for further research and issues for attention by decision makers.
The other mobility concept, use of communication methods, examines face-to-face interactions as well as the use of the fixed-telephone, the internet and the mobile phone, in a particular context of communication within friendworks. While much literature is available on the wider topic of use of communication methods, the focus on communication within networks of friends is somewhat limited and under-investigated. This thesis addresses this gap in the knowledge of the growing significance of friendworks in contemporary society.
Moreover, focusing on adult women draws attention to another under-investigated aspect of mobile phone research, which has hitherto tended to highlight the practices of adolescents and young adults. This research addresses an important oversight in mobile phone research, namely: the social needs of adult women, theoretically as well as practically.
These themes of population mobility, friendworks and communication methods are indivisibly interwoven into the daily routines of many people in the modern world. Nevertheless,
Page 89 Chapter 3: Mobility in the network society research mostly focuses separately on each (Sheller & Urry, 2006). Inspired by the spirit of the new mobilities paradigm domain, which motivates an interdisciplinary exploration of mobility and its social implications, this study aims at achieving a better understanding of each of these themes as well as their intersections. It acknowledges the multiple dimensions of real-life scenarios to draw out the social implications of mobility and friendworks within contemporary life situations.
The next chapter describes the research methods. First, it introduces the location of the study: Ocean Shores, a seachange community. Then, it presents the recruitment method, explaining how and why participants were included in the research. Subsequently, the research instruments used in this study are described. This chapter concludes with addressing ethics and the limitations of the study. Following the next chapter, the four subsequent chapters analyse the research findings, each highlighting one of the main research themes: population mobility, friendworks, communication patterns and mobile phone use.
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4Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks
The aim of this research is to study female friendworks through communication practices contextualised by lifestyle in Ocean Shores, an Australian seachange town, which showcases a wide increasing demographic trend of population mobility. In order to examine these topics from different perspectives, this program of research involves a combination of research methods within a case study methodology.
This chapter outlines the research methods and designs that target the research questions raised in Section 1.4. First, the case study methodology used in this study is discussed. Then, the research location, Ocean Shores, is described as an impacting factor on lifestyle, friendworks and communication patterns, while explaining the rationale for focusing on seachange towns, and Ocean Shores in particular. Next, I clarify my unusual position as a researcher and a participant. The following two sections introduce the recruitment method and provide details about the case study participants. The succeeding section lists and discusses the research instruments used in the study. This chapter concludes with the limitations and ethical considerations of the study.
4.1 THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: THE CASE STUDY
In order to address the research questions concerning population mobility, friendworks and communication methods, in line with the postpositivist philosophy (which is presented in Section 1.5), the research in this thesis is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods embedded within an overarching research methodology of a case study. This allows an exploration of the examined themes from different perspectives (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). The methodological triangulation establishes wider and more thorough examination of the research problem (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998) while converging the results into a comprehensive argument (Creswell, 2003).
The overarching methodology used in this research is the case study. As Yin (2009) explains, this methodology is most appropriate when ―(a) ‗how‘ or ‗why‘ questions are being posed, (b) when the investigator has little control over events, and (c) when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context‖ (Yin, 2009, p. 2). These three features are present in this thesis. The research questions relate to both how and why. That is: how women practice friendships in population mobility scenarios, how they practice communication methods within friendworks and why they do so in this manner. Secondly, in this study I had little control over the events as this study followed real-life scenarios rather than being conducted as a laboratory experiment. Finally, all the three examined areas of research, population mobility,
Page 91 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks friendworks and use of communication methods, are contemporary issues at the heart of modern life. A contextual understanding of these issues is provided by using the case study. This methodology was critical to understanding the social lives of seachanging women. The many interrelated issues investigated in this research that impact on women‘s well-being, quality of life and social identity can be best understood through a case study research methodology when ―the phenomenon is not isolated from its context‖ (Hartley, 1994, p. 209). Lincoln and Guba (1985) highlight the advantage of a case study that ―builds on the reader‘s tacit knowledge ... [and] provides the ‗thick description‘ so necessary for judgments of transferability‖ (p. 359). It has both rigor and relevance (C. Perry, 1998).
4.2 OCEAN SHORES AS THE CONTEXT OF THE CASE STUDY
Following a ‗real-life‘ situation, this study included adult women residing in one18 particular Australian town: Ocean Shores. This town exemplifies a meaningful demographic shift identified in Australia as seachange (Burnley & Murphy, 2004); a form of counterurbanisation in which people move from metropolitan areas to provincial coast communities19. Therefore, though focusing on a small number of participants in a small town, it is expected that findings will be applicable to wider populations of seachangers Ocean Shores and to internal migration in Australia and worldwide.
Ocean Shores is a small town of approximately 5,600 residents20 (ABS, 2007a) located along the Pacific Ocean on the far north coast of New
South Wales, Australia. Brisbane is approximately 150 Figure 16: Ocean Shores‘ location kilometres north and Sydney approximately 850 kilometres to the south (see Figure 16). Ocean Shores is about 20 square kilometres in size. It
18 In the next section, I explain the rationale to include participants from the same town.
19 More about seachange in Section 3.4.
20 Mentioned statistics in this section is based on housing and population data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2007a).
Page 92 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks features a long, open ocean beach on its eastern perimeter and is surrounded by eleven flora and fauna reserves (see Figure 17). Ocean Shores is located next to two older towns: New Brighton and South Golden Beach. Many consider the three towns as one, since they demonstrate a continuous residential area. Therefore, this thesis refers to all three towns as the greater Ocean Shores vicinity21.
Ocean Shores belongs to the Byron Shire Local Government Area. In 2006, around 20% of the Shire‘s population resided in Ocean Shores. While in 1976 Byron Shire consisted of nearly 11,000 residents, in 2006 approximately 29,000 people lived in the shire, almost tripling its population in 30 years. Population increase is also evident in Ocean Shores. In 2001, almost 5,000 people resided in Ocean Shores. In 2006, nearly 5,600 people reported living in this town, a growth of 12% of the population in 5 years, an annual growth rate of 2.6%, 1.7 times the Australian annual growth rate (1.5%).
Ocean Shores was established in the late 1960s as a seaside resort and as a recreational residential development intended to attract retirees. Since the 1980s it has experienced a continuous growth in population across a range of age groups. Ocean Shores is still a favoured location for retirees. Almost 15% of Ocean Shores‘ population was over 65 in 2001, compared with 12.6% nationwide. However, it has also become popular with the 55-64 year old age group (9.4% in 2001, 11.7% in 2006). Additionally, an increase in the number of children (aged 5-14), and a decrease in young adults (15-24), is evident, indicating a local social change; families with more children are moving to town, while young-adults are leaving. Parents find Ocean Shores an attractive place in which to raise children while also being able to enjoy the sun and quiet lifestyle in an environment that absorbs the alternative cultures and unique ambience of the ‗Rainbow Region‘ (Kijas, 2003).
Figure 17: Ocean Shores‘ view from the local lookout (Photo by Scott MacLeod Liddle 2006)
21 Hereafter, any reference to Ocean Shores also relates to New Brighton and South Golden Beach.
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However, breadwinning is a challenge in a distant-from-capital-cities town originally designed for retirees. Consequently, high numbers of adults are part-time employees (40%, compared to 28% nationwide) or unemployed (9.5%, compared to 5.2% nationwide). In 2006, the median weekly household income was $756, which is 27% lower than the nation-wide figure ($1027). However, median weekly rent was $250, which is 30% higher than the national figure, reflecting the high demand for houses in Ocean Shores, and demonstrating that it is an area in which people wish to live. Occupations comprise of self-employed professionals, technicians and trade workers, labourers and sales workers (ABS, 2007a). Generally, the local lifestyle is considered modest, reflecting non-materialistic lifestyle values (Kijas, 2003).
In 2006, most Ocean Shores residents were Australian citizens (88.2%) and were born in Australia (78%), though the number of residents who were born overseas is increasing (from 14% in 2001 to 16% in 2006). This is in line with a national policy that encourages immigration (Becoming an Australian citizen, 2007). However, Ocean Shores is populated with more people who were born in Australia (78% in 2006) than those reported in the nation-wide data (71% in 2006). This signifies that Ocean Shores is more of an internal migration destination, and that it is less attractive to immigrants, who in most cases choose to live in metropolitan areas (Stimson & Minnery, 1998).
Ocean Shores is located on hills and is spread over a wide area, while New Brighton and South Golden Beach are flat and have relatively close population centres. Therefore, while residents of the smaller towns can walk or ride bikes to neighbours or the beach, Ocean Shores‘ residents almost exclusively use cars when moving around as public transport is minimal. Other public services are also very limited. There is a basic shopping centre in town, a medical centre, one primary school and two preschools. There is no local high-school, library or public swimming pool. Entertainment options include two coffee houses, one restaurant and two taverns. Therefore, most residents drive 15 to 30 minutes to nearby towns, mainly Mullumbimby, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah or Tweed Heads, for many of their needs.
Several considerations led to specifying the town‘s name and location in this thesis. The main justification to anonymise the town out of privacy concern was not applicable in this case study, as participants were anonymised. Furthermore, there were two main supporting reasons to identify the actual location in this study. First, as concluded in this thesis: location matters. This thesis primarily explores a location specific situation. While it provides a basis for further research into the generalisability of the findings, most of the conclusions only hold true for Ocean Shores at this stage. Second, local stake holders can specifically benefit from the thesis findings while given the opportunity to address social challenges in their locality. This way, not only researchers of small population centres around the world can benefit from the findings of this
Page 94 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks study, it can also provide concrete analysis with practical implications to the local community of Ocean Shores.
4.3 A MARGINAL NATIVE
I am, too, an Ocean Shores resident. I had already lived in this particular location for over two years before this case study took place. Moreover, my age and gender fall within the characteristics of the researched group of women over 35 years of age.
I deliberately chose to explore a setting I was familiar with. This was motivated by two reasons: I was passionate to learn more about the researched themes, as I was personally intrigued by these issues. Additionally, including women with close experiences to mine in the case study better enabled my access to their perceptions. I have easily understood what participants talked about, how certain situations worked, what was culturally or socially expected and practiced, and how relationships developed and were maintained. It enabled a deeper and more thorough examination, analysis, interpretation and understanding of the researched themes.
Not only had I a good knowledge on the research context, but I was also familiar with some of the research participants. Recruiting women through a process of ‗snowball sampling‘ (see Section 4.4) was based on my personal friendwork. First, I approached and interviewed my local friends, moved on to their local friends, and so on. I knew half of the 26 participants prior to interviewing them. I have listed five of them as friends in my own friendwork form (see Appendix E ). Moreover, I have also documented my personal perceptions, social relations and communication use patterns, similarly to what was collected from the case study participants. I have filled in the online survey, answered the interview questions and completed all forms used within the interview (see Section 4.6.2). In this respect, I was one of the case study participants.
This situated me in a double role of researcher and participant, an outsider and an insider. This double role can be further explained by drawing on Junker (1960) and Gold‘s (1958) social roles for fieldwork. They distinguish between the ‗complete participant‘, ‗participant as observer‘, ‗observer as participant‘ and ‗complete observer‘. As a researcher, I have embraced the observer as participant approach as most data was collected during a one-visit interview allowing a formal observation. Yet, I was also a complete participant as one of the case study subjects. The obvious risk of generating only a superficial understanding through a one visit interview in the role of an observer as participant was minimised due to my familiarity with the context (local lifestyle) and the subjects (some of the participants) of the case study. The research has benefited various observation points, covering richer data on the researched themes.
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In order to avoid confusion when collecting data, I have managed my double role carefully. When interviewing participants I was strictly a researcher, even when interviewing friends. Though interviews were held in an informal manner, I stuck to the interview schedule and used the same routine and instruments with all participants, including myself. When reporting my own perceptions, relations and behaviour, I tried to be as honest as possible, as if I were being interviewed by someone else. During this session, I focussed on my role as a participant. Yet, overall, I was much more of an observer as participant.
Nevertheless, involvement in the study as a participant as well as familiarity with the location and the case study women could have resulted in changes in participants‘ behaviour and reports. I recognise that I might have had some impact upon what was reported, especially by my friends, but possibly also by the other participants, who knew I was a local and familiar with their friends. Participants might have considered providing input that would satisfy me as the researcher. They also might have concealed information, though I was never under the impression that such a scenario was taking place. I accept that I was a part of the research situation and as such might have identified too much with the participants. This is the danger of ‗going native‘, ―abandoning the task of analysis in favours of joy of participation‖ (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007, p. 87). This happens when the researcher is too strongly identified with the researched group and may cease to function as an observer. Such cases may also arise from ‗overrapport‘ (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007, p. 87).
Going native and over rapport are serious reliability concerns in an academic study and directly relate to the philosophical orientation of the research. Unlike the positivist approach, which seeks precise, objective, empirical measurement of the researched phenomena (A Giddens, 1974), this research follows the postpositivist philosophy. Based on this approach it is acknowledged that this research represents reality, but only imperfectly and probabilistically (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). The researcher cannot totally separate herself from what is being researched; therefore, complete objectivity is not possible (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). Accordingly, the researcher needs to accept and acknowledge her subjective understandings of research situations. This is the purpose of this section.
Acknowledging subjective understanding of the research requires a careful balance on the researcher‘s behalf as a participant and as an observer: ―you are not attempting to be a detached and totally objective observer, you are attempting to engage with people in their environment and learn from them‖ (Tacchi, et al., 2003, p. 53). In that respect, this research draws on the research method of participant observation. My complex situation as a researcher, a local resident, a participant and a friend positioned the research orientation closer to the participant observation method, which aims at looking at what participants actually do as well as
Page 96 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks what they say they do in the real flow of events. Participant observation targets the point of view of the participants. My specific situation resulted in an observation and interpretation of the researched themes more closely to the point of view of the participants than in other research situations where the researcher is a stranger in the eyes of the participants. However officially and practically, I did not observe the case study participants in their real flow of events. The main method used in this research was the face-to-face one-visit interview. Consequently, this research revolved around participants‘ perceptions rather than their actions. Being a member of the researched group allowed me to observe participants‘ behaviour and to analyse interactions outside the research sessions. I have actively participated in social situations relevant to the research and have learnt about ―what is going on and at the same time [have] buil[t] strong and informative relationships with people‖ (Tacchi, et al., 2003, p.53). These interactions informed my understanding of the researched topics in a way somewhat closer to participant observation. Therefore, this study involved observation; however, it was practiced in a different manner to that suggested by the participant observation method, which is characterised by the extent to which the researcher insists on observation (Tacchi, et al., 2003).
I constantly challenged my preconceptions, especially those deriving from everyday knowledge, as I might have found certain situations to be obvious. In order to face these challenges, during the interviews, I documented and audio-recorded participants‘ (including myself) perceptions, interactions and behaviour. This assisted in maintaining enough objectivity to inform the research. I have kept a critical analytical perspective, using reflection and analysis to describe and interpret the collected data. I was aware of my role in events ―using this fact constructively rather than trying to maintain the role of an objective observer‖ (Tacchi, et al., 2003, p. 53). I have tried to avoid taking things for granted while keeping an attitude of ―someone entering a new and strange situation who is trying to understand how things work‖ (Tacchi, et al., 2003, p. 53). Utilising a mixture of qualitative and quantitaive methods also supported my aim for reliability. I have compared and contrasted different data sources of similar topics, using national surveys for a more general representative perspective. My own records were evenly analysed within the general data pool.
Though many of the terms used in this section relate to ethnographic research, they are used here in a different orientation. This thesis aims at exploring social and psychological issues rather than investigating cultural phenomena. Therefore, the research strategy of ethnography was not considered proper in this study. Nevertheless, many of its concepts and research methods had a certain level of relevance.
Eventually, my aim was ―to maintain a marginal position; providing access to participant perspectives but at the same time minimizing the dangers of over-rapport‖ (Hammersley &
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Atkinson, 2007, p. 88-89). This marginal position of being simultaneous insider-outsider generated creative insight. I was ―intellectually poised between familiarity and strangeness ... between stranger and friend‖ (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007, p. 89). To borrow another term from the ethnographic research, I acted as a marginal native (Freilich, 1970); though native in the sense that I was living in Ocean Shores and was one of the case study participants, I primarily clung to my role as a researcher when interviewing participants and when analysing and interpreting data.
4.4 RECRUITING ADULT WOMEN
The case study included 26 female participants aged 35-76 years residing in Ocean Shores. By restricting the case study to Ocean Shores‘ residents I aimed at capturing local social relationships and examining the influence of distance on friendworks.
The focus on adult women made it possible to compare and contrast findings with Moyal‘s study (1989b), which was found very relevant to the Ocean Shores case study in its social and communication use orientation, as well as its policy related implications. Moyal targeted adult women, as she understood the major role that the fixed-telephone played in their lives impacted on their social affairs as well as contributing to their quality of life and sense of well-being. Motivated and inspired by this study, the Ocean Shores case study similarly targeted adult women, examining their domestic use of communication methods within their friendworks. Focusing on adult women also derived from a lack of attention to this specific segment of the population within recent Australian mobile phone studies, which either focus on the overall population (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008, 2009; Wajcman, et al., 2008) or on much younger age groups (Donald & Spry, 2007) and often involves quantitative, commercially oriented surveys, rather than qualitative in-depth observation of communication methods. This study addresses this literature gap.
Participants were recruited through a process of ‗snowball sampling‘ (Biernacki & Waldorf, 1981), starting with myself, contacting my local friends, then contacting those referred to me by them, and so on. Applying this technique followed real-life friendworks, the main interest of this study. Using my personal acquaintance with locals, as well as approaching those women referred by the study participants, was very fruitful; most of those approached agreed to take part in the research and were highly cooperative. Based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics‘ census data (2006) I targeted a sample of participants whose age-range matched as much as possible the local statistics. Recruiting new participants stopped when the data collected reached saturation point, that is, when information became repetitive. This was around the 25th
Page 98 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks interviewee. A similar number of participants is reported by Seidman (1998) as the saturation point for qualitative research.
Two of the participants did not have any local friends. The others were related by friendship connections. Figure 18 presents the social ties between the participants of the case study. Based on participants‘ testimonials regarding their sense of the local community (Section 5.8) and their friendwork‘s size (Section 6.1), I expected a more bundled structure of social ties, where most participants reported friendships with few women within the case study sample. However, this rarely happened, implying that social ties within Ocean Shores are local to a certain degree.
These participants were not a part of my local friendwork (they were neighbours) and did not have local friends
Researcher
Israel-born participants
Figure 18: Friendship relations between the research participants (created by UCINET, a social network analysis software, http://www.analytictech.com/ucinet).
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I was born in Israel. Most of my local friends were also Israel-born. Therefore, five of the case study participants were Israel-born22: Orit (the researcher), Ella (36), Holly (42), Ruth (40) and Caroline (37)23. We all sustain friendships with each other, demonstrating a group connection, hence formulating a visual cluster within the social graph24. Additional smaller clusters reflect other group relations.
4.5 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE CASE STUDY SAMPLE
Targeting women residing in Ocean Shores and aged proportionally similarly to the local age distribution of those older than 35 years, resulted in the following age groups: five women aged 36-40 (four of them were Israel-born), four women aged 41-45, five women aged 46-50, three women aged 51-55, three women aged 58-60, two women aged 61-65, three women 66-70, and one women 76 years. It was more challenging to recruit women over 70 years. Their portion within the overall Ocean Shores population was 12% (ABS, 2007a), however, only one woman within this age group (4% of the case study sample) participated in this research. Those over 70 years who were approached were mostly under health restrictions and were not keen to take part in the research.
Eighteen of 26 participants (69%) were born in Australia, proportionally less than the nationwide statistics (71%) and the Ocean Shores data (78%) implying that there were more immigrants in the case study sample than in the local statistics. The fact that I was born overseas, and, accordingly, most of my friends and their friends were also Israel-born explains the relatively high figures of overseas-born within the case study sample. Among those born overseas, five were born in Israel, two in the United States and one in New Zealand.
Eleven participants (42%) lived with a partner and children in the same household (these women‘s age was up to 55 years). Six participants (23%) lived with a partner but without children in the same household (women over 58 years). Five women (19%) lived with children but without a partner in the same household (women aged 46 to 52 years). These women were single parents. Four participants (15%) lived alone (over 53 years): one single, one divorced and
22 In addition to being Israel-born, these five women are also in quite a similar age (ranging from 36 to 42 years) and live in the same dwelling with a partner and 2-3 children (children age ranging from 2 to 14 years).
23 Fictitious names (apart from my name) are in use throughout this thesis to guarantee participants' anonymity. Participants' age is bracketed.
24 Friendships within the Israel born community are presented in detail in Section 5.5.
Page 100 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks two widowed. On average, three people lived in a household. Among those living with a partner and/or children, four lived in a household on average. Six participants (23%) had no children.
Four participants (15%) reported completing up to 10 years of schooling. Six participants (23%) completed 12 years of schooling. Three completed a professional qualification (11%). Eight completed (31%) an undergraduate degree and five (19%) completed a postgraduate degree. The case study sample consists of fewer Ocean Shores‘ women 35-74 years with a professional qualification and more women with academic degrees than reported in the Australian census (ABS, 2007a). According to the census, 25% of women 35-74 years residing in Ocean Shores completed a professional qualification, 13% completed an undergraduate degree and 4% completed a postgraduate degree. It was difficult to compare data between these sources regarding secondary school education as each source collected different data. The Australia wide statistics regarding level of education (ABS, 2006) matched the local statistics (ABS, 2007a).
Two participants reported executing home duties. One participant was a student. Half of the women (13) worked part time (three of them worked from home). Five participants worked full time. Four (15%) were retired and one was unemployed. Of 26 participants, nine (35%) were self-employed and reported working part-time or full-time. In line with the local statistics (ABS, 2007a), two thirds of participants were self-employed and/or part time employees (17 women). Most women (73%) indicated that their level of income was enough for them and for their family‘s needs. All participants but one used a car. Five participants (19%) reported also using a bicycle. Most participants (84%) reported good or excellent health. Three women indicated their health was fair and one reported poor health.
Participants indicated the location of close family members, regardless of their inclusion within friendworks. Four participants (15%) reported two close family members (parents, siblings or children) living in Ocean Shores. Four participants (15%) reported two close family members residing up to an hour drive. Sixteen participants (62%) reported three family members living over an hour‘s drive away (mostly interstate). Eleven participants (42%) reported two close family members living overseas. The overall number of close family members by residency location is presented in Figure 19. Most close family members (84%) lived over an hour‘s drive away (55%) or overseas (29%). Only 16% of close family members lived up to an hour‘s drive away, half of them, locally (up to five minutes drive). Living a great distance from close family members is further evidence of population mobility. There is no national publicly available data regarding distance of individuals from family members (or friends).
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Figure 19: Percentage of close family members by distance of the overall indicated family members (Source: case study, n=26)
Generally, participants‘ age distribution, living situation (number of people in a household and marital status) and employment status matched the local statistics and the national statistics. However, as the size of the case study sample is small and participants were recruited based on social relations and not randomly, digression from the local statistics is apparent in characteristics of country of birth (more immigrants, particularly Israel-born, in the case study sample) and level of education (higher in the case study than in local or national statistics).
4.6 THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
The research design combined quantitative and qualitative methods, for triangulation of data, and aimed to capture both broad contextual data as well as in-depth descriptive data. Thus, it involved online surveys, in-depth, semi-structured interviews, friendwork tables, mobile phone logs and sociograms of networks of friends. Additionally, datasets of national surveys focused on mobile phones (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007) and social trends (Pink, 2007) enabled a comparison of the case study sample with national statistics, filtered by women over 35 years. This provided a wider perspective on friendworks and mobile phone use in particular investigated areas. The rationale for, and design of, the different methods are described in the following sections. Together they provide a thorough mixture of qualitative and quantitative examinations of friendworks and communication methods used by adult women, while laying the foundations for further research to test the extent to which findings from this study might be generalised to a larger population, i.e. women who share similar socioeconomic, demographic and geographic characteristics.
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Ethical clearance has been granted from QUT for the study to perform online surveys, interviews and the pilot focus group. The clearance number is 0800000842.
4.6.1 Online surveys
Participants completed a short online survey, mostly with closed-ended questions, from their own home before being interviewed. Four participants could not access the internet and completed a hard copy version of the online survey just before the interview. Survey questions covered personal, socioeconomic and demographic information, such as age, birthplace, living situation, family composition and distance from other family members, education, employment status, transport in use, health condition, volunteer work and hobbies. This information was aimed at collecting background information on participants and their daily practices. The second part of the survey focused on mobile phone use. It addressed mobile phone ownership, duration of use, cost estimation, use frequency and volume, practices of the mobile phone, features in use and social support practices over the mobile phone. For the full survey script, see Appendix A . Each survey was printed and used during the interview to provide background information and a point of reference. The purpose of the online survey was twofold: to provide the researcher with general information on each participant prior to the interview and, hence, to allocate in advance additional conversation topics to those posed during the interview; and to enable more effective use of the interview time.
4.6.2 In-depth interviews
The research questions revolve around four main themes: 1. the move to Ocean Shores, 2. current friendworks, 3. communication methods in use when interacting with friends, and 4. mobile phone use. I was aiming to capture friendworks, communication experiences and the meaning users make of them. These purposes match Seidman‘s note regarding the root principle of in-depth interviewing: ―an interest in understanding the experience of other people and the meaning they make of that experience‖ (1998, p.3).
The in-depth interview method proved to be successful in Moyal‘s study of women and the telephone as it ―yielded rich data that statistically a larger, but impersonal quantitative, survey would not retrieve‖ (1989b, p. 5). Fischer (1982a, 1982b) collected subjective opinions and concepts about friends while conducting in-person interviews in his seminal study on friends, interviewing 1050 Californian adults in 1977. As both studies inspired the current research, it supported my decision to hold in-depth, in-person interviews as the prime research method of the case study. Moreover, some of the original questions that were used in both studies have been incorporated into the current case study.
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Interviews, lasting on average an hour and a half, were conducted in the participants‘ homes during December 2008 and January 2009, recorded digitally and then transcribed. The interview transcripts were thematically coded using NVivo qualitative research software. The interview format consisted of nine parts aimed at probing the research areas of interest, including: introduction, Ocean Shores, friends, mobile phone log, communication methods, mobile use, personal effects and affects of mobile use, wider implications and conclusion (See Appendix C for the full interview schedule). A more detailed description of the interview sections follows.
Introduction
The purpose of the introduction was to provide information about the research and the interviewer, to state expectations from the research, as well as the participant (to take part in a one and a half hour interview), to sign a consent form (Appendix B ), and to highlight the commitment of the researcher for confidentiality. This part officially launched the interview.
Ocean Shores
The purpose of this section of the interview was to learn about the participant‘s move to Ocean Shores, the establishment of a sense of belonging to the local community and the person‘s perception of life in the town. This part of the interview informed the theme of population mobility and seachanging. This section was found effective in engaging participants in the interview. They openly shared their experiences and insights about moving to, and living in, Ocean Shores, setting important background information to be used as a context throughout the interview. Questions revolved around the move to Ocean Shores, familiar locals prior to the move, local befriending patterns following the move and how it is today, as well as a general view of life in Ocean Shores (findings discussed in Chapter 5).
Friends
This section targeted the theme of friendworks, addressing the interviewee‘s current friendwork. The purpose of this section was to collect information about the participants‘ friends. Issues discussed were friendwork size and general details regarding each of their friends25. The literature refers to this method as ‗name generator‘. Among social networks researchers who have used this method are Laumann (1973) in his Detroit-area study, Wellman (1979) in his first East York (Toronto) study, and Fischer (1982a) in researching Californians.
25 No limit was set to the number of friends named.
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This information was documented on a dedicated form (see My network of friends, Appendix E ). After naming friends, supplementary information was completed on each of the named friends. A sample of the My network of friends form is presented in Figure 20. This information was found especially useful in analysing friendworks (Chapter 6).
Figure 20: Network of friends – sample form
Mobile phone log
The purpose of this section was to generate quantitative data concerning friendworks and mobile phone use. The generated information is mainly presented in Chapter 8. Participants were asked to fill in a mobile phone log (see Appendix D ) based on their last ten mobile activities. A sample of the mobile phone log is presented in Figure 21.
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Figure 21: Mobile phone log sample
The mobile phone logs consisted of information stored within the mobile device combined with additional information provided by participants regarding each of the recorded activities. This method was used in an Australian mobile phone survey conducted by Wajcman et al. (2008) for the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association and is referred to in this thesis as ‗the AMTA survey‘. It included a total of 1614 users aged 15 years and older who completed a mobile phone log on-line or off-line. These logs consisted of respondents‘ ten most recent activities of incoming and outgoing voice calls, as well as SMS. Collected information included: who the call/text message was to or from (for example, spouse, work colleague, service provider), the gender of the caller, and the date and time of the call. This method was found to be as reliable as the more laborious collection and processing of billing data. Moreover, the authors mention that this method is preferred over processing billing information as it captures both pre- paid26 and billed customers and circumvents the fact that there is no equivalent form of billing and reporting for both types of customers in Australia. The AMTA survey found that the mobile phone log generated accurate and comprehensive records of activities while also overcoming the
26 45% of the Australian mobile phone services are pre-paid, while 55% are post-paid (ACMA, 2009a).
Page 106 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks main limitation of a more traditional research method: the time sheet, which was used in Moyal‘s study (1989b)27. The time sheet involved a longer commitment of time (a week or even a day) for participants to document their activities, but often they failed to thoroughly complete this task.
Based on this mobile phone log method, the case study collected additional contextual information such as call duration, location when activity took place, the purpose of the interaction (coordination, socialising, work-related) and its level of necessity (vital, nice to have, indifferent, redundant), and is presented in Figure 21. Specific calls or SMS which fell under the ‗socialising‘ purpose were discussed in further details during the interviews to further realise what type of social support was being provided or given. This tested, proven and robust method was appropriate to this research. It also enabled a comparison with the larger national omnibus AMTA survey.
I took an active part in documenting responses, in order to make sure that relevant information was drawn in the most efficient way. The mobile phone data was also used to compare friends‘ names with those mentioned in the My network of friends form (Figure 20). When names of contacts that were not previously mentioned within the friends form came up in the log form, participants were asked whether these contacts were considered friends. If that was the case, their names and details were added to the friends form.
Communication methods
In this section of the in-depth interview, participants provided further information about their communication patterns with friends. It targeted the researched theme of use of communication methods. Information is discussed in Chapter 7. Participants defined the frequency and the way they communicated with their friends (using for this task their named friends on the My network of friends form, Figure 20). A graphic representation was constructed by the participants using the network sociogram sheet (see sociogram template in Appendix F ). A sample of a completed sociogram is presented below in Figure 22.
27 In Moyal‘s study, participants were asked to keep a diary for one week, writing down the number of outgoing and incoming calls, local or distant, and categorising their purpose (‗instrumental‘ or ‗intrinsic‘).
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Figure 22: Network of friends‘ sociogram sample
This method was mentioned by Hogan, Carrasco and Wellman (2007) as an efficient way to draw information on participants‘ social relations. They used a participant-aided network sociogram as an extension of traditional name generators to visualise depictions of relations among individuals in their Connected Lives field study. This method enables concrete representation and assists both the researcher and respondents with their immediate discussion as well as in follow-up analyses of the researched social relations.
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Supplementary questions were asked to elicit further information about the participant‘s relationship with three chosen friends, and their communication pattern. This part of the interview was aimed at collecting more specific and detailed information about these friends, including a description of their personality, the benefits of the friendship, preferred communication method, who generally initiated interactions and why, when and where they communicated and whether the participant would have liked to communicate more with these three friends. Responses were found especially significant when analysing the importance and benefit of friendships, as discussed in further detail in Section 6.2.
Lastly, respondents answered questions regarding the impact of communicating with friends via different communication methods, favourite and most common communication method and storage of the most updated contact list. This information is presented throughout Chapter 7.
Mobile use
The purpose of this part of the interview was to collect information about the respondents‘ mobile phone use patterns. It targeted the researched theme of mobile phones. These findings are presented in Chapter 8. Open-ended questions covered various topics: special mobile phone story, using the first mobile phone and the difference between using the mobile phone immediately after moving to Ocean Shores and today.
Personal effect and affect: attitudes and perception of mobile phone use
In this section, respondents expressed their attitudes towards mobile phones, as a way of better understanding individual effects and affects of mobile phone use. This section targeted the mobile phone theme. Relevant information is discussed in Chapter 8. Many of the questions in this section were originally used by Moyal in her fixed-telephone study (1989b) and were customised to suit mobile phone use. The questions were offered as pointers to the discussion, while participants were encouraged to elaborate on how they felt about the mobile phone and what it meant in their lives.
This part of the interview consisted of open and closed questions. Open questions included what the interviewee liked/disliked about mobile phones, whether the mobile phone had changed her way of life, did they use the mobile phone for emotional support, in what way mobile phones were a substitute for face-to-face contact, and how they felt in mobile deprivation situations. Closed questions included mobile phone related statements, such as: ‗the mobile phone allows me to freely communicate with others‘, ‗the mobile phone facilitates the building and maintaining of friendships and being able to contact friends‘, ‗the mobile phone assists in
Page 109 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks sustaining family relationships‘, and ‗I use the mobile phone to alleviate loneliness‘. Respondents were asked to comment as to whether they agreed or disagreed with these statements (findings are discussed in Chapter 8).
Wider implications
This part of the interview aimed at generating findings regarding participants‘ concepts of wider implications of mobile phone use. Questions in this part tended to be more theoretic and philosophic and were mostly concerned with participants‘ perceptions. Due to overload of data, some collected data in this section was excluded from the thesis (such as perceived gender difference and the perceived global social impact of mobile phone use). Data regarding mobile phone cost is included in the thesis and is discussed in Section 8.7.
Winding up the interview
The last part of the interview targeted the recruitment of additional participants for the case study. Interviewees were asked to recommend a few of their local friends as potential participants. I also thanked the participants for their time and effort.
In conclusion, the in-depth interviews, as the main research method used in this case study, yielded most of the data analysed in this thesis. I found this method adequate for collecting data since it involved interaction between the interviewee and the interviewer. With the research questions in mind, I was able to spontaneously and immediately follow up on participants‘ responses, asking for clarifications, adding questions when interesting insights were raised. Participants felt very comfortable with the interview, which resembled an informal conversation. Less articulate participants were asked for more specific information in a guided process, making sure they referred to the required aspects. Hence, collected data highly corresponded with the research goals.
Interviewees willingly shared their perceptions and experiences and provided rich, authentic data. Recording the interviews was found to be very valuable as it allowed my full attention to focus on listening and reacting to participants‘ responses. I found Seidman‘s (1998) guidelines particularly useful: to listen more and talk less, to ask open-ended questions, to follow up on participants‘ responses, to ask more if additional information is needed and to avoid leading questions. Nevertheless, this research method had its limitations. These are discussed in Section 4.7.
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4.6.3 Datasets of national surveys
In order to examine whether some of the case study findings might be generalised, they were compared to related national surveys. Datasets of two large scale national surveys were accessed: the Australian Bureau of Statistics‘ general social survey (Pink, 2007), which is referred to in this thesis as ‗the ABS social survey‘; and the mobile phone lifestyle index (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007), which is referred to in this thesis as ‗the AIMIA survey‘ (the study was conducted for the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association). Following negotiation with these organisations, I was allowed to use the datasets for my research.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics General Social Survey (the ABS social survey)
In 2006, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducted the second general social survey (the first was conducted in 2002), that focused on a range of social aspects of life in Australia‘ such as the use of information technology, family and community involvement, participation in social networks and engagement in voluntary work (Pink, 2007). In total, 13,375 Australians aged 18 years and over who resided in private dwellings, participated in the survey. Interviews were conducted face-to-face based on a questionnaire, at selected dwellings between March and July 2006. The 2006 report is the latest relevant report available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Information collected as a part of the social survey 2006 and pertaining to social networks provides a rich context for friendworks related issues. Datasets were filtered by gender and age resulting in a specific examination of friendworks among Australian women over 35 years old. A detailed analysis of the data and its comparison with the case study findings is presented in Chapters 6 and 7. This survey is referred to hereafter as ‗the ABS social survey‘.
Australian mobile phone lifestyle index (the AIMIA survey)
In June 2009, a fifth survey (Mackay & Weidlich, 2009) on the use of the mobile phone by Australian users was conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association [AIMIA]. The first survey was conducted in 2005, following which additional surveys were conducted annually (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008). In addition to using these reports in the thesis, datasets of the third survey conducted in 2007 were accessed and analysed. The 2007 survey consisted of 3735 online respondents, residing all across Australia. Within this sample, 938 were women aged 35-74 years, corresponding to the case study gender and age distribution for this thesis. Datasets of the AIMIA survey were made available through the CCI Creative Industry Statistics Repository. Analysis of relevant data is presented in Chapter 8. These surveys are referred to hereafter as ‗the AIMIA surveys‘.
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4.6.4 Pilot focus group
A preliminary focus group session consisting of seven local women within the case study age group was conducted a few months prior to the fieldwork. Issues concerning the move to Ocean Shores, social networks and the use of communication methods, particularly the mobile phone, were raised. Based on participants‘ responses, the case study methods were finalised. Additionally, following views discussed during the pilot group, I decided to focus the study on friendworks, rather than overall social networks, as discussed in Section 2.3.
4.7 METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The combination of the research methods in use for this study yielded rich data, reflecting insights, perceptions and practices of the researched themes. Nevertheless, this research is not free of methodological concerns. Method limitations and ethical considerations are addressed in this section.
4.7.1 Method limitations
A few limitations were noted in the literature regarding the case study method. Case studies are of a descriptive rather than of an exploratory nature; since data is collected without the controlled conditions of the laboratory, it cannot draw cause-and-effect conclusions. In line with the pospositivist philosophy, the presented problem is only partial and might be biased, all the more so in the case of a marginal native. Another main concern relates to the quantity of generated data. Yet most case studies are limited in the extent to which findings can be generalised, as they involve a small sample which is not representative of the general population.
Case studies are open to bias and subjectivity which, in turn, affects validity and the reliability of data (Burns, 2000). Bias and subjectivity issues arise here mainly because I am an Ocean Shores resident, as were all research participants, and am personally acquainted with many of the interviewees. Subjectivity also refers to differences in self-expression among participants, which was evident through the in-depth interviews. Some participants were able to better express their thoughts and attitudes. Consequently, the quality of the collected data varied, hence providing more weight to well-expressed answers. Lastly, subjectivity also relates to interpretation and coding of informants‘ responses. The fact that all interviews were recorded and transcribed minimised this issue. Using dedicated software (NVivo) facilitated consistent treatment of data. Additionally, the fact that I was a sole interviewer assisted in a coherent performance of the interview style and with consistent coding. Data coding and interpretation was extensively and intensively discussed and reviewed with supervisors for the purpose of
Page 112 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks minimising problems of bias, achieving fair and accurate representations and consistency of treatment.
In terms of the quantity of data, the case study has been described as having the potential to produce ‗data deluge‘ (Eisenhardt, 1998, p. 539). This thesis generated a substantial amount of qualitative data. Nevertheless, all interviews were fully transcribed and coded. Using NVivo facilitated the process of locating relevant data.
Finally, there are concerns of the ‗generalisation problem‘ (Walker, 1980, p. 34). The argument is that the methodology is limited, or even flawed, by the fact that the case study is not representative making it difficult, if not impossible, to generalise from the data. However, whereas generalisability in quantitative studies may be defined in terms of statistical sampling, case studies are not designed to be statistically representative of the broader population. Thus the purpose of the qualitative case studies presented in this thesis is not quantification, but, rather, description, classification and limited theory testing. Nevertheless, comparing and contrasting the case study findings with national datasets (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007; Pink, 2007) gives rise to a set of propositions that could have wider applicability, but which would require further research (e.g. comparative case study analysis of women in multiple seachange communities) in order for firm general conclusions to be drawn.
Two main methods were used as a part of the case study, the online survey and the in- depth interview. De Vaus (2002) summarises the problems of the survey method as being the fact that the number of questions that can be asked is limited, that the context in which a survey is completed cannot be known or controlled, that the form of communication is one-way and that it lacks depth. Therefore, when choosing the research methods for this study, a survey was considered to be only one of multiple methods.
The in-depth interviews, in particular, addressed the limitations of the survey instrument. That is, interviews allowed more flexibility in the number and type of questions. There was some control over the context in which the questions were asked, through an interactive process, while data was captured in a natural form. Moreover, reviewing a completed survey during the interview made it possible for participants to further clarify matters where needed. In that respect, the survey proved to be effective as a complementary method to the in-depth interviews. It obtained valuable background information used within the in depth interview. Integrating both methods resulted in a time consuming effort and data-overload; hence the restrictions on the case study sample size.
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Bearing these limitations in mind, this research aimed at capturing human experiences and participants‘ interpretations of these experiences. The case study and the in-depth interview presented themselves as the most appropriate way to achieve the goal.
Defining friends, friendships and friendworks
This research focused on friends, friendships and friendworks. Therefore, understanding and defining each term was crucial to this study. This was a main concern while designing the interviews. It was important that participants understood the concept ‗friend‘, which has already been shown by Fischer (1982b) to be a very ambiguous term. Therefore, the original plan was to give the definition of a friend (as mentioned earlier in Section 2.3.2) to participants and, based on this definition, I meant to ask them who their friends were.
However, a second thought on this matter redirected the intention. Participants were eventually asked about their friends regardless of a preliminary definition. I chose to leave the decision as to whether they considered a person a friend to the participants, rather than enforcing a strict definition of my own, a definition that may not necessarily have reflected their perception of what friendships were. Ambiguous though the term may be, in most cases, participants were very definite about who they perceived as friends. Therefore, whenever referring to friends in this thesis, information is based on participants‘ personal perception.
This could also be interpreted as a reliability concern; not having a strict uniform definition of the basic unit of the research, the friend. Nevertheless, reinforced by the postpositivist philosophical orientation of the research and motivated by the intent to highlight the researched topics from the participants‘ point of view, I chose to follow the participants‘ perceptions and their subjective interpretation of the term.
4.7.2 Ethical considerations
The main ethical consideration regarding this case study is confidentiality. It is a key ethical concern in case study research, largely because people are often likely to be recognised (Yin, 2009, p. 144), especially in this case, which consisted of a defined population group limited in number: 26 women of 1684 adult women over 35 years residing in Ocean Shores (ABS, 2007a). Moreover, in some parts of the thesis, a much smaller group is discussed: pensioners, single parents, or ethnic communities. This increases the chances of identifying participants. Additionally, due to my insider status as an Ocean Shores resident and as a direct or indirect friend of the participants, confidentiality concerns were increased. Nevertheless, I have obtained rich data thanks to the open and generous nature of these women, which has been given to me not
Page 114 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks necessarily in my role (or solely in my role) as a researcher, but in other roles, such as ‗a local adult woman‘, ‗a mother of kids from the same school‘ or ‗a friend of a friend‘.
I have discerned two aspects of confidentiality: public and interpersonal. Public confidentiality refers to the protection of participants from the public exposure of information that might identify them within the research findings. Public exposure includes written publications, presentations, internet articles, interviews and any other activity aimed at publicly distributing the research details. The main issue in protecting participants‘ public privacy is presenting their identity in an unidentifiable manner. Therefore, though explicit names (first and last name) have been originally documented and used throughout data collection and analysis phases to allow an accurate mapping of the Ocean Shores friendworks and to match data from the surveys and the interviews, they have been changed to assure anonymity of participants for reporting and publication purposes. However, I have decided to add the actual age of each mentioned participant, as age was found to be an important factor in practices of friendworks and communication methods. To address the issue of confidentiality and privacy, participants were provided with a participant information form, which provided a written outline of the research and assurances about confidentiality. A copy of this form is attached in Appendix B. I also was the only one who collected, collated, stored, accessed and maintained the computer records associated with primary data collection. This also assisted in reducing confidentiality concerns.
Interpersonal confidentiality concern arises from the nature of the study and the researched themes. During the interviews, participants were asked about their background. Sometimes, sensitive and intimate information arose. Additionally, participants were specifically requested to name their friends, and to some extent, to provide details on their social relations. Not only did participants need to feel comfortable about exposing such information, but it was also important that they were confident that information would not be revealed to other informants, some of whom were their friends. I addressed this matter during the introduction to the interview, while stating clearly and strictly my obligation for confidentiality.
Back to the ethical consideration that relates to the fact that I live in the same residential location as all the case study participants. On the one hand, my personal acquaintances with most of the respondents yielded a successful and quick recruiting process, as well as notable cooperation, while on the other hand, it may have roused a concern by some informants and in the process restricted their openness and sincerity. This is in line with Seidman‘s notion: ―the easier the access to interviewees, the more complicated the interview‖ (1998). As I believed that there was a greater gain to this particular study in knowing the participants and their environment, I focused on ways of making participants feel comfortable and relaxed during the
Page 115 Chapter 4: Researching Ocean Shores friendworks interviews. This was one of the reasons why I chose to run interviews in participants‘ homes, in a friendly, familiar and informal manner as much as possible, in small talk style.
4.8 CONCLUSION
This chapter focuses on the research procedure. It justifies, acknowledges and describes the research methodology of a case study, within which qualitative and quantitative methods were used. This methodological approach yielded rich and authentic data that eventually led to a deep understanding of the researched themes. This chapter also provides a comprehensive understanding of the social context (location and demographics) of the case study. It sets out the essential background that allows further analysis of the main researched themes of population mobility, friendworks, practices of communication methods within friendworks and mobile phone use, each of which is addressed in a separate chapter. Beginning with the population mobility theme, the next chapter analyses and discusses findings regarding the move to Ocean Shores, the reasons for moving and the process involved in making new friends.
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5Chapter 5: Population mobility: Relocating in a seachange community
This chapter is the first of four chapters focusing on the case study findings. Each chapter focuses on one of the main themes: population mobility, friendworks, communication with friends and mobile phone use. Findings mentioned in these chapters and their relationships to the research questions raised are then discussed in the concluding chapter. Chapter 5 analyses data relating to population mobility. It specifically focuses on the move to a seachange community. This sets the context to better understand friendworks, the focal point of the next chapter.
This chapter highlights findings related to the relocation process of participants in the case study from a social perspective. It responds to the research question: what is the social impact of seachanging on seachangers? Therefore it analyses findings regarding the move to Ocean Shores, the reasons for the move, the process of befriending with locals and within local sub-communities. It then discusses failed attempts to befriend and the status change from newcomer to local. Finally, findings regarding the role of friendships in developing a sense of belonging to the community and the place are elaborated.
The findings presented in the following four chapters are based on data collected as a part of the case study. Data collection methods were the online surveys discussed in Section 4.6.1 and the in-depth interviews with 26 female participants over 35 years of age, residing in Ocean Shores. Some of the case study findings are compared and contrasted with nation-wide data to provide a wider outlook on this data.
5.1 MOVING TO OCEAN SHORES
Two notions of place primarily impacted upon participants‘ friendworks: 1. the relocation process, which redefined spatial proximity to (or distance from) existing and new friends and 2. the ambience of a small seachange community motivating increasing face-to-face interactions with locals.
Most case study participants named a number of dwelling places before they arrived at Ocean Shores. No interviewee was locally born. Few lived in the Byron shire before moving to Ocean Shores, but kept relocating within the shire every few years. For most women, Ocean Shores was not their final dwelling place. Participants reported living in Ocean Shores for less than one year to a maximum of 20 years, providing wide perspectives on local life as newcomers as well as veteran residents. In line with national statistics regarding population mobility (Pink,
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2006, p. 4), 42% of the case study participants (out of total of 26 women) had lived in Ocean Shores for less than five years. The case study participants came to Ocean Shores from various locations: from nearby (within the same shire) to as far away as the other side of the globe (United States and Israel28). Most participants moved from bigger, distant population centres. Nearly half of the interviewees (46%) came from an Australian capital city, and over one quarter (27%) came from population centres of over 25,000 residents (major population centres), in or outside Australia. The rest (27%) moved from closer or distant smaller population centres, as presented in Figure 23.
Figure 23: Place of residence prior to the move to Ocean Shores (Source: case study, n=26)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics‘ data (Trewin, 2004) shows a similar pattern of Australians generally moving from bigger distant cities to smaller coastal communities, suggesting that city people find seachange communities appealing.
5.2 WHY RELOCATE?
Scholars provide some insights on motivations for moving to coastal non-metropolitan areas. These might explain the recent significant population growth in these areas. The main motivations to relocate are: 1. financial restrictions, mainly relevant to lower income groups who
28 The Israel-born population is a targeted sector within the case study participants. For further details refer to Section 4.3.
Page 118 Chapter 5: Population mobility: Relocating in a seachange community are reliant on statutory benefits. These groups are being ―pushed out‖ of capital cities due to rising housing costs29 (Marshall, et al., 2003). 2. the will for a lifestyle change, especially among the ―baby boomers‖ who are now retiring (Gurran, Squires, & Blakely, 2005), but also across all ages (Marshall, et al., 2003), 3. the global shift towards less location dependent lifestyle, enabling information, service and consumption even in small, remote population centres (Elbersen, 2005) and 4. the growing flexibility of work practices.
Evidence for the first two motivations has been found within the case study; financial status and lifestyle change were reported by the research participants as common reasons for moving to Ocean Shores. Two additional motivations evident in the case study were educational aspirations and social preferences.
The main motivation named for the move to Ocean Shores was affordable quality of life. This reason was most dominant among interviewees over 60 years, who were looking for an affordable, peaceful place to retire, close to the beach. First, they recalled deciding it was time for a change: ―I suppose you start to reassess your life and what you really want to do and get out of life‖ (Laura, 61). Second, they targeted coastal small towns as a desired location, for the sea, the opportunity to ―walk to the sea, view of the sea, listen to the sea‖ (Julia, 69). Then they would move up and down the coast looking for affordable options. Most of the retirees decided on Byron Shire as the place they would like to move to and ended up in Ocean Shores, mainly for financial reasons. Julia (69), who moved to Ocean Shores ten years ago, commented: ―we couldn't afford … to live on the beach side of Brunswick. It was too expensive. Byron was out of the question. It was too expensive, even at that time. So, this [Ocean Shores] was a good compromise‖. However, it was not only retirees who reported struggling with the balance between affordable housing and a desired lifestyle, young couples and families with young children also targeted Ocean Shores for financial reasons: ―the only place we could buy was in Ocean Shores‖ (Clair, 44, 13 years in Ocean Shores). Doris, (49), a mother to two children who arrived from Sydney nine years earlier said: ―we looked at Sydney and decided it's no place to raise a child, because we couldn't afford anything‖.
Linda (62, 3 years in Ocean Shores) moved from the Gold Coast motivated by her interest in a more peaceful small-town lifestyle:
29 People who move based on this motivation are classified as forced relocators (Marshall, et al., 2003), in contrast with those moving out of a desire for alternative lifestyle (mostly retirees) and are classified as free agents.
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The Gold Coast is getting too busy.… The people [in Ocean Shores] are very friendly,
very easy going. They're not anywhere near as rushed or abrupt as they are in the Gold
Coast, because everybody up there is running around with an agenda. Life is a bit
simpler down here. They haven't lost the sense of family that used to exist in the Gold
Coast. It's [the Gold Coast] become ... not a nice place anymore. It is too big, too urban,
too much crime, too much free time for the kids without any supervision. Kids are
getting lost.
Similarly, Ella (36) indicated: ―I love the calmness and the quietness of the place … that it is not as noisy as the city. I love the views very, very much: the ocean, the forests‖. Even when moving from as close by as Byron Bay, the lifestyle change is apparent; ―Ocean Shores is not very touristic … I really like that. I like the fact that it feels more like a community area for locals rather than an area for tourists‖ (Elizabeth, 58, moved to Ocean Shores from Byron Bay one year earlier). Correspondingly, Julia (69) explained: ―well, for us it's not Byron. That's a huge plus. We think of Mullumbimby as our Sydney. We think of Ocean Shores as the little shopping centre down the road. We think of Byron as New York. It's freaky. We don't want to be there‖. Closeness to the beach was a dominant lifestyle aspect, specifically mentioned by almost all participants: ―we looked for a place near the beach, cause George is a surfer‖ (Clair, 44). similarly, Linda (62) recalled: ―we were looking for somewhere close to the beach. My husband is a water person‖ and Julia (69) concluded: ―we like the proximity to the beach. That's the main thing‖.
Two women mentioned a similar educational aspiration as the main motivation for relocating in Ocean Shores. It was geographically proximate to the Steiner school located in Mullumbimby, a nearby town. They chose to live in Ocean Shores rather than in Mullumbimby because they ―like the beach‖ (Olivia, 60)30.
Lastly, nearly one third of the respondents mentioned social considerations for moving to Ocean Shores. They chose to live next to family members, friends, or a specific group of people. Four women mentioned family members living in Ocean Shores as one of the main reasons for moving there. Two of them reported moving to Ocean Shores because a close family member already lived there: ―both my son and daughter, who are my only children, live in Ocean
30 Mullumbimby is another town within the Byron Shires situated 7 Km away from the coastline.
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Shores‖ (Beverly, 76). Ruth (40, immigrant from Israel) was persuaded by her sister to move: ―my sister lived here. She tried to convince me many times to come over: ‗it‘s a great place, you‘d love it here‘, she and her husband said, and they were right.… I didn‘t even check it myself. Based on what my sister told me, we packed everything, left Israel and came straight to Ocean Shores‖. Another family related motivation was mentioned by Suzanne (45) who dropped into Ocean Shores, where her cousin lived, while travelling, and chose to stay: ―I have been here for the last 18 and half years‖. Having a family around was important to Suzanne: ―someone we can rely on for a fall back on, and it was good for her [the cousin] too, ‘cause she had no family here either, so we had each other‖. Suzanne‘s mother also moved to Ocean Shores eight years later. These testimonials emphasise the significant impact of local family members when relocating. Nevertheless, most participants did not follow this pattern.
Another social consideration for relocating is friends. Ten participants (38%) reported having friends in Ocean Shores prior to their move. Some admitted this was the reason they got to know and visit the place. Others specifically mentioned their desire to live next to their friends: ―Rebecca brought us down here.… We came down to visit Rebecca and started looking around‖ (Linda, 62). However, in most situations, the locals were not close friends and these relationships were not a primary reason for the move. Moreover, two women said they were convinced to move to Ocean Shores by local women they had never met, only communicated with via telephone and email, virtual acquaintances who they perceived as reliable and sincere. Based on such evidence, it is suggested that local friends as well as reliable local virtual acquaintances influence decisions. This might not be a primary reason for the move, but it motivated relocation in a particular place. Since many seachangers look for a specific lifestyle rather than a particular location to live in, moving to a seachange town where they also know someone is an advantage. Such local friends exemplify the mooring affect of social relations for relocators.
A third social consideration for moving to Ocean Shores is proximity to a specific group of people. In this case study, the detected group was the Israel-born community. Five of the case study participants were born in Israel31 and were Hebrew native speakers. Three of them had lived in Australia for less than three years and had migrated from Israel directly to Ocean Shores. These three, together with another Israel-born participant who had lived for a longer period in Australia, reported that closeness to the Israeli community influenced their decision to move to
31 For further details regarding the case study sample, please refer to Section 4.3.
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Ocean Shores. All five Israel-born women said that proximity to the Israeli community was an important aspect of their life today. Holly (42) recalled:
One day, when I was living in Sydney, I read an article in an Israeli newspaper about the
Israeli community in Byron Bay. I was very happy to learn that there are other ways of
life to Israelis outside Sydney.… Having Israelis around was one of our reasons for the
move. We sought the presence of other Israelis.
Kathy (39) emphasised that presence of other Israelis created ―a feeling of security, that we know someone here‖. Ruth (40), the Israeli woman who followed her sister to Ocean Shores, was aware of the presence of Israelis around, though she ―didn‘t imagine there were that many‖. When trying to explain why proximity to other Israelis might be important, she explained: ―I feel comfortable among Israelis. I know their nuances. I have spent most of my life in Israel.… They accept me.… Because, we are all far away from home, we have this need and motivation to get together. We are each other‘s family‖. Similar statements were expressed by the other Israel-born participants. The local ethnic community members became their friends and were considered their local ‗family‘.
A study of migration to the Gold Coast (Stimson & Minnery, 1998) also identified social reasons for moving to a new place. The researchers found that a combination of personal circumstances (particularly social ties), and cultural factors (perceptions about a particular place and sense of connection to ―reference groups‖ within it) influenced the decision to migrate to the Gold Coast. In this study, many people decided to move in order to be closer to friends or family who had already resided in the Gold Coast, suggesting a ―chain migration‖ phenomenon (Stimson & Minnery, 1998, p. 207).
Though most participants associated their move to Ocean Shores with financial, lifestyle, educational and social considerations, some women highlighted spontaneous aspects within the relocation process. Few of them moved without previously choosing where to settle. This was evident in Sylvia‘s story: ―so we went in and found the lookout. And I was just—I was home! There was just something that stirred me. And I thought: this is it. This is where I want to be‖. Ella, an immigrant from Israel reported:
We didn‘t know anything about Ocean Shores. We didn‘t plan to get here. We planned
to get to Byron Bay … [Friends] booked a holiday accommodation [for us] … when we
called to find out the exact address, we realized it is in Ocean Shores—at the very same
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moment, at the airport.… As we arrived to Ocean Shores, we were just amazed from the
place.… We have decided to stay straight away.... We just fell in love.
Both examples also support evidence for participants‘ sense of place, which is discussed in Section 5.8. Laura‘s (61) case was even more dramatic, as the whole move happened unexpectedly: ―I came up here … and I stayed for six weeks, and I thought, I really can make up my mind what I want to do. I don ‘t really have to go back … if I don‘t want to‖. Following this insight, Laura relocated in Ocean Shores.
Overall, participants expressed satisfaction about their move to Ocean Shores. This is in line with the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute report (Marshall, et al., 2003), which is based on an analysis of questionnaires completed by 1496 Australian income-support recipients who moved from Australian cities to nonmetropolitan areas. Among findings, most movers perceived themselves to be better off after moving from the big cities; most lifestyle adjustments were rated as being very satisfactory by the movers. The most satisfying adjustment was ‗living a different lifestyle.‘ The least satisfying was ‗finding work‘, which was noted by two thirds of all respondents to be easier than in the city (Marshall, et al., 2003).
In conclusion, the case study participants were motivated to move to Ocean Shores for different reasons, including financial status, lifestyle change, educational aspirations and social considerations. Of most interest to this study is the latter, as it highlights the dominant role that family, friends and groups play when relocating. Not only did participants report following their social relations to Ocean Shores, but most of them also stayed in close contact with these people long after the move or even when they no longer lived nearby. From a communal perspective, social motivation is underestimated. Whether family, friends or groups of interest, almost one third of the research participants ended up specifically in Ocean Shores due to locals they chose to live close to. The need to live in proximity to specific others could be catered to suit regional agenda (for example, in cases of prioritising particular segments of the population as potential newcomers, such as particular age groups, professions, familial status, income range, cultural background and so on).
5.3 MAKING NEW FRIENDS IN A NEW PLACE OF DWELLING
Claude Fischer (1982a) in his seminal study on friendships in the United States mentions that people‘s dwelling place plays a key role in shaping their natural relations to one another (Fischer, 1982a, p. 1). He also emphasises the influence of spatial proximity on friendships (1982b). Both statements hold true for this case study. Participants regarded life in a small town along the Australian coastline as fairly relaxed and enriched with frequent face-to-face
Page 123 Chapter 5: Population mobility: Relocating in a seachange community encounters within a small familiar community. The spatial proximity in such places increased frequency of face-to-face encounters (Mok, et al., 2007), which consequently reinforced local social relations.
People who move to a seachange community as adults have already established their friendwork based on previous dwelling locations. When settling into the new dwelling place, they reform their friendwork to include new local friends, while excluding existing weak distance ties. This was evident within the Ocean Shores case study. While participants who had lived in Ocean Shores for over four years reported that most of their friends lived up to an hour‘s drive away, most newcomers‘ friends resided in the relocators‘ previous dwelling locations. This set an important distinction between locals and newcomers, with those living in Ocean Shores for four years or less considered newcomers, and those residing in Ocean Shores for more than four years regarded as locals.
Once participants moved to Ocean Shores, they all started establishing local social relationships motivated by their ―want to feel wanted‖ (Laura, 61), the need for companionship and their desire for belonging. Most of them initiated social interactions through which they got to know local people and new friends. During this process of making new friends, old (and new) local friends played a major role in introducing newcomers to locals: ―we each had a friend in the area and from those two friends, the whole social network evolved‖ (Julia, 69). Suzanne‘s (45) cousin who lived in Ocean Shores introduced her to friends when:
Going to outings like with the touch football and things like that. And then she was
working at the country club, and … she got me the job up there, so I met people through
that. And then I met Sam [her partner], and then I met all his friends, and so then the
circle got wider.
Locals, introducing newcomers to their friends, acted as social agents: ―I had a really good neighbour who lived two doors up and we used to socialise.… I got to know some people in her group of friends that I clicked with‖ (Janet, 46). It is not surprising then, that some of the local- friends‘ associates joined the newcomers‘ friendworks. The mediation role of the local friend verified that the interaction was genuine, hence overcoming suspiciousness and doubtfulness, common in such situations. This act of agency also raised the level of interest by both parties. Additionally, as has been found in previous studies, people tend to socialise with similar others, who validate their beliefs and characteristics (Byrne, 1971; Kalmijn & Vermunt, 2007). Local friends socialise with similar others. Hence, it is likely that newcomers would find similarities
Page 124 Chapter 5: Population mobility: Relocating in a seachange community with people within their local-friends‘ friendworks. This well exemplifies the web-like expansion pattern of friendworks (and social networks more generally); friends connect friends.
The mediation role that local friends play in befriending situations significantly influences newcomers‘ socialising experience. This is evident when comparing befriending experiences between newcomers who had local friends previous to the move and those without local friends prior to relocating. While the first type of newcomers reported a fairly smooth and quick social orientation process, the latter commonly recalled that it ―was a difficult thing‖ (Clair, 44). Newcomers with no local friends prior to the move first got to know locals, mainly neighbours, whom they regarded as acquaintances: ―I've become acquainted with the neighbours in the street and I think that that is a distinct thing from friendships… We're very friendly with the neighbours that we got to know‖ (Elizabeth, 58). Sylvia (48) recalled a somewhat similar welcoming story: ―the lovely lady who used to live across the road, we knew her from day one, and she pretty much made herself known to us. She was the street gossip lady. She knew everybody‖. During the process of getting to know the neighbours and other locals, some became friends: ―we met from walking on the beach and living in the same street. You had hellos when they went past. Then, invited down for a cup of tea. This is how we became friends‖ (Beverly, 76). In many cases, neighbours and local acquaintances played the same mediation role that friends did in a new place: they catalysed social interactions. When not having local friends, newcomers had to initiate social interactions. This was a great difference to some people. It influenced their local social experience and their sense of belonging to the local community.
Participants reported additional ways of making friends: via work, through their kids‘ activities, on the beach and in organised social activities. Rebecca (45, a solicitor) noted: ―most of my friends were work colleagues that I met. So they became our friends… who are still friends… We socialised also with my former business partners and their kids ... some clients as well‖. Janet (46, a tarot card reader), reported a similar process: ―people come to see me professionally and enjoy the experience a lot and ring me up to have friendships with me‖. However, nearly half of the interviewees did not have face-to-face encounters with people due to a paid work as they were either unemployed or worked from home.
In such cases, kids-related activities were the most common scene for meeting new friends: ―mainly just socialising at school. You invite children home. They get to meet you. Then, you get to meet their parents‖ (Doris, 49). Clair (44) similarly commented:
Basically we just kept to ourselves a lot until we had children and Lily started preschool.
That's when we started to get to know people and met friends. There were one or two
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people that you would ring every now and again, but it was definitely once you had the
children you opened up a whole new sporting sphere.
Joy (49) associated her lack of local friends with her kids‘ advanced age: ―when you got little kids, you tend to socialise more, I think‖. Interestingly, Tania (52) claimed the opposite: ―I didn‘t realise how to reach out when I had little children. I wasn‘t so good at it. I was concentrating on bringing out the kids, not on finding friends or having a life outside of the kids‖. Tania‘s response is an exception.
The beach was found to be a popular socialising location, especially among the elderly and dog owners (usually, they were both):
Most people go to the beach with their dogs, so you get to know the dogs, ‗cause the
dogs run up to you. So you ask: what's your dog's name and one thing leads to another.
All the friends that we actually have made … we met on the beach. Most of them have
dogs [laughs]. Some of them became really good friends. (Joanne, 67)
Even if the beach people do not become friends, they make the local life experience cosier and friendlier:
I walk the beach with the dogs. You always meet people on the beach. You say hello
quite different to meeting people on the street.… I don‘t have real friendships from
meeting people on the beach. You just meet them when you‘re walking the dog and
everybody say hello. You just say hello back. (Beverly, 76)
A few of the women recalled joining organised social activities to meet new friends:
I have joined single parents meetings at the Ocean Shores Anglican church once a week.
And I thought … well this is actually a good way to meet people.... I ended up starting to
go to church ... and there started to be a bit of a connection there. So, it started to build a
bit of a friendship base from there, and it just grew. (Sylvia, 48)
Sports, clubs, and volunteer work are some of the social activities that newcomers chose to take part in: ―So, I joined the local country club.… I‘ve got to know people through that, some people who do live here and they‘re really lovely. I enjoy it because it‘s a lovely social group‖ (Laura, 61).
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Some women said that becoming friends with other newcomers was a somewhat easier process. Since newcomers share a ‗new in town‘ experience and are in the same position of looking for new friends, they are more interested in and open to new relationships. Laura (61) commented on this matter: ―I find that the friends that I know now are different…They are more accepting… They are new to the area as well, so, they‘re looking more for friends and finding people of like situations‖.
In conclusion, all participants were keen to make new local friendships once they had moved to Ocean Shores. They reported two befriending patterns: with the agency of other people, or without. In most cases, befriending by mediation of friends, neighbours and kids led to a spontaneous and informal process. The mediators set up the initial contact and both parties complied. In such cases, participants often reported a smooth and quick social orientation phase. Newcomers with no local friends prior to the move commonly met locals through work, following their kids‘ activities or while joining formal local organisations. Befriending without mediation of locals engaged newcomers in an active befriending process and was often associated with a long, complicated and sometimes unsuccessful process. This highlights the key role that local friends play in befriending situations of newcomers as well as in additional befriending situations, as presented in further details in the next section.
5.4 HOW DID YOU GET TO KNOW YOUR FRIENDS?
During the interviews participants were asked to name all their friends. Then, participants tagged one of nine befriending patterns for each friend: 1. the friend is their partner, 2. the friend is a parent or a sibling, 3. the friend is their child, 4. the friend is an extended family member, 5. got to know the person through a shared friend, 6. via work-related situations, 7. the person is a neighbour, 8. met the person through organisational activity (for example: school, kids‘ school, academic studies, church and sports organisations), or 9. other (mostly, leisure activities including meeting on the beach, travelling and sailing). Figure 24 displays the total number of friends of all participants segmented by befriending patterns.
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parent/sibling spouse/partner 7% 3%
child 1% other other family 5% 5% organization 19%
neighbour 8% friend 41%
work related 11%
Figure 24: How did participants get to know their friends (Source: case study, n=599 friendships)
The most common way of befriending was through a shared friend (41%). The second most common way of getting to know friends was through an organisational activity (19%). Familial relations accounted for 16% of all friendships. Eleven per cent of friends were work- related. Non-kin relations dominated the examined friendworks. Commonly befriending through a shared friend reinforces the finding presented in the previous section. Friends mediate friendships when moving to a new location and generally, in wider contexts.
5.5 BEFRIENDING WITHIN SUB-COMMUNITIES
Another example of the role of locals in befriending situations when relocating was evident among the Israel-born participants. Each mentioned local Israel-born women who introduced them to locals within the Israeli community. These women acted as social agents influencing the newcomers‘ befriending patterns. Ruth (40), whose sister already lived in Ocean Shores, reported: ―my sister introduced me to her Israeli friends and we started talking, dropped in for visits. There are many joint activities; holidays, parties, picnics, barbequing together‖. Kathy (39), whose distant relatives also lived in Ocean Shores reported a similar befriending pattern: ―my relative introduced me to the Israeli community and I started joining community events and tightened relationships with a few of the women‖. Both women had local family members who introduced them to Israel-born locals. However, the other three Israeli participants also reported a similar befriending pattern. Ella (36) contacted Debra via an internet forum and they became virtual acquaintances. When emigrating from Israel, Debra welcomed Ella to Ocean
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Shores and introduced her to Israel-born locals. Holly (42) and Caroline (37) shared a similar story of befriending with Israel-born locals after arriving at Ocean Shores. The Israel-born women also reported that they followed this mediating pattern themselves and nowadays they actively mentor Israel-born newcomers. The local Israel-born women perceive a shared ethnicity as a motivation to befriend newcomers, as well as a social commitment to warmly welcome newcomers into the local community.
Not only did participants choose to move to Byron Shire because of the Israeli-born locals (as discussed in Section 5.2), their local friendworks reflect this clear preference to befriend with Israel-born locals. Befriending within an ethnic community was found to be a nationwide pattern. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (Pink, 2007) conducted a general social survey of 13,375 Australians and reported that 73% of respondents said that all or most of their friends were of similar ethnic background. Shared ethnicity was found to be a higher indicator of friendships than similar educational background (57%) and similar age (65%).
Israel-born participants mainly befriended with people from the Israeli community. However, this process resulted in mixed feelings of peacefulness and discontent. Participants reported a feeling of peacefulness after relocating, since they were warmly welcomed and surrounded by supporting women: ―I didn‘t feel I need to meet anyone else‖ (Caroline, 37). On the other hand, they also reported a feeling of discontent, as they ―didn‘t come all the way to Australia to befriend with Israelis‖ (Kathy, 39). The expectation to socially integrate within the local population did not come true to any of the Israel-born participants. This was reported as a ―great disappointment‖ (Kathy, 39). Even when they had been settled in Ocean Shores for a few years, they reported having mainly Israeli friends: ―I have met Australian women through day- care. I have met some in my previous work, but it‘s always superficial acquaintanceships.... There are no Australians I consider as friends‖ (Ella, 36, one year in Ocean Shores). Kathy‘s (39, two years in Ocean Shores) befriending experience with Australians was very similar: ―I also met some parents at school, but the contact with them was very light, even today. There are only two Australian women who I consider as friends, but then again, not close friends‖. Holly (42, three years in Ocean Shores) similarly stated: ―Australian friends? I don‘t have any. I don‘t know why. It just didn‘t happen‖.
Kathy (39) reported that even though she used to be upset because of her failure to befriend locals in the first year in Ocean Shores, a year later, she accepted this as a fact. She was no longer concerned:
I used to think that there‘s something wrong with me and because of that, people do not
want to be my friends. Mainly, I looked for cultural-difference reasons, which I still
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consider as a crucial factor when connecting with others. But, as time passed, I realised I
had my preferences as well. Having friends from the Israeli community fulfils most of
my social needs. I am no longer in a desperate quest for new local friends.
The Israel-born women said that living in Australia made them more aware of the similarities they shared with other Israel-born locals and motivated befriending with them: ―there are much greater chances that I will befriend with a local Israel-born, than befriending with the same person in Israel. Here, I am much more open to getting to know these people‖ (Ruth, 40).
This pattern of relations between shared ethnic individuals was also evident among the younger generation and men. Participants reported that their children‘s best friend was from an Israeli background. This was especially true within the same age groups. Two main reasons might explain this befriending pattern among the younger generation: shared culture, which is distinct from the Australian culture, and intense social interactions with Israel-born people due to their parents‘ social preferences. Some of the mothers were concerned about this segregated social pattern practiced by their kids. Though men were not a part of this study, from my close acquaintanceship with the Israel-born community, it seems that this pattern is not gender oriented. Men also tend to befriend with Israel-born locals, mostly other men.
In comparison with the overall case study participants, women within the Israel-born sub-community reported tighter social relations, as exemplified in Figure 18. This sub- community generated bonding social capital (Woolcock, 1998) that enhanced relations within the community and distinctly positioned it within society. The local Israel-born community affects the wider Ocean Shores community in two ways; it contributes to the local social diversity, but it also inhibits its members from developing a sense of belonging to the wider local community. Its limited numbers also mean there is minimal collective impact within the wider local community.
5.6 FAILING TO BEFRIEND
Challenging befriending processes with local Australians was not only reported by Israel-born women, but also by Australian-born participants. When trying to explain why she has failed to befriend locals, Laura (61) said: ―I don‘t know what it is, some sort of reluctance [of locals] to extend themselves. It could even just be that they are not as sociably open as what I have been used to‖. Laura remembered joining aqua aerobic classes at the country club in a socialising attempt, however ―once we are out of the water, they disappear for another week. So I don‘t find lasting interactions from that‖. Other women admitted knowing quite a few acquaintances ―all very nice people‖. Still, they did not name them as friends during the interview. ―I made friends with the boys friends‘ mothers, but I don‘t socialise with them‖ (Janet,
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46). As described by Joy (49), befriending with locals was challenging since they had already established their social relations, hence, they were not looking for additional friends: ―You meet people and they obviously already got their connections, so you feel you are kind of on the periphery of that network and so you think: ‗Oh, that's OK. It's still nice that we know them‘‖. Joy considered such people as acquaintances, not as friends. She described another scenario of interactions not leading to friendships: ―there are a lot of functions going on [at school] and all the parents are invited. And we are like: ‗YES! Good! We get to hang out together‘. But then, we don't really organise anything to meet up again‖. Sporadic interactions are another indicator of failed befriending attempts.
Laura (61) found that her social status as a single woman made it harder to establish new friendships in this small town:
It seems to be a hard place for a single person. If you‘ve got a husband, you know, it
seems socially acceptable to invite a couple, but it‘s not as easy. People are less inclined
to invite a single person. I had never experienced this in Canberra. It was a very much
open social environment. I think that people are more conservative here. Yes. Perhaps a
little bit more closed, not as open in their thinking. I think that life in Canberra, as a
public service city, is very much influenced from the anti-discrimination, anti-sexist
policies, that it is a part of your life, and you live by that life and you see how well
acceptance is in Canberra. It is very accepting of everybody and I don‘t know that this
area is quite as up to date.
Participants regard the lack of local friends as unfortunate. Yet they learnt to accept this and adjust their social expectations accordingly. Interestingly, all the women who reported lack of local friends did not know any local person prior to the move32; hence they had to face the befriending process on their own. This again emphasises the importance of the agency role taken by local friends in relocation.
32 In the case of the Israel-born women, this statement is valid when befriending with Australian-born locals.
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5.7 WHEN NEWCOMERS BECOME LOCALS
Once settled in Ocean Shores and having established local friendships, most participants reached a social saturation point and stopped actively looking for new friends. They became locals, and the fresh newcomers were left to face similar social challenges. Participants expressed three different approaches when answering the question: ―are you still looking for new friends?‖ 1. passively open to new friendships, 2. not interested in new friends and 3. always actively looking for new friends. Most women said they had enough friends and were happy with their current social status. Nevertheless, over three quarters said they were open to new relations: ―not purposely, but of course I'm always open to new friendships‖ (Joanne, 67), or as Elizabeth (58) put it:
I am always open to make new friends. I don't think I'm sort of hunting for friends.... I've
got friends in all the activities I am involved with. I‘ve got enough friends in my life, but
I wouldn't say no to meeting new friends.
Though in most cases, participants stated that they were passively open for new relationships, based on evidence from the case study, newcomers and locals differently interpreted the same social scenes. What was regarded by newcomers as a closed conservative community (as was reported by Laura in the previous section) was perceived by locals as a lack of motivation to establish new relationships, as was rephrased by Rebecca (45): ―my partner always says to me: ‗we've got enough friends who we do not get to see enough of‘‖. Linda (62) paraphrased a somewhat similar approach: ―I'm never not looking, but I am not consciously looking. I don't think I ever consciously looked for friends. It's just sort of happened. I am not running around and socially participating in clubs and all of that stuff‖.
Two women admitted to having more than enough friends, and six women stated they were not interested in extending their friendwork: ―there's an abundance of friends and our life is busy without us actively seeking for new friends‖ (Julia, 69). Even some women with relatively small friendworks declared that they were not interested in new friends: ―I am no longer looking for new friends. I have learnt to live without new friends and that‘s OK‖ (Holly, 42, named 10 friends in her friendwork). Another group of women who seemed less keen to expand their social networks were those relocating within the Byron Shire. They did not make as many new friends as those coming from afar: ―I probably haven't made new friends since I have moved here, actually, because I still got my existing network‖ (Elizabeth, 58).
Nevertheless, two women who had lived in Ocean Shores over nine years admitted actively looking for new friends:
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I try to make people who are new to feel accepted, because I think that's important.... I've
met a lot of people [at school] who their child was new and I said: ‗would you like to
come to our house?‘ Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. (Doris, 49, nine years in
Ocean Shores)
Trish (55) similarly stated: ―I am not a person that sits back and waits; so I just jump in and say hello to everybody. My aim is to meet 3-4 new people every month and make sure they remain friends‖. Trish is a very active and a well known figure in the community. She estimated 250 members in her friendwork, the largest proclaimed friendwork, while Doris stated the fewest number of people in her friendwork (10)33. Though, both women were motivated to expand their networks, they were guided by different social agendas: Doris felt lonely, whereas Trish liked intense social interactions. These different motivations highlight some of the complexity in generalising social tendencies of befriending processes, which, to a larger extent, depend on personal attributes, agendas and circumstances.
In conclusion, after relocating, newcomers revamped their social networks in order to establish a sense of belonging. Most participants actively sought new friends after relocating. This pattern changed once they established a local social network. From that point on, they were passively open to new friendships but did not actively look for new friends. For newcomers, this situation is paradoxical; they want to establish local relationships, yet befriending is challenging. A minor effort of locals in actively welcoming newcomers can assist the latter in their befriending attempts while helping them also to establish their sense of belonging.
5.8 SENSE OF BELONGING: SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND SENSE OF PLACE
One noticeable difference between newcomers and locals was their sense of belonging to the place and to the local community. This has been evident through participants‘ testimonials. Newcomers like Holly (42, 3 years in Ocean Shores) reported that Ocean Shores ―is only a place of dwelling. It does not have a unique atmosphere. It is not a very community oriented place. It is not that everyone knows each other. There are no community events‖. In contrast, locals tended to respond affectively and intuitively:
33 More about friendwork size in Section 6.1.
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I feel very connected to Ocean Shores.... I also instantly felt that I was HOME. I
definitely feel that I belong here.... I think that Ocean Shores does have a sense of
community and that as a community we come together at times of need and help and
support families doing it tough. I have seen this happen many times over. I feel
connected through my work, my church, and my friends who over the years have
become my family. (Sylvia, 48, 9 years in Ocean Shores)
Four of five factors that Doolittle and MacDonald (1978) use to evaluate the level of a sense of community (Section 3.4.1) were evident in the Ocean Shores case study: informal interactions, safety, neighbouring preferences (preference for frequent neighbour interaction) and localism. Informal interactions were connected with the small size of the town:
I am always meeting people from my community that I may not meet in my social circle
and as it is a small community, they know my name or know a friend of mine and the
degrees of separation are smaller. (Janet, 46)
In line with this citation, Putnam and Feldstein (2003) emphasise that ―one-on-one, face-to-face communication is more effective at building relationships and creating empathy and understanding, than remote, impersonal communication ... the more extensive interchange that is possible in smaller groups makes it possible to discover unexpected mutuality even in the face of difference‖ (p. 276-277).
Safety aspects were addressed by some women. Caroline (37) stated: ―I feel my kids are safe at Ocean Shores‖. Elizabeth (58) mentioned that Ocean Shores was ―a place where people can raise families and live in a congenial environment‖. Additionally, the mobile phone data collected in this case study indicated that safety was not as dominant an issue as had been reported in other mobile phone studies (for example: Ling, 2004; Sørensen, 2006). Overall, participants perceived life in Ocean Shores as safe.
The neighbouring preferences factor was apparent when Julia (69) regarded interactions with locals as positive experiences: ―I know the people in a lot of the shops. I always see people I know.... So there is a general feeling of comfortable familiarity‖. Janet (46) mentioned that ―everyone is willing to interact or have a verbal exchange‖ and Joy (49) stated: ―I know almost everyone when I go to the beach. I feel like a local‖.
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However, localism was most commonly expressed when emphasising opinions and a desire to participate in community affairs. Elizabeth (58) asserted:
There are a lot of people in our community fighting hard to keep it as a cohesive
community and stave off the invasion of people who only think of making money. We
take up a lot of our time, which we shouldn't have to, campaigning to improve services.
Active participation in community initiatives was correlated with a stronger sense of community, as reported by Dorothy (66):
I feel most connected to Ocean Shores when I'm involved in some community activity.
For example, when I'm attending a fund raiser for South Golden Beach Community
Centre or talking with others about the proposed permanent festival site at Yelgun or
shopping at the New Brighton Market.
Instrumental support was evident in indicating an important aspect of localism: ―there is a great sense of community, as I have experienced from friends that have had cancer and died, that the community pulls together to help the family in need‖ (Suzanne, 45). Caroline (37) mentioned that ―mothers at school are always happy to help with a ride home for kids and organise sport and soccer drop offs in case someone can‘t do it‖ and Trish (55) concluded: ―the community has been this place‘s greatest asset as we all look after each other‖.
Evidence as to how a sense of community reinforces participants‘ self identity was found in Caroline‘s (37) remark about the people in Ocean Shores: ―down to earth people, the family type place. It makes me feel normal.... All the mums are struggling and its OK…great acceptance. Family people, but also like to have fun‖.
Public spaces were given as examples as places where participants met locals: ―I personally feel connected to Ocean Shores through the school‖ (Ella, 36). Caroline (37) admitted: ―I love going to Bilo [the local supermarket] and seeing familiar faces‖, and Julia (69) added: ―the connecting element for me as a dog owner is the beach community of dog walkers‖. In contrast, Holly (42), who claimed to lack of sense of community, associated her personal lack of belonging with urban design concerns:
Mullumbimby has a feeling of community because of the way it is designed. The down
town attracts people. In Ocean Shores there is not really a centre. There is a store, but not
really a centre that attracts people to get together.
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Geographical distance was also named as weakening a sense of community, as expressed by Dorothy (66): ―Ocean Shores is so spread out that it's hard to feel connected with the entire place. For example, I don't feel connected to the people who live on Rajah Road because that's so far from where I live‖ (over 5 kilometres). Accordingly, she perceived spatial proximity as intensifying her sense of community: ―I do feel very connected to North Ocean Shores, including South Golden Beach and New Brighton, because I spend so much time here and know so many people in the vicinity that I see almost daily‖.
Dorothy‘s response might explain why, when discussing community issues, local sub- communities emerged. As mentioned in Section 4.2, Ocean Shores is a combination of three main settlements: New Brighton, South Golden Beach and Ocean Shores. As Ocean Shores is the biggest of the three, I have referred to this complex as ‗Ocean Shores‘. However, participants didn‘t relate to this definition as lightly as I did. Patterns of ‗us‘ and ‗them‘ were evident. ―New Brighton is where I live‖, said Linda (62):
It is the original old village around which Ocean Shores has grown. We are separated by
road and creek from the Oceans Shores development.... We have a sense of community
in our small area of New Brighton and often feel surrounded by ‗others‘. Our little New
Brighton is still very much a village where people walk and talk and visit each other. We
have a small general gathering area which is our local café, post office, news agency,
corner shop and bottle shop. I think that Ocean Shores is too much a suburban residential
area where everyone works elsewhere.
Trish commented: ―we [South Golden Beach residents] are culturally different from Ocean Shores as we have a more environmental conscious‖. Another ‗us‘ and ‗them‘ approach was expressed by Elizabeth when comparing Ocean Shores with Byron Bay: ―it feels like a residential neighbourhood, unlike the rest of the coast of Byron Shire, which feels like a Mecca for tourists and party-hard types with no idea of the value of preserving a sense of community‖. Similar to the case of the Israel-born sub-community, local residents of South Golden Beach and New Brighton generated bonding social capital which increased their sense of belonging to the geographic sub-communities but detracted from their wider local population. They identified more with their sub-community, while Ocean Shores‘ residents related to the wider locality.
While newcomers and locals demonstrated contrasting views regarding their sense of community, both parties expressed similar opinions about their sense of place. Ocean Shores was
Page 136 Chapter 5: Population mobility: Relocating in a seachange community perceived as a desired place to live because of its location: the view, the beach, the serenity and the ‗Rainbow Region‘ ambiance (Kijas, 2003)34.
Overall, participants felt they belonged more commonly to the place or to smaller groups within the Ocean Shores community. They cherished and appreciated their sense of place and community. This is in line with the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute report (Marshall, et al., 2003) which found that Australians who relocated from big cities to nonmetropolitan areas perceived themselves as being better off after moving:
It is often the intangible ‗sense of place‘, community spirit, social attitudes, the physical
environment and the general liveability of non-metro communities that entice and keep
individuals in these areas. Many would not move back to metropolitan areas even if they
could afford to – that is, they now choose to stay where they are. (Marshall, et al., 2003,
p. i)
5.9 FROM BEFRIENDING TO FRIENDWORKS
Population mobility involves befriending situations. Motivated by deep inner human needs (Marsh, et al., 2007), newcomers seek local social connections. Some of these relations become friendships. When locals mediated befriending situations, participants often reported a flowing and quick process. When support of locals was absent, participants reported a long and challenging process. A behaviour observed within the Israel-born community is that locals actively mediated between newcomers and Israel-born locals, hence easing the integration process, though they also focused the social bonding experience of newcomers onto intra- community relations.
From the case study perspective, newcomers become locals when they feel they have enough local friends. It is a personal feeling subject to personal preferences and characteristic differences. Based on the case study findings, most women living in Ocean Shores over four years reported having enough local friends; hence considered themselves as locals. Locals tended to report a sense of belonging to the community and place, while reinforcing their self and social identity. Newcomers expressed a limited sense of community yet a solid sense of place.
34 For relevant quotations see Section 5.2.
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This chapter discussed befriending situations when relocating as a part of establishing local friendworks and a sense of belonging. The next chapter explores existing friendworks. It consists of different aspects of friendworks as a way to assess its importance and its contribution to self and the social identity of individuals.
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6Chapter 6: Friendworks
We all have friendworks, networks of friends which change over time and place. Relocating changes friendworks and dynamics of friendships. However, once spatially as well as socially settled, friendworks often go through mild changes only. What does a friendwork do? It provides a net of social support. It allows people to receive and provide assistance unrelated to paid work. This work improves both parties‘ quality of life. Friendworks are the focus of this chapter. It captures a snapshot of friendworks within which, local and distant, new and old friendships thrive. This chapter discusses the character and features of friendships between adult women in a seachange town, in response to the research question: what is a friendwork of adult women in a seachange community and why is this social structure important? The answer highlights the significant role of friendworks in contemporary life.
Many of the findings in this chapter are not unexpected; they confirm and conform to commonsense understandings and daily experiences of how friendworks work. Nevertheless, framing these social relations as ‗friendworks‘ provides a fresh and new way of describing their significance. The fact that the findings in this chapter conform so closely to expectations is actually evidence of the success of the ‗friendworks‘ proposition in capturing and describing these important (obvious) social relations, and in this case study, showing how they work to achieve social cohesion and integration in a mobile, networked world.
Five different aspects of friendworks are addressed in this chapter: size, benefits of friendships, supporting others, types of friendship and spatial proximity. Each contributes to the analysis of friendworks, their composition, benefits and supportive role. Special attention is given to distinct friendship types, including best friends, family members, spouses and neighbours. Finally, the impact of spatial proximity on friendship relations is evaluated, contextualised by frequent relocations on the one hand and telecommunications on the other, which redefine distance restrictions.
6.1 FRIENDWORKS‟ SIZE: THE MORE THE MERRIER?
One of the main questions in social network analysis studies relates to the size of social networks. This parameter is associated with peoples‘ social (Fischer, 1982a; Wellman & Wortley, 1990), psychological (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Litwin, 2001; McMichael, 2004) and health (Giles, Glonek, Luszcz, & Andrews, 2005) status. In general, the bigger the social network, the better (Bastani, 2007; Boase, et al., 2006; Grossetti, 2007; Hennig, 2007), while small social networks are a matter of concern (Putnam, 1995). However, some scholars
Page 139 Chapter 6: Friendworks argue that network size cannot guarantee happiness, nor psychological or physical well-being (Israel & Antonucci, 1987, Fischer, 1982 #239; Litwin, 2001) and, therefore, is overrated as a measurement factor of relationships. Moreover, research shows that ―smaller [network] is better for forging and sustaining connections‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 277). Recently, especially due to the increased popularity of online social network sites that enable the establishment of relationships quickly and easily in large numbers, quantity versus quality aspects of friendships have been revisited (Boyd, 2006). Following the qualitative nature of this case study, most findings in this chapter focus on qualitative aspects of friendworks. Nevertheless, in order to position the case study among other social network studies, a discussion of findings relating to friendworks‘ size follows. This is qualified by the fact that quantitative data such as network size and other parameters used in this study are based on a small sample (26 women). This means that findings cannot be generalised beyond the case study setting.
On average, participants reported having 25 friends within their friendworks, while only minor size variations were apparent in relation to some socio-demographic variables. During the interview, participants estimated the size of their friendwork. Then they named their friends and provided further details on each. The following information is based on data analysis of the friendworks tables (see Appendix E). Three quarters of the friends were females. The median35 for the estimated network size was 25 and the median for the named friendwork size was 26. The smallest named friendworks consisted of ten friends and the largest friendworks consisted of 48 named friends.
Network size was not influenced by age, family income, health condition and voluntary activity. However, some differences were apparent in three cases: women with children in the same household reported, on average, fewer friends (22). Participants with primary school aged children interacted less often with friends and had smaller friendworks than women with teenagers or adult children, or women with no children. The friendwork size was the same for women with children (22), with or without the presence of a partner in the same dwelling. This indicates that the children‘s presence rather than the partner‘s is the influencing factor over network size. Fischer and Oliker (1983) report a similar pattern when comparing women and men‘s network size: ―during early marriage and parenthood, women's friendships shrink relative to men's‖ (Fischer & Oliker, 1983, p. 132).
35 I have used median figures rather than mean because a few participants reported extraordinarily high numbers of friends and the median is not susceptible to a few extraordinarily high (or low) reports.
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Differences in network size by employment status were also apparent, as exhibited in Figure 25. Women working part-time, working from home or who were engaged with home duties named fewer friends. This might be due to time spent at home, away from social interactions. The full time workers, unemployed and students had the largest friendworks. This again could be explained by their daily routine, which involves social interactions in public spaces.
n=25
30 28 27 25 24 23 22 18
student unemployed work full self retired Home duties work part Paid work time employed time from home - part-time
Figure 25: Number of friends by work situation (Source: case study)
Women with higher level of education named more friends on average, as presented in Figure 26. Previous studies have already indicated that education is positively correlated with network size (Belle, 1983; McPherson, et al., 2006).
30 28
25 25 24 21 20 19
15
10
5
0 Up to 10 years Professional 12 years of Undergraduate Postgraduate schooling qualification schooling degree degree (3 women) (3 women) (6 women) (8 women) (5 women)
n=25
Figure 26: Mean number of friends by level of education (Source: case study, n=26)
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The fact that most examined factors were not associated with friendwork size suggests that numbers of friends are in most cases not socio-demographically dependant. Variance in network size might be related to other factors, primarily personal preferences and personality, though this assumption requires further investigation.
It was challenging to compare the Ocean Shores case study findings of network size to previous international studies, mainly due to different examined factors. Most studies examine size of overall social network (for example: Hill & Dunbar, 2003; Killworth, Bemard, & McCarty, 1984), hence showing much larger networks than indicated at the Ocean Shores case. Studies focusing on friendships and core and significant ties only resulted in much smaller network size. Fischer and Oliker (Fischer & Oliker, 1983) interviewed, in 1977, 1,050 Californian adults aged 18 and older, measuring respondents' social relations. They named a mean number of 18.5 friends. Another American study [the Pew study] of over 2000 respondents age 18 and older in 2004 and 2005 (Boase, et al., 2006) found that the median total number of core and significant ties36 was 35 (15 of which were core ties37). However, two American general social surveys [GSS] conducted in 1985 and 2004 (1,531 and 1,467 respondents respectively) found that the number of core ties was 2.1 in 2004 (McPherson, et al., 2006) and 2.9 in 1985 (Marsden, 1987)38. The reported studies position the Ocean Shores friendwork‘s size findings somewhere in between. However, most importantly, it draws attention to the complexity of measuring network size based on different definitions, perceptions and cultures. The most conclusive finding relates to the considerably large number of ‗especially close‘ friends named by the Ocean Shores women (18) in comparison with the American studies (15 core ties in Boase, et al., 2006, 2.1 in McPherson, 2006 and 2.9 in Marsden, 1987).
These inconclusive findings regarding friendworks‘ size reinforce the importance of qualitative examination of friendships. It seems that qualitative rather than quantitative aspects of
36 Core ties refer to people whom participants have very close relationships with - the people to whom Americans turn to discuss important matters, with whom they are in frequent contact, or from whom they seek help. Significant ties refer to people outside that ring of core ties in Americans‘ social networks, who are somewhat closely connected. These distinctions are somewhat similar to perceptions of the case study participants of their friends as especially close to (core tie) or not (significant tie). Nevertheless, the American study might have also included people who are considered as acquaintances rather than friends.
37 In the Ocean Shores case study, participants identified on average three quarters of their friends (18 out of 24) as ―especially close‖ (core ties).
38 A comparative analysis of the GSS reports (McPherson, et al., 2006) explains that the difference in network size between the GSS and the Pew study (Boase, et al., 2006) is due to the focus of the GSS studies on discussion networks, which respondents might have interpreted literally; hence not including some types of personal contacts, which are included in the Pew study.
Page 142 Chapter 6: Friendworks friendworks are better indicators of understanding the significance of friendworks on individuals‘ well-being. Therefore, the rest of this chapter focuses on qualitative aspects of friendworks, primarily, the supportive role of friendships in participants‘ lives.
6.2 BENEFITS OF FRIENDSHIPS
Social support is the main benefit of friendship indicated by participants. As mentioned in Sections 2.2.3 and 2.3.4, social support is a complex term. In this thesis social support mainly relates to instrumental aid, companionship and emotional support which are regarded as motivations for friendships. Social support is discussed in this section based on participants‘ testimonials.
Participants frequently mentioned instrumental aid as a benefit of friendships. Suzanne (45) rephrased this concept in her words: ―I look after her, she looks after me. She needs me for something; I‘ll be there and vice versa. We always look after each other‖. Ruth (40) talked about mutual aid: ―she picks up my kids from the kindergarten, I take hers‖. Julia (69) recalled: ―Lucy has been hugely wonderful with our dog that died very recently.... That enabled me to see another side of her, you know, a committed sort of a friend‖. Instrumental aid was common in work- related friendships, as reported by Julia‘s (69) whose friend shares a similar profession: ―we help each other. I can ring to her and say: ‗I'm stuck with this problem‘. So, we have the video as a core interaction. So, it's a work-shared environment, I guess‖.
Companionship is another motivation of friendship. Doris (49) said she enjoyed being with her friend. Joanne (67) expressed the same idea: ―just the pleasure of meeting somebody each day and sharing news‖. Doris talked about ―good social interaction, good nights out‖ and Janet (46) stated that her friend ―is great to talk to‖. Elizabeth (58) explained:
I get really good conversations about non-personal things. I don't mean that we don't
have personal connection, but she is probably my favourite person to talk about ideas,
philosophical discussions: philosophy, politics, and we can argue really heatedly without
ever being a personal issue. We can sit in a cafe and go: ‗no, you're wrong‘, ‘cause that‘s
what we do. We talk over coffee.
She concluded discussing this relationship by stating: ―we have a fun light hearted sort of semi- gossipy kind of relation. We like each other as people‖.
Emotional support which is related to comfort and reassurance and is associated with intimacy, trust and openness, is often an indicator of close relationships. This aspect of friendship
Page 143 Chapter 6: Friendworks was commented on by Sylvia (48) who said of one of her friends: ―she is just someone I can talk to about anything and get her advice. And she just points me in the right direction and is encouraging and supportive and loving and kind, and just beautiful‖. Janet (46) also referred to emotional support as a motivation for friendship: ―we are comforting each other. We can talk and relate to each other on an internal level, so it‘s comforting for both of us‖. Additional supporting evidence for the important role of this aspect within friendships is discussed in Section 7.4 when analysing communication practices of emotional support.
In addition to the main benefits of instrumental aid, companionship and emotional support, which most participants referred to, some mentioned reinforcement of self-identity by sharing values with friends. This motivates friendships (Byrne, 1971; 1982b; Kalmijn & Vermunt, 2007) and supports individuals‘ sense of self: ―you get reinforcement of your own values‖ (Julia, 69). Correspondingly, Doris (49) remarked:
I like her because we are the same. We are not totally the same, but we're straightforward
people, we don't play games. We're honest. We don't care about money. You know, we
don't think: ―you're better ‗cause you got money‖. We're not competitive. We are relaxed
in our parenting. We probably have the same understanding of life.
Another aspect of self-identity was evident, especially among family-women, who reported cherishing personal (rather than geminate) friends: ―Miriam is not someone that Paul and I socialise together. With Miriam, it's just Miriam and I, really‖ (Julia, 69). These personal relationships reinforced participants‘ self-identity as individuals, rather than as women fulfilling social roles of mothers and wives. Caroline (37) explained: ―women I meet here know me as a mother.… [My best friend] knows me the longest and knows me before I had kids…I feel she knows me better from anyone else around this area‖. Self and social identity were also reported in relation to sense of belonging. Laura (61) said that her friend stimulates ―a feeling of acceptance in this community‖. Ella (36) indicated that her friend ―helps me feel I belong to this place‖.
It was common among participants to associate friendships with unconditional availability and support: ―someone that would always be there for me. Someone that I can rely on in any way. She will always be there‖ (Laura, 61). Participants also mentioned mutuality, understanding, reliability, honesty, constancy and timeless relationship as qualities of friendships. Tania (52) referred to mutual acceptance and mutual support: ―a feeling that there is someone there that cares about you and you care about her. She asks how do I feel‖. Lisa (53) commented on a long term friendship: ―you understand where the other person is coming from
Page 144 Chapter 6: Friendworks and you can‘t bullshit each other. Been there, done that‖. Similarly, Joy (49) defined a friend as ―someone who you know can understand you‖, and Clair (44) explained: ―she understands a lot about me that other people don't. She sees a lot of stuff. She knows more about me‖. Additionally, participants appreciated constancy and timeless relation: ―you get a friendship that will last forever‖ (Julia, 69).
There are gratifications beyond emotional support, instrumental aid, companionship and reinforcement of self-identity, which make friendships positive and desirable. Participants admitted they got love, kindness, care, motivation, inspiration, encouragement and laughter out of friendships: ―I just feel good when I talk to her and if I had a bit of a bad day, she always perks you up or talks to you and she just makes you feel good when you walk away‖ (Clair, 44). However, even when participants found it hard to explain exactly what they got out of some friendships, no matter how vague their explanation was, the feeling of love, compassion and gratefulness towards their friends was apparent:
Everything you could expect from a person that could make your life complete as a
friend. She is it.... She is value added all the time. She adds value to your life … and I get
so much out of her. I don‘t know really how to put things in words. She makes me a
better person. (Trish, 55)
Rebecca (45) summed up this impalpable feeling by stating: ―all my friends make me feel good. It's that warmth‖.
Friendships of participants were associated with support, including emotional assistance, instrumental aid, companionship and reinforcement of self-identity. Participants spoke with great empathy, warmth and appreciation about their friends, emphasising the positive and important role that they played in their lives. Though some of these testimonials were vague and general, they exemplified why and how friendships contributed to their well-being and quality of life. However, friendships were not only about what people got out of social relations, but also what they gave. Some women admitted to having some friends out of compassion. This illustrated that friendships happened also as an opportunity to support others. This finding has precedent in previous research (Pink, 2007) and is described in further detail in the next section.
6.3 SUPPORTING OTHERS
Commiseration, compassion and concern were also named as reasons for friendships. Participants reported sustaining friendships out of compassion; they felt sorry for certain people and wanted to help them feel better. When relating to her grandmother as a friend, Ella (36)
Page 145 Chapter 6: Friendworks explained how she benefited from the relationship: ―to be interested in her well-being, also a connection of concern, maybe‖. Some participants admitted they were aware of inequality in such relationships, that they were giving more than they were getting. Joanne (67) explained:
It's hard to put it into words, but I feel that she needs me more than I need her. I give her
a bit of support. So I do it out of friendship, for the fact that she hasn't got many people to
rely on, so I keep in touch with her.
Such cases emphasise the important role of mutuality in normative, balanced friendworks.
Doris (49) emphasised the joy that supporting people brings: ―I like supporting people. I enjoy that. If you appreciate my support, then I don't have to get it back, but it's nice to feel that it's received and that you‘re honest and loyal and I like to do this‖. Similarly, Janet (46) reported supporting Michelle out of a promise she made to Michelle‘s partner, a close friend who had passed away:
When her husband was dying, he asked me to look after her [crying]. It‘s not what
makes the friendship, ‗cause we were friends before that, but he sort of said to me: ‗you
look after her‘, so I keep a watchful eye on her as well. So, I suppose I get satisfaction
that I am fulfilling my duty to him. Cause he was a good friend [crying].
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The Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] social survey (Pink, 2007) explored the question of who people assisted as one way of assessing the generation of social capital (Figure 27). 49% of ABS respondents said they assisted others. Of all respondents, 31% on average reported assisting relatives in other households, followed by friends (19%). A smaller percentage of respondents reported supporting neighbours (4%) and work colleagues (3%).
45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 over 85 Relative in another household Friend Neighbour Work colleague Other person
Figure 27: Assistance provided by age and by relation type (Source: Pink, 2007, n=13,375)
When exploring gender differences, women were found to provide greater assistance than men, especially to relatives and friends, as is seen in Figure 28. The assistance provided included domestic work, home maintenance or gardening, providing transport or running errands, helping with child care, teaching, coaching or giving practical advice and giving emotional support. From a social capital perspective, these findings imply that women yield greater social capital than men when supporting relatives and friends, though this requires further examination.
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34%
27%
21% 16%
4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 4%
Relative in Friend Neighbour Work Other person another colleague household Males Females
Figure 28: Assistance provided – by sex (Source: Pink, 2007)
Women also provided greater support than men in most of the assistance categories, as presented in Figure 29. Noticeable in this figure is the highest portion of emotional support that women provide (29.7%) in comparison to men (17.1%). Again, women generate more social capital than men, especially when providing emotional support.
29.7
22.7 19.8 18.5 17.4 17.1 14.7
9.1 8.3 7.7 3.7 4.1
Domestic work, Providing Helping with Teaching, Giving Other helping home transport or child care coaching or emotional activity maintenance or running errands giving practical support gardening advice
Males Females
Figure 29: Type of assistance provided by males and females (source: Pink, 2007, n=13,375)
Linking findings from this report to the case study, on average one fifth of Australians provide support to friends. A higher percentage of women admitted providing support to friends than men in most of the categories of assistance, especially when emotionally supporting family and friends. This contextualises the case study findings, which similarly show the willingness of
Page 148 Chapter 6: Friendworks participants to assist friends and to be assisted by female friends, primarily emotionally but also practically, by receiving or giving instrumental aid. The case study findings highlight motivations and gratification of individuals when supporting friends and emphasises the important role of supporting others alongside receiving social support.
6.4 TYPES OF FRIENDSHIPS
Among the most supportive friends were those falling into well-defined categories, such as: best friends, family members and spouses. Though participants provided diverse evidence as to the nature of their friendships with these types of friends, some patterns emerged, thus highlighting defined sub-groups of friends within friendworks.
6.4.1 The best friend
Most participants reported having a best friend, mostly females (22 of 25 best friends were females), whom they have known for a long time and most likely resided at a great distance. A special section within the interview focused on best friends. Participants recalled how and when they met their best friend, why this person was a ‗best friend‘ and what they liked to do together. Next, they described communication patterns with the best friend39. All participants were familiar with the term ‗best friend‘. They reported having up to two best friends. Half of the participants reported having one best friend. One quarter of the participants said they did not have a best friend40 and another quarter indicated having two best friends. Though 20 of the 25 participants reported living with a partner, only two women instinctively regarded their partner as a best friend41.
On average, participants had known their best friends for 21 years. One third of women with best friends reported a local best friend. The average time participants had known a local best friend was ten years; the same as the average time participants reported living in Ocean Shores. Others, those who reported that their best friends resided elsewhere and women who did not have best friends, had lived in Ocean Shores for a shorter period: seven years on average. This implies that over time, participants acquired not only local friends, but also local best
39 Communication patterns with best friends are discussed in Section 7.2.1.
40 Two of these six women mentioned they did have a best friend who passed away and they did not make a new best friend since.
41 This issue is addressed in further detail in Section 6.4.3.
Page 149 Chapter 6: Friendworks friends. This was apparent across all ages. Participants ranked best friends first when naming friendworks. Exceptions were when partners or siblings were named first. The long term relationship with best friends, as well as the fact that most best friends were not local, indicate that best friends are often made when people are younger.
Many participants said they met their best friends during their early 20s. This is when most people develop their independence as adults and separate from their family (Frank, Avery, & Laman, 1988). When parents and siblings are no longer available for immediate support, peer relationships become crucial (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). In these cases, spatial proximity plays a major role; participants reported living in the same town, in walking distance or even as roommates with their best friends. The physical closeness to best friends allows long and frequent face-to-face meetings, which are mandatory when establishing best friendships (Ledbetter, Griffin, & Sparks, 2007). Elizabeth (58) explained this mechanism:
When you‘re in your twenties or maybe from school age to your twenties, that's when
best friends are really important; before you form families, maybe. And because we met
in our single lives, that sort of closeness that you have, you actually need them [the best
friends] a lot more, and so you have a lot more closeness and you probably spend more
time talking to each other and sharing stuff.… The sort of people you spend a half a day
talking with, and I think, that's the thing, because, I probably never spend that amount of
time in a conversation with a friend now.
Elizabeth, as well as other respondents, established their best friendships many years ago, in a different stage of life, while experiencing different social needs. However, though participants went through many changes throughout the course of their life, best-friends withstood the years. Even when participants relocated at a distance, best-friendships lasted, enforced by a nostalgic, intense and sincere relation: ―our identity has developed together. They [the best friends] know a lot about me. I love them and they love me unconditionally. I feel I can trust them and I feel as if these friendships will last forever‖ (Kathy, 39).
Two main challenges originated from the common pattern of sustaining long time and distant best-friendships: the infrequent face-to-face meetings with physically distant best friends and the lack of motivation in making local best friends in new environments. Participants partly overcame the first challenge by using telecommunications, thereby lowering the chance to resolve the latter issue.
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Participants mentioned that they got all types of support (see Section 6.2) from their best friends, however, the most dominant support expected from best friends was emotional support. This particularly intimate role was often addressed with best friends only, hence limiting the number of trusted confidants and occasions that emotional support could be practiced. Those living in the vicinity of their best friends reported gaining instrumental aid and companionship. All participants expressed strong positive emotions towards their best friends, implying that best friends played an important role in their life. This explains the motivation and persistence in sustaining these relationships through time and space.
6.4.2 Family as friends
Naming family members as friends has been found to be controversial. Not all participants spontaneously included family members within their friendworks. During the interviews, when participants were asked to name their friendworks, I clarified the requirement to name whomever they consider to be friends. If participants did not include family members in their friendworks, I specifically asked whether they considered any of their family as friends. Therefore, I base my findings on the assumption that participants included most family members they considered as friends within their friendwork. Fischer explained in his study: ―a relative, even if he or she provides the same exchanges as a non-kin friend, will typically not be called a friend‖. (1982b, p. 305). Some participants refused to relate to family as friends: ―I don‘t classify my family as friends. I classify them as family‖ (Beverly, 76). In addition, in some cases, it was quite difficult to draw the line between family connections and friendships, as commented by Debra (46) about a distant family member who was also a friend: ―she‘s fun. She‘s interesting. We have a few things in common. We are family. We have family in common, similar outlooks‖.
Eventually, only two participants did not name any family member (including life- partners) within their friendworks. Excluding partners, four women in total (16%) reported family-free friendworks. Yet, in most cases, participants included family members within their friendworks, mostly close family members, especially siblings regardless of their residence location. On average, participants reported two family members within their friendwork. A maximum of four people (partners, parents, children42 and siblings) were included in over three quarters of the friendworks. Half of the women included other family members (distant relatives and relatives by marriage) within their friendworks. There was no consistency in family inclusion, especially when considering parents and siblings. Some included only siblings, others
42 Only children over 18 years could be named in the case study as friends.
Page 151 Chapter 6: Friendworks named some siblings, both parents, or just one parent. While participants with adult descendants tended to include their children in their friendwork, they were less inclined to name their parents in their friendworks.
Participants commented warmly about those family members they considered to be friends. They frequently associated a special fondness and closeness combined with lifelong companionship to their relations with their familial friends: ―it's the family thing. Someone I have known all my life, that kind of special sort of bond and shared history. But it is also actually a friendship‖ (Elizabeth, 58). Participants regarded family friends as reliable, attentive and a source of support in crises, as Doris (49) explained her relation with her sister: ―I love her dearly and she has been a very good support to me and I have supported her for a long time. She is just my beautiful sister‖.
Participants most commonly labelled siblings as friends. In line with previous studies (Fischer, 1982b; Kalmijn & Vermunt, 2007), similar age contributes to the friendship bond. The opposite case, naming friends as siblings, was also apparent: ―I consider him to almost like a brother‖ (Dorothy, 66), ―we were very close… felt like sisters‖ (Suzanne, 45). Rubin (1985) reported similar findings in her study.
Participants with living parents tended to include mothers rather than fathers in their friendworks. Some participants thought that friendship with their mother was self-explanatory: “I like her cause she‘s my mum‖ (Suzanne, 45). When reflecting on the friendship with her father, Tania (52) emphasised his unconditional love and support:
He is beautiful. He is a wonderful father. He has always been a good father. He tells me
he loves me every time I talk to him.… He loves me all the time. He praises me, cares
for me, helps me. He‘ll do anything, anytime. He would drive here tonight, if I‘d ask
him. I‘ll say: ‗dad, I need you‘, he‘ll come immediately, anything at all.
Others refused to include their parents in their friendworks. When I asked Joanne (67) why she excluded her mother from her friends list, she commented: ―well, my Mum is my Mum‖, exemplifying again the tendency of not labelling relatives as friends, which was shared by few participants, especially older women. Yet, Joanne chose to include her daughter-in-law in her friendwork, viewing their relationship as reliable and supportive:
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The fact that she would be there if you need her… I would get emotional support from
her if I needed.... If there is something I am upset about, she would be concerned and
want to know: ‗is everything all right? Can I do anything?‘ sort of thing. (Joanne, 67)
Relationships with family members were quite common even though they may not have been included in friendworks. The involuntary nature of relationships with family members bounded by social norms has two important co-sequences for friendworks: some strictly separate between those they choose to have social relations with (friends) and those they are expected to have contact with (family); others succeed in transforming mandatory familial relationships into voluntary connections and, hence, consider some of their family members as friends. The latter pattern was more common among younger interviewees and might reflect generational differences, though this requires further investigation.
6.4.3 Spouses as friends
Over two thirds of the case study women reported living with a partner. They all included their life-partner within their friendwork. However, less than two thirds of those living with a partner ranked their partners within the top ten names. One third named their partner first in the list. Only two women considered their partners to also be their best friend.
Somewhat similar to the family case, participants regarded their relationship with their spouses as a distinct social connection, not substitutable with female friends, family or best friends: ―I would have started with not even thinking about my partner as a friend. But I have to obviously add him‖ (Dorothy‘s comment when asking to name her network of friends). Fischer commented on this phenomenon. Labelling a relation with a person as ‗romantic‘ also inhibited defining that person as a friend (1982b, p. 305). Participants regarded their spouses as friends, but they would not likely be the first name to come up when thinking of friends. Spouses occupied a less dominant position within participants‘ friendworks.
Another interesting finding relates to women living without a partner. Though network size did not differ depending on whether one lived with a partner or not, these women tended to report a feeling of loneliness more often. A similar phenomenon was reported in a Dutch study on social networks of elders (Dykstra, 1990).
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6.4.4 Neighbours as friends
Neighbour-friends43 are a good example of the impact of distance on friendship patterns. Adjacent dwelling places resulted in friendship with neighbours, though only occasionally were they regarded by participants as being especially close friends. Based on physical proximity, some participants reported that neighbours were the first people they got to know once they had moved to Ocean Shores: ―our neighbours, when we moved, immediately welcomed us and we became friends with them. We are still friends with them‖ (Miranda, 60). On average, 8% of friends lived within a walking distance. On average, participants reported three neighbour- friends. A few participants mentioned that they had met other friends through neighbours. Hence, relations with neighbours are twofold: as local friends and as social agents for establishing new local friendships.
Neighbour-friends were especially important when ‗light‘ instrumental aid was required, as recalled by Joanne (67): ―we had more of a neighbour friendship because Sam [Joanne‘s partner] is very handy in doing things.... We sort of popped in and out of each others‘ houses‖. Nevertheless, accessibility to neighbours made other participants draw a clear line between friends and neighbours, as Elizabeth (58) did:
I've became acquainted with the neighbours in the street and I think that that is a distinct
thing from friendships, you know. So, I know quite a few people in the street. We're very
friendly with the neighbours that we got to know, but I guess I've always had a kind of a
thing. If you weren't already friends, then the real value in having a neighbourhood kind
of relationship, which means you don't have people kind of coming in and out of your
house when you're busy, you know. Like, if you got a friend living next door, you can
waste a lot of time with them. So I think this is a very specific relationship, and I really
like it; the role that neighbours play. Like, for instance, we got a veggie garden at the
front, so we take veggies over the road. We give them to the neighbours and the woman
across the road works at a nursery, so she brings me pots. So we have that kind of
connection and so it would be the same if somebody wanted some help with something
43 Neighbours in this study include people within a walking distance from the participants' place of dwelling.
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physically, you know, moving something, you would feel like go across the road to ask
someone.
Elizabeth distinguished between friendly relations with neighbours and friends. Each social relation resulted in different benefits. Her definition of friend involved ―spend[ing] time in each other's houses, socialising‖. Nevertheless, she nourished and sustained her neighbourly relations.
Most participants recognised the importance of good neighbourly relations. Beverly (76) stated that life ―depends on your neighbours, always. Some neighbours are good and some are bad. Some people don‘t know the meaning of the word neighbour‖. When I asked her the meaning of the word neighbour, she explained: ―consideration, friendliness, being there for whoever may need you, not necessarily in and out of houses, just being available. Like for instance, the people at number 13‖. She was then asked whether the people at number 13 are friends or neighbours and she replied; ―they are sort of both, friends and neighbours‖, exemplifying the overlapping social roles of people within one‘s friendwork.
In conclusion, best friends, family members, spouses and neighbours are examples of distinct friendship categories. This section highlights the diversity within friendworks and the complexity in categorising people under distinct definitions. Nevertheless, best-friends and partners were always regarded as friends, while family members were included within friendworks to a lesser degree. Only a few neighbours were regarded as friends.
6.5 SPATIAL PROXIMITY AS A CATALYST TO SOCIAL PROXIMITY
Relocation results in alterations in friendworks, primarily due to changes in spatial proximity to friends. Social ties with distant friends tend to weaken while local ties strengthen. As people tend to befriend with nearby others (Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1963; Mok, et al., 2007), newcomers establish new spatially proximate friendships. The Ocean Shores case study shows that the longer participants resided in Ocean Shores, the more local their friendwork was.
Spatial proximity between friends enables frequent face-to-face meetings, but also influences the frequency of the overall communication. Participants reported interacting more frequently with proximate friends via all four communication methods. This finding is in line with previous studies (Boase, et al., 2006; Chen, et al., 2002; Quan Haase, Wellman, Witte, & Hampton, 2002). Moreover, it was found that important and stronger ties tended to live closer to one another (Larsen, Axhausen, et al., 2006). Spatial proximity leads to more frequent face-to- face interactions with friends, which impacts on the intensity and significance of these social
Page 155 Chapter 6: Friendworks connections; people like most those they see most often (Festinger, et al., 1950; Greenbaum & Greenbaum, 1985; Zajonc, 1968).
In order to question whether distance matters44 in contemporary friendships, geographical distance from friends has been analysed. For each of their named friends, participants stated the distance between their dwelling to their friends, based on six categories: same dwelling, walking distance, five minutes drive, up to an hour drive, over an hour drive and overseas45. Figure 30 displays average number of friends by residence proximity. On average, most friends live up to an hour drive away from participants (58%) and are considered nearby.
Figure 30: Mean number of friends by residence proximity (Source: case study, n=25)
However, when segmenting participants by the number of years living in Ocean Shores to two groups of newcomers (living in Ocean Shores up to four years) and locals (living in Ocean Shores over four years), distance differences are evident. As would be expected, and presented in Figure 31, newcomers have fewer friends nearby (45% of friends reside up to one hour drive away) than locals (59%). Most of newcomers‘ friends live at a distance46 in or outside Australia. The percentage of friends in walking distance also increased in correlation with the duration residency in Ocean Shores; 27% of newcomers‘ friends and 39% of locals‘ friends.
44 A paraphrase on the title of Mok, Wellman and Basu's (2007) paper on the connection between distance and social ties.
45 These categories were partially based on Mok, Wellman and Basu's (2007) study.
46 As most newcomers arrived to Ocean Shores from a distance (see Figure 23).
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Figure 31: Average distance from friends by number of years residing in Ocean Shores
Country of birth also correlated with geographical distribution of friends (Figure 32). Eight women were born overseas (five in Israel, two in the US and one in New Zealand). Among this group, the US-born had the highest number of friends abroad (14). On Average, overseas- born participants reported having nine friends abroad. Australia-born participants reported on average two overseas friends. This reverses when examining the number of friends living in Australia over one hour‘s drive away. The Australia-born group had eight friends on average in this category, while those born abroad had only two friends, on average. This supports the notion that most participants kept up friendships from previous places, overseas-born as well as Australian-born. There was no difference in friendwork size among Australian or overseas born. It is important to note that those born overseas had lived, on average, less than four years in Ocean Shores, while Australia-born participants had lived there for over ten years. This also influenced friendworks‘ composition regarding spatial proximity.
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Figure 32: Percentage of friends segmented by distance - Australia vs. overseas born (Source: case study)
In conclusion, length of time living in a locality and the participants‘ country of birth correlated with the number of close and distant friends. Overall, participants tended to establish local friendships within their dwelling place. Participants who had lived in Ocean Shores for over four years tended to have more local friends, while friends of newcomers mostly resided in their previous dwelling location. Despite telecommunications, even nowadays, distance still matters. There is a strong connection between friendworks and spatial proximity, especially over time.
6.6 CONCLUSION
This chapter highlights the role and practice of friendships in contemporary life. A variety of related topics are addressed, including friendwork size, benefits of friendships, types of friendship relations and the impact of spatial proximity on friendship patterns. Findings regarding these topics vary and imply that practices of friendworks are primarily personal and subject to personality characteristics. Findings about befriending, as described in the previous chapter, similarly suggest that friendworks are individual choices customised by personal preferences.
The emphasis on individuals when shaping social relations is in line with contemporary social network theories, originating from Tönnies‘ (2002 [1887]) term of gesellschaft where individuals‘ self interests precede the importance of the larger association. In the modern society, friendworks exemplify the concept of gesellschaft and suggest an alternative to more traditional social relations such as family networks- Gemeinschaft (Tonnies, 2002 [1887]).
However, though egocentrically oriented, friendworks are about social connections. Friendworks are created by individuals for their own benefit, though they also benefit others.
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Therefore, their impact grows beyond the individual level to the wider society. Friendworks actually focus on connections rather than on individuals.
Friendship connections are voluntary. The voluntary aspect turns friendworks into flexible constructs which could be adjusted to life circumstances, time and space. This flexibility is a unique characteristic of friendworks. It does not apply to other sub-networks such as family, work-related and neighbours, all of which are included within the individual‘s social network but not necessarily considered as friends.
Along with the unique flexible construct of friendworks, specific benefits follow. Friendworks provide a wide range of social support, requested, needed and voluntarily given by individuals. This highlights the ‗work‘ aspect within friendworks. Having a friendship involves caring, supporting, assisting, communicating and being concerned about others; affective work that benefits both parties with instrumental support, companionship, emotional support and reinforcement of self and social identity.
These benefits and support are mundane yet crucial and are, therefore, valued in contemporary daily routines. This explains the strong positive emotions that participants expressed when talking about their friends. Spatially proximate or distant, best friends or companionship mates, the combination of various relations provides rich, robust and stable support structures.
With the assistance of telecommunications, friendworks thrive regardless of distance. When relocating, existing friendships play a significant role in providing support, especially of the emotional and reinforcement-of-identity kind. Nevertheless, a new dwelling location opens up new friendship opportunities. The local friendships strengthen the newcomers‘ sense of belonging to the local community. Local friendworks mediate between newcomers and locals, between individuals and the overall community. Together, local and distant friends fulfill the social needs of individuals, providing support in an uncertain, mobile social reality.
In line with the dominant role of communication and telecommunications among friends, the next chapter further explores friendworks from a communication perspective. It is suggested that communication practices within friendworks inform friendship patterns and provide rich qualitative, as well as quantitative, data to evaluate friendworks.
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7Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks
Communication is an important aspect in friendships (Dare, 2009; Patrick & Metcalf, 2001). Without it, there is no friendship. It facilitates the establishment of friendship, and maintains and sustains it. Such interactions expose the nature of friendships—their strength, the support they provide, the preferred communication methods, the frequency of interactions and more. Studying communication patterns within friendworks, therefore, provides an opportunity to learn more about friendships.
People communicate with friends using a variety of communication methods. The case study in this thesis focused on four common communication methods: face-to-face, fixed- telephone, internet and mobile phone. This examination addressed the research question: how are communication methods practiced within seachangers’ friendworks?. In response to this question, practices of across-media communication with friends were examined while also focusing on dominant and favoured methods of communication, the frequency of communication with friends, the process of choosing a communication method and the emotional support that interactions gave. Based on these findings, a model of communication within friendworks is proposed. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the perceptions of participants in regard to their interactions with friends. This chapter focuses on across media practices, excluding mobile phone use, which is dealt in detail in the next chapter.
7.1 DOMINANT METHOD OF COMMUNICATION WITH FRIENDS
Face-to-face interactions are the dominant and favoured communication method within friendworks (Ben-Harush, 2010). For each named friend47, participants nominated face-to-face communication (67%) as their preferred communication method48 when interacting with local friends (those living up to 5 minutes drive away). The second most common method was the internet (15%), primarily email. The third communication method was the fixed-telephone (13%), while the least common method was the mobile phone (5%), as presented in Figure 33 (‗local friendships‘). The high percentage of face-to-face interactions is related to spatial
47 Based on the network of friends form (Appendix E ).
48 Participants completed a friendwork sociogram sheet during the interview. A sample of a completed sociogram is exhibited in Figure 22.
Page 161 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks proximity; participants experienced frequent face-to-face interactions mainly in local public spaces, such as the supermarket, school, sports activities, the beach and home visits. Face-to-face was also the most common method of communication among participants‘ overall friendworks, regardless of distance (40%). The other communication methods were ranked in the same order as for local friends, though in different ratios (internet 26%, fixed-telephone 22%, mobile phone 10%), as presented in Figure 33 (‗overall friendships‘). Analysis of the total number of friends communicated by each method per participant, shows that for 14 of 25 participants face-to-face (56%) communication was most dominant. Five participants mostly used the internet (20%) and five others (20%) indicated mostly using the fixed-telephone. Mobile phone was reported as the most common method by one participant (4%), as presented in Figure 33 (‗dominant communication methods per user‘). When participants were asked in general which of the communication methods they most commonly used49, 47% reported face-to-face, 26% internet, 21% fixed-telephone and 4 % (one respondent) mobile phone (Figure 33, ‗participants‘ response regarding the dominant communication method‘). When asked for their favourite communication method with friends, regardless of practical limitations (such as distance, time differences and cost), face-to-face interactions were most frequent (77%). However, the second favoured method was the telephone (19%), followed by the internet (4%, 1 person). No participant nominated the mobile phone as the most favoured communication method (Figure 33, ‗participants‘ response regarding the favourite communication method with friends‘).
49 This inquiry was based on participants‘ perception of their most commonly used method, rather than on an empirical check based on the friendwork‘s sociogram as in the first three parameters of Figure 33.
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90% n=25 80% 77% 67% 70% 60% 56% 47% 50% 40% 40% 26% 26% 30% 22% 21% 20% 20% 19% 20% 15% 13% 10% 10% 4% 5% 4% 5% 0% face-to-face internet fixed telephone mobile phone
Columns from left to right: Overall friendships Local friendships Dominant communication method per user Participants' response regarding the dominant communication method Participants' response regarding the favourite communication method with friends
Figure 33: A comparison of mostly used and favoured communication method with friends (Source: case study)
Based on these findings, face-to-face is the most practiced and favoured communication method (local as well as distant) in friendworks. The preference for face-to-face encounters over alternative communication methods has been repeatedly reported in previous studies (for example: Baym, et al., 2004; Bordia, 1997; Dare, 2009; Hampton, et al., 2009; Mok, et al., 2007; Pink, 2007; A. A. L. Reid, 1977; Wellman & Tindall, 1993). Reasons for this preference are detailed shortly. Face-to-face interactions were particularly practiced within local friendworks, as spatial proximity resulted in physical encounters. However, even within overall friendworks, face-to-face interactions were mostly practiced. Participants reported mainly interacting face-to- face with distant friends (all those living over 5 minutes drive away, including interstate and overseas friends). However, a greater use of mediated communication methods was evident among distant friends, particularly emails and the fixed-telephone.
The internet was found to be the second most practiced communication method within overall and local friendworks. This finding is surprising, as in wide scale surveys, examination of use of telecommunications shows that the fixed telephone is used more often than the internet among local contacts (Figure 3) as well as among overall contacts when examined by gender (Figure 4) and by age (Figure 5), although they show a preference for the internet over the fixed- telephone for interaction at a distance (Figure 3). The case study participants who preferred using the internet over the fixed-telephone present a distinct use pattern motivated by specific needs,
Page 163 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks such as a relatively large number of distant friends (42% of the average friendwork was comprised of over an hour drive and overseas friends, as presented in Figure 30).
Preference for face-to-face encounters was even higher when participants were asked for their preferred method regardless of practical limitations, highlighting the primacy and desirability of face-to-face communication. Of interest is the contrasting tendency of users to prefer the fixed-telephone over the internet as a perceived favourite method, though in practice using the internet more often than the fixed-telephone.
The comparatively low preference for using the mobile phone when communicating with friends, contrasts with previous studies reporting that the mobile phone was the most used method for communication with social ties (Figure 3), or second to the fixed-telephone with family and friends (Figure 4 and Figure 5).
Generally, use of communication patterns differed when comparing the case study with national surveys (Pink, 2007, Figure 3 and Figure 4). This could be explained by the different parameters examined. The ABS social survey asked about any mediated communication method used (respondents could mark multiple answers) in the last three months, while the case study specifically focused on the most dominant or favoured way of communication (only one method in each category) regardless of time limit. Additionally, family and friends were explored in the ABS social survey under the same category, while within the case study, only communication with friends was examined.
Nonetheless, the deviation of the case study findings from the ABS social survey strongly suggests that the case study findings do not fall within the national average. One way to explain this is by questioning how representative the case study findings are. Perhaps the specific social needs that characterise adult women in seachange communities are different to the behaviour patterns of national samples.
7.2 FREQUENCY OF COMMUNICATION WITH FRIENDS
Participants communicate with friends in a wide range of frequencies from everyday to less than once a month as presented in Figure 34. This analysis is based on the friendwork sociogram sheet50. Most participants (22 of 25) daily communicated face-to-face with at least one
50 A sample form is exhibited as appendix F .
Page 164 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks friend51 (and a maximum of three friends). Only three participants did not daily communicate with any friend. These three did not share their dwelling with a partner. Across all communication methods, the highest number of people contacted daily was five (by one participant who daily contacted one friend face-to-face and four additional friends via the mobile phone).
Less Everyday than 8% once a month Few 17% times a Once a week month 21% 12%
Few times a Once a month week 23% 19%
Figure 34: Frequency of communication with total number of friends (Source: case study, n=25)
Generally, participants communicated face-to-face with a larger number of friends than they did via telecommunications, when interaction was frequent (everyday 58%, few times a week 46% and once a week 56%). Most of these friends lived up to five minutes drive away. This again confirms that when feasible, face-to-face interactions are practiced more frequently than telecommunications. In cases of less frequent interaction (few times a month or less), participants mostly used telecommunications, primarily the fixed-telephone, when contacting friends once a month (40% of friends), and the internet when contacting friends less than once a month (36% of friends). Overall, over two thirds of friends were contacted via the internet and the fixed-telephone less than once a week. The least used communication method across all frequencies of interactions was the mobile phone (Figure 35).
51 When living with a partner, he was always mentioned as one of the daily communication friends.
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7% Post 15% 22% 25% 24% 30% 15% 5% 36% Internet 10% 12% 16% 18% 9% 19% 5% Mobile phone 26% 40% 23% 58% 56% Fixed telephone 46% 31% 29% 21% Face-to-face
Everyday Few times a Once a week Few times a Once a Less than week month month once a month
Figure 35: Percentage of friends communicated by communication method and by frequency (Source: case study, n=25)
The highest number of friends contacted weekly face-to-face (12) was reported by a woman who regularly attended church once a week. Generally, participation in organised activities (such as sports and hobbies, but also in picking up children from school or dropping children at after school activities) correlated with frequent face-to-face interactions. The mobile phone (mainly SMS) was used more when communicating with friends on a daily basis (15%). The mobile phone was used most when contacting friends a few times a month (18%). Overall, the percentage of communication via the mobile phone was the lowest in five out of six categories of frequency. Letters were used only by four women aged 58-69 to occasionally communicate with a total of eight of their friends (mostly once a year over Christmas time).
There seems to be a basic difference between face-to-face contact and telecommunications. While face-to-face is most commonly practiced spontaneously and is interwoven into participants‘ daily routine, the use of telecommunications involves predetermined intentions, at least by one of the communicators. Hence the latter might reflect a more refined and accurate examination associated with qualities of friendships, while face-to- face interactions might more precisely indicate the impact of spatial proximity, rather than the characteristics of the friendship per se. Nevertheless, as frequent communication correlates with strong and meaningful ties (Fischer, 1982b), frequent face-to-face encounters strengthen friendships, even if encounters are unintentional.
7.2.1 Communication with best friends
In total, 25 participants reported 26 best friends. Almost two thirds of best friends were contacted frequently: a few times a week (39%), or everyday (23%). Emails were used most
Page 166 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks among frequently contacted best-friends (37%), followed by face-to-face and mobile phone (25% each). The fixed-telephone was the least used method to frequently communicate with best- friends (13%), as seen in Figure 36. The high percentage of frequent internet communication could be explained by the often great distances between best-friends (as discussed in Section 6.4.1). When friends are contacted frequently, cost considerations play a major role in the decision to use the internet over other communication methods.
Fixed- telephone 13%
Email 37% Mobile phone 25%
Face-to-face 25%
Figure 36: Dominant communication method with frequently contacted (every day and a few times a week) best-friends (Source: case study, n=16)
The mobile phone was used more often (25%) than the fixed-telephone (13%) when frequently communicating with best friends, suggesting that mobile phones better suit the need for communicating with friends with strong ties. Two-thirds of frequently contacted best friends over the mobile phone were also locals. The fixed-telephone was the least used method among best friends. This finding is surprising. Based on findings reported earlier, the most important benefit of best-friendships is emotional support (see Section 6.4.1), which was found to be better addressed with distant friends over the fixed-telephone (rather than the internet) due to its synchronous nature (similarly to face-to-face conversations). Therefore, more frequent use of the fixed-telephone was expected among best friends. The main reason that comes to mind when explaining this finding is perceived cost. Using the fixed-telephone over a great distance (interstate or overseas) was perceived as a considerable cost. This might explain why the internet was used more frequently, although it does not explain why mobile phones, which are the dearest form of communication, are used more often than the fixed-telephone when communicating with best friends. The mobile phone‘s qualities of direct and immediate access ‗anytime anywhere‘ might account for the preference of mobile phones over the fixed-telephone when contacting best friends, despite cost considerations, as explained by Tania (52): ―because she works full time, I work full time. We never know where each other are after hours and we want to see each other
Page 167 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks almost every day‖. Cost considerations when using the mobile phone were expressed by the preference to text rather than to call. Mobile phones were used more commonly with frequently contacted local best friends, for brief interactions, usually associated with instrumental aid motivations.
Use of communication methods with best friends slightly differs when including all best friends in any of the frequency contact categories, as seen in Figure 37. Emails were even more dominant in this case. Less face-to-face interactions were reported. Less mobile phone contact was also evident, reinforcing the previous notion regarding the preference to use the mobile phone with frequently contacted best friends. This has already been reported in previous mobile phone research (Hampton, et al., 2009; Yates & Lockley, 2007). Additionally, in cases of overseas best friends, using the mobile phone is usually much more expensive than using the internet or the fixed-telephone. Among overall best friends, the fixed-telephone was the least used communication method.
Figure 37: Dominant communication method with best-friends (Source: case study, n=25)
Participants reported that best friendships are highly significant and valued. This explains two distinct characteristics of communication patterns among best friends: frequent interactions and exchange of emotional support. Therefore, participants frequently used telecommunications when interacting with best friends, primarily emails (with distant best friends), but also the mobile phone (with local best friends). Emotional support was practiced by two main patterns: traditional and contemporary. The traditional pattern of emotional support involved long engaging conversations. These were still mostly practiced face-to-face (with local best friends) or via the fixed-telephone (with distant best friends). The contemporary pattern of emotional support concerned frequent brief interactions via the internet or the mobile phone,
Page 168 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks practiced mainly by younger participants with either local or distant best friends. This kind of communication enabled constant reinforcement of emotional support in a cost effective way52.
7.3 CHOOSING A COMMUNICATION METHOD
When there is a need to communicate with others, individuals process different factors before choosing which communication method to use. This section presents some considerations reported by the case study participants when choosing one communication method over another.
The reasons for preferring face-to-face interactions over other communication methods are influenced by such characteristics of the method as: co-presence, visibility, audibility, co- temporality and simultaneity (for details, see Section 3.6.3). The overall experience of face-to- face interactions is richer than it is for other methods and results in stronger sensations. Participants reported better feelings of enjoyment and closeness, richer conversations (―you can talk about a lot more things‖), physical touch (―you can give them a hug‖) and an emotionally stronger experience, as stated by Dorothy (66): ―much greater sense of closeness. You can reach out and touch them. You can laugh together. You can see their facial expressions‖. Ella (36) commented that ―face-to-face is much more personal. It allows better communication—a variety of expressions of feelings, or more conversation topics. Usually Mmmm … it takes longer‖.
The fixed-telephone is characterised by audibility, co-temporality and simultaneity. Those preferring face-to-face, but admitting that in practice they used the fixed-telephone, explained: ―it‘s easier to make a phone call rather than get in the car and go and see them. I keep in touch over the phone‖ (Beverly, 76). Most women clarified their preference by nominating practical reasons: ―it is the cheapest and it is available‖ (Joy, 49), ―does not require pre- coordination‖ (Ella, 36) and ―it is simply more convenient‖ (Ella, 36). When comparing face-to- face, fixed-telephone and the internet, Dorothy (66) explains:
The telephone is somewhere in between. It‘s more like a conversation, because I am not
as deliberate and thoughtful as I am [when] doing email. But at the same time, you are
not seeing the person face-to-face. That‘s why skype [Voice over IP application] is such
a good thing because it‘s almost like being on the telephone, but you can see them. More
like face-to-face.
52 More about emotional support in Sections 7.4 and 8.6.
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Voice over IP applications enable communication based on converged visual, audio and textual information and therefore offer an interactive experience closer to face-to-face interactions. However, in practice, only few participants reported using such applications. All were overseas- born with extensive friendworks abroad, suggesting again that cost is the main motivation for using VoIP, which is cheaper than fixed-telephone calls, especially international calls. This pattern is also found in the ACMA survey (2009b), as presented in Figure 9.
Suzanne (45) identified another advantage of the telephone: ―it‘s often good to be talking on the phone ‗cause sometimes you can say things you don‘t necessarily say face-to-face‖. This was also indicated by Moyal in her study over two decades ago (1989b). Caroline (37) noted: ―most of the time I don‘t have time to be with friends face-to-face‖. Holly (42) emphasised the popularity of the fixed-telephone: ―it‘s part of life for local and distant contact‖, while Joanne (67) reinforced this notion when relating to fixed-telephone use as a habit and ―you tend to stick to habits‖.
Emails were the main internet application in use by the case study participants. Preference for using emails was mainly associated with characteristics of sequentiality, reviewability and revisability, and hence revolved around practical considerations. Participants found the internet convenient: ―I don't like to call people late. You can send emails at any time‖ (Joanne, 67), and in another version—―we are both busy and you can read emails later‖ (Miranda, 60). Miranda also mentioned cost effectiveness in relation to the internet: ―I like emails cause it's free‖, and Dorothy (66) emphasised that the internet is suitable for global communication: ―with the American friends, because of time difference, email is ideal‖. Additionally, Dorothy reported that emails allowed her to better express herself:
When you are emailing, you have the time to compose your thoughts, which I certainly
do. Most of my emails are fairly well thought out. I think: what would they like to hear
about? What interesting anecdotes could I tell them? I try to think of composing a
message that will actually amuse and inform them, which I don‘t think when I am
talking face-to-face. Face-to-face we just chatter. Email for me is more reflective and
thoughtful and deliberate.
For Dorothy, such qualities made the internet a very comfortable medium to use: ―email is so much a part of my life that I feel much better about sending an email‖. Aligned with this attitude, she describes her approach to the fixed-telephone:
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When the telephone rings, someone at the other end feels compelled to answer it. We are
like Pavlovian conditioning. We could ignore it, but most of the time we don‘t. So,
although the telephone used to be a major communication for me before the internet, it‘s
less and less, because of that convenience factor… I am always concerned that I will
interrupt someone else. I don‘t think that the telephone is as agreeable a communication
form as it used to be. I much prefer either face-to-face or email.
Dorothy is very decisive and keen in using emails and the internet in general over the fixed- telephone. This is interesting since Dorothy is a retiree, and national findings show that the older the person is, the more they use the fixed-telephone and the less they use the internet (Figure 5). It is proposed here that, again, cost plays a key role in motivating users to embrace cost-effective technologies that better suit their needs while overcoming age related challenges, specifically in financially restricted scenarios. However, this needs further investigation.
Though the internet is the second most popular communication method with friends, when focusing on communication with distant friends for emotional support only, fixed- telephone conversations are preferred, after face-to-face. Some respondents do use emails for emotional communication (usually reporting a certain condition or asking for advice), but ―it feels more remote because the person is not right there‖ (Dorothy, 66). However, as in previous telephone studies (Moyal, 1992; Rakow, 1992), the case study participants considered the fixed- telephone as the closest substitute to face-to-face interactions, because it enabled simultaneous feedback similar to face-to-face interactions, and was more commonly used than VoIP applications for emotional support.
7.4 COMMUNICATING EMOTIONAL SUPPORT
All the case study participants confirmed that emotional support in general was important to them. They all appreciated the emotional support they received from their friends. For example, Janet (46) explained: ―getting emotional support is very important for me. I usually communicate with my close girlfriends, my sisters and my boyfriend for this. My supporters are very accessible—I am blessed to be very loved—my support group always have time for me‖.
Different dimensions of time and timing were indicated as important factors in many responses relating to emotional support. Joy (49) indicated she needed ―time and space‖ for emotional interactions. She referred to free time and private space. The perception that emotional support requires long interactions was commonly shared by participants. Another aspect of timing was expressed especially by those who were born overseas and kept close friendships and
Page 171 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks family relations abroad. They reported that their emotional supporters ―are not always accessible enough because of time difference‖ (Dorothy, 66).
When examining the use of specific communication methods for emotional support, participants primarily reported face-to-face: ―a hug can work better than thousand words‖ (Ruth, 40). Face-to-face interactions generated qualities that could not be replicated in a similar manner while using mediated communication methods, such as physical contact, warmth, closeness and intimacy. Hence participants preferred to primarily practice emotional support via such direct interactions. This was also reported in another Australian case study by Dare (2009), of adult women and their communication practices with friends.
When there is a need to communicate with distant friends for emotional support, participants favoured the fixed-telephone: ―really big stuff I phone [landline] my sister in Melbourne or my closest friend in Taree (Joy, 49). Skype (Voice over IP platform) was mentioned as a preferred communication method when interacting for emotional support with friends overseas.
No participant reported the mobile phone as being a primary method of communication for seeking or rendering emotional support. Accordingly, when asked in the online survey about primary usage of the mobile phone, none of the participants marked ‗emotional support‘. Generally, women mentioned coordination or social support first, followed by work-related reasons and personal use (e.g. calendar, alarm clock, internet browsing, games). Least mentioned was the use of the mobile phone for life-saving situations and emotional support. A similar pattern was found in Dare‘s study (2009). While email and SMS were considered suitable for instrumental interactions, ―they are less likely to be considered an appropriate medium when a more tangible form of emotional support is needed ... [these methods were used] predominantly as supplementary channels of communication (Dare, 2009, p. 491). Residing in a seachange community was associated with frequent face-to-face interactions, and participants used these encounters to practice emotional support, alongside companionship and instrumental aid. Overall, accessibility to alternative communication methods, especially the preference and ability to meet face-to-face, fulfilled the need for emotional support without using the mobile phone. Evidently most participants did not perceive the fact that they did not practice emotional support over the mobile phone as problematic53.
53 More about emotional support over the mobile phone in Section 8.6.
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7.5 MODELING COMMUNICATION PRACTICES WITHIN FRIENDWORKS
Based on the findings presented in this chapter, a model reflecting communication patterns within friendworks is presented in Figure 38. This model schematises friendworks by strength of ties (strong or weak ties), spatial proximity (local or distant), interaction motivation (emotional, instrumental, companionship) and used communication method (face-to-face, fixed- telephone, internet or mobile phone). The following sections analyse four types of ties within friendworks, based on the presented communication model (Figure 38): local strong ties, distant strong ties, local weak ties and distant weak ties.
Legend:
F2F = face-to-face | TP = fixed-telephone | INT = internet | MP = mobile phone | IM = instant message SMS = short messages service | VoIP = voice over the internet applications | SNS = social network sites
Figure 38: Communication methods used within the case study friendworks (filtered by tie strength, spatial proximity and communication purpose)
7.5.1 Local strong ties
Among local strong ties are friends who participants marked as being especially close to (among them are spouses, family members and best friends) and who resided in the same dwelling, in walking distance or up to five minutes drive away. Participants practiced all four types of communication methods to fulfil all three gratifications of social support (emotional, instrumental and companionship) with these ties. This indicates that local strong ties are contacted in the most diverse communication pattern, suggesting a ―redundancy of contact ... [which] knit[s] together existing ties‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 291). Therefore, more chances are that these relationships are constantly being maintained and will last over time. The
Page 173 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks three motivations of emotional support, instrumental aid and companionship are fulfilled via diverse communication methods, suggesting that local strong ties provide affluent social support.
7.5.2 Distant strong ties
Among distant strong ties are friends who participants marked as being especially close to and who resided over five minutes drive away. They included interstate and overseas friends. Though most of these friends lived a great distance from the participants, women reported getting all three types of support from such ties. The main difference was less frequent face-to-face interaction. Mobile phone use was also scarce within this category of friends and was used only for companionship. As was explained earlier, this might be related to the high costs of overseas calls or the tendency to mostly call proximate contacts over the mobile phone, though service tariffs are similar when calling a local or a distance interstate contact. The internet, primarily email, was practiced with distant strong ties more than other communication methods, fulfilling all three types of social support. The fixed-telephone was used within this category mainly for emotional and instrumental (information) support.
7.5.3 Local weak ties
Among local weak ties are friends who participants marked as not being especially close to and who resided in walking distance or up to five minutes drive away. Most often, under this category were neighbours, parents of children‘s friends, members in shared organisations and work-related contacts. This group of people could also be referred to as (a part of) the local community. Most often, contact in this category was practiced in person for instrumental and companionship reasons. The internet was also used to fulfil these two types of support. Fixed- telephone use was evident in cases of instrumental aid. Often, no emotional support was provided by this category of friend. Also, no mobile phone use was reported within these ties, implying that mobile phones are used more often with close ties for domestic purposes (in contrast with business related situations in which mobile phone use with weak ties is common).
7.5.4 Distant weak ties
Among distant weak ties were friends who participants marked as being not especially close to and who resided over five minutes drive away, including interstate and overseas friends. Often, distant weak ties were established while participants had lived elsewhere, which makes the ties spatially proximate (local weak or strong ties). Virtual relations also fall under this category, implying that spatial proximity is not a mandatory condition of the friendship. In many cases, distant weak ties do not last over time, especially if relocation results in geographic distance between friends. The only practiced communication method was the internet, for instrumental aid
Page 174 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks and companionship. Using the internet as a sole communication method resulted in limited ‗redundancy of contact‘ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 291), hence creating less diverse opportunities for encounters that are required in order to strengthen social relations. Distant- weak-ties most likely stay weak or dissolve.
The internet was found to be the most versatile communication method practiced among all types of ties: strong, weak, local and distant. The mobile phone was the least versatile communication method, used mainly among local strong ties for instrumental aid and companionship reasons. Face-to-face was mostly practiced among local ties, influenced by spatial proximity and the seachange lifestyle. In-person encounters were the most dominant communication method for emotional support, while the fixed telephone and the internet were used for emotional support among distant strong ties.
7.6 IS IT ENOUGH?
Most interviewees reported having enough interactions with friends. Participants reported enough encounters with friends they met face-to-face on a daily basis. When discussing friends with whom they have less frequent communication (once a week or a few times a month), participants were more likely to report they would have liked more frequent communication. Mainly, they stated they would like ―more face-to-face time‖, however, as Elizabeth (58) expressed it: ―it's not killing me. I can always ring them up if I want to‖. From Joanne‘s (67) point of view, the fixed-telephone did not completely substitute face-to-face conversations:
I miss her now because, yeah, just little things, because of the distance between us. It's
not quite the same speaking on the phone. But we are still very much involved in each
other's life… I know what she does and she knows what I do. We share.
Julia (69) accented cost issues which set a barrier for a more frequent communication: ―sometimes I like to contact her more, but I am aware of the cost. If I want to have a longer talk with her, then I can have my 10 minutes for 22 cents after 8 O'clock at night54―.
Since Linda (62) reported mainly communicating with her best friend via emails, she pondered:
54 This option is a part of a fixed-telephone plan offered by Telstra, a national communication service provider.
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I probably would like to talk to her more. Just to hear how is she sounding because a lot
of her emails is just forwarding things and occasionally she'll write a thing and then I
fling back a note to her. A lot of times I don't know how things are going with her.
While most participants stated they have enough interactions or they wish to have more communication with their friends, few participants mentioned they would have liked less communication with their friends, as stated by Ruth (40) whose best friends lived abroad:
I wouldn‘t like to communicate with my friends more. Because of the distance, the
connection is not what I would like it to be. Even if I would have talked to them on a
daily basis, it would have hurt too much. I accept reality and try to find a local close-
friendship.
Another reason to wish for less communication with friends was associated with friendships of commiseration, compassion and concern. This was evident when Clair (44) described her friend as ―very taxing emotionally and mentally‖ and expressed her wish to communicate less with that friend.
7.7 CONCLUSION
The communication perspective chosen for this thesis aimed at examining social relations. Qualitative as well and quantitative data regarding communication practices highlighted characteristics of adult seachange female friendworks. For example, frequent communication reflected strong relations. Use of diverse communication methods with a particular contact indicated a strong relation. Use of just one communication method pointed towards weak ties, whether local via face-to-face interactions, or distant via the internet.
Additionally, communication practices exposed interaction dynamics. For example, participants showed a clear preference to meet face-to-face with friends. When friends resided at a great distance, the use of telecommunications was more frequently needed to sustain relationships. Participants preferred to use the internet (mainly email), followed by the fixed- telephone. The mobile phone was the least used communication method among friends.
All three social support motivations: instrumental aid, emotional support and companionship were practiced with proximate and distant strong ties, though distance dictated certain patterns: tangible assistance such as babysitting friends‘ kids, picking up the mail and helping around the house could only be practiced face-to-face, while instrumental support from a
Page 176 Chapter 7: Communication within friendworks distance was mainly restricted to information exchange. Companionship and emotional support were experienced differently face-to-face than when mediated by telecommunications.
Lifestyle in seachange communities facilitated frequent face-to-face interactions which were highly appreciated by seachangers. As most friends of locals lived nearby, most of their social needs were fulfilled by face-to-face communication, while using telecommunications to a lesser degree. Newcomers used telecommunications more often than locals when communicating with friends. The overall diverse use of communication methods with local ties sustained and strengthened them. Communication with local weak ties (the wider local community) mainly fulfilled companionship and instrumental aid purposes and was practiced face-to-face, but also via the fixed-telephone and the internet. These face-to-face encounters happened spontaneously as a side effect of daily routine and practices rather than as an intentional act of communication. Nevertheless, these by-the-way encounters maintained and strengthened local ties. In contrast, use of telecommunication among friends was deliberate and usually associated with a predefined purpose.
Importantly, most participants reported that they have enough interactions with their friends, especially (and not surprisingly) with those they frequently meet. In cases of less frequent communication, participants expressed their wish to meet more frequently in person.
These findings highlight the important role of face-to-face interactions and their contribution to social relations, whether planned or spontaneous. These findings also emphasise the important role of telecommunications, primarily the internet and the fixed-telephone, when friends are geographically distant. Such situations are common in mobile populations and are an inseparable part of contemporary society.
In contrast, the case study findings reveal a poor mobile phone use by the case study participants. The next chapter specifically addresses these and other mobile phone related findings. It provides a deeper analysis of mobile phone use by participants in order to better understand the role of mobile phones among this population segment.
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8Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones
This chapter revolves around the last research question: How do adult seachange women use the mobile phone? Generally, the answer is that the research subjects used the mobile phone differently than the average Australian user. These women‘s mobile use pattern was lighter and more basic, including mainly voice calls and SMS, mostly for coordination purposes. This is the short answer to the last research question. The longer answer is discussed in this chapter and focuses on different aspects of mobile phone use among the case study participants. Findings in this chapter are based on the case study data collected by three different research methods: 1. an online survey about mobile phone use which participants completed prior to their interview (Appendix A ), 2. open questions addressing mobile phone practice during the interview (Appendix C ), as well as 3. a mobile phone log consisting of ten recent mobile phone interactions of each participant (Appendix D ). This data is compared with national surveys: the AIMIA surveys55 (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008, 2009), the AMTA survey (Wajcman, et al., 2008) and the ACMA reports (ACMA, 2008, 2009a), all focusing on mobile phone use patterns of adult Australians.
Following an analysis of mobile phone ownership, payment methods and monthly expenditure, used and ignored mobile phone applications are discussed. Next, findings regarding who participants contacted over the mobile phone are presented. This is followed by an analysis of motivations for interacting over the mobile phone, focusing on three main motivations: coordination unrelated to paid work, socialising and work-related purposes. Within the socialising category, emotional support practices are highlighted followed by another view of motivational factors based on Leung and Wei‘s (2000) uses and gratifications approach. These sections set the context for discussing the reasons for the minimal and basic mobile phone use pattern of adult women in seachange communities.
8.1 MOBILE PHONES ADOPTION
All the case study participants, but one, used and owned a personal mobile phone. They paid their own bills as monthly bill subscribers (56%) or prepaid customers (44%). This proportion is similar to the nationwide statistics (ACMA, 2009a). The 2008 AIMIA survey found
55 Surveys details are presented in Section 4.6.3.
Page 179 Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones that older mobile phone users tended to pay as monthly subscribers (Mackay & Weidlich, 2008, p. 34). However, this tendency was not apparent among the case study participants. Taking into account the considerably modest lifestyle in the research location (Kijas, 2003), the higher percentage of prepaid customers within the case study, in relation to their older age, might be explained based on the Australian Communications and Media Authority 2004-5 report which states that prepaid services are ―especially popular with students and other people with low incomes, as they help them manage their budgets and avoid getting into debt‖ (ACMA, 2005, p. 69). Financial constraints are an influential factor when choosing a mobile phone payment method. Financial constraints motivating a particular communication pattern has already been reported in regard to email use by older participants (Section 7.3).
When comparing the mobile phone monthly expenditure between the case study participants and two of the AIMIA surveys, it is evident that, overall, the Ocean Shores women spent less on mobile phones than the average Australian for women over 35 years of age. As presented in Figure 39, 40% of the case study participants spent less than $20 per month on mobile phone use, while 80% spent up to $50. The median expenditure of the case study participants was $30. The 2008 AIMIA survey showed higher national Australian expenditure rate: 16% spent less than $20, 68% spent up to $50 and 80% spent up to $80). Findings from the 2007 AIMIA survey of only women over 35 years (938 respondents) shows that this population segment spent less money on mobile phone use than the national average, but more than the case study participants. The 2008 AIMIA survey found that weekly income and monthly mobile phone expenditure were related; those who earned less were likely to say they spent less on mobile phone services (Mackay & Weidlich, 2008, p.32). This finding might explain the lower mobile phone monthly expenditure pattern of the case study participants, as the local median weekly income in Ocean Shores is lower by 27% than the national average (ABS, 2007a). Yet, above all, these digressions from the national statistics indicate that the case study sample differs in its mobile phone use patterns from the national average, pointing to the distinctive characteristics of this sample, and possibly to a wider population segment of adult women that requires particular attention.
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2 >$300 1 2 $200-$300 2 2 $151-$200 1 4 8 $101-150 6 16 26 $51-$100 22 20 12 $41 - $50 11 8 13 $31-$40 14 12 19 $21-$30 18 32 10 $11-$20 16 8 6 <$10 8 % 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Case study 2008 survey (all) 2007 survey (women over 35 yrs old)
Figure 39: Mobile monthly expenditure – Compared data: 2007 AIMIA survey (only women over 35 years old), all 2008 AIMIA survey respondents and the case study participants
On average, the case study participants had used mobile phones over eight years. Fourteen of the 25 participants (56%) reported that they were the dominant mobile phone user in the household, while one quarter of respondents were the only mobile phone user in the household56. Eight participants (31%) stated that their partner was the dominant mobile phone user, using the mobile phone mostly for business and work-related purposes. The other three respondents reported a child as the dominant mobile phone user in the household—teenagers who used the mobile phone mainly for social purposes to contact friends, but also to stay in touch with family members. In general, only children over 12 years were reported by participants as using mobile phones. Over half (56%) of the participants perceived themselves as light mobile phone users. One third evaluated themselves as medium users. Only one participant rated herself as a heavy user and reported using the mobile phone ten times a day. Medium users reported making calls and sending SMS over the mobile phone four to 13 times a day. Light users reported using the mobile phone between seven times a day to once a week.
8.2 USED AND IGNORED MOBILE PHONE APPLICATIONS
Participants were asked to estimate their frequency of use of a few mobile phone applications including: voice calls, SMS, alarm clock, calendar, voicemail, MMS (Multimedia
56 Usually in cases of participants living alone or being single parents of young children.
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Messaging Service), photo shooting, internet browsing, email, video calls, moblogging, instant messaging, music and games. The results are presented in Figure 40.
I don't know this feature I have never used this feature Few times a month Once a week Few times a week Once a day Few times a day Quite a few times a day
Figure 40: Frequency of use of mobile phone applications (Source: case study, n= 26)
As reported in other studies (Kennedy, Smith, Wells, & B., 2008; Mackay & Weidlich, 2009; Wajcman, et al., 2008), voice calls were the most frequently used mobile phone feature (see also Figure 13). All case study participants used voice calls in differing frequencies from quite a few times a day to few times a month. Using SMS was almost as frequent as voice calls. This application was used by more participants on a daily basis than voice calls, again reflecting the influence of financial constraints on usage, as all participants were aware of the fact that SMS was cheaper than voice calls. Nevertheless, two participants reported that they had never used SMS. The AIMIA survey (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007) found that respondents texted friends (91%) more than family (81%) or work colleagues (59%). This survey also found that females communicated more frequently via SMS (96%) than men (90%). Texting friends more than family members was also evident in the case study sample.
There was a drop in the frequency of use of other applications. Additional features in use by popularity included: voicemail, photo shooting, alarm clock, and calendar. The voicemail service was used by nearly half of the participants. Conversely, over half of the case study participants never used this service (or did not understand what voicemail referred to). Two thirds of participants took photos a few times a month. Two thirds of the participants used their mobile phone as an alarm clock, while one third never used this feature. Two thirds of the respondents had never used the calendar feature. Frequency of calendar use varied from once a day to few times a month.
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The rest of the features (email, instant messaging, games, internet browsing, video calls, MMS, music and moblogging) were hardly used or were unfamiliar to most participants. Of particular interest are entertainment features such as games and music which are very popular among younger audiences (Watkins, 2009). Such features do not necessarily appeal to the case study population segment nor, possibly, to older populations in general. Alternative explanations for the scarce use of these applications might be related to lack of knowledge required to operate the features. Further research would clarify this matter.
Figure 41: Twenty two of the 26 mobile devices of the research participants
Most of the unfamiliar or unused features require 3G mobile devices (third generation: applications that involve online data exchange over the mobile phone). While 3G service was partially available in the case study area, most mobile devices used by participants were basic and suitable for basic applications only (see Figure 41). Nevertheless, even when participants owned a ‗smarter‘ mobile phone, the advanced applications were not used. Participants clung to voice calls and SMS, while ignoring more advanced applications. An interesting remark was expressed by Julia (69) when asked about internet browsing: ―occasionally my phone beeps at me and says: ‗you can do a free browse on your internet‘. Well, I'm not madly keen on looking at a little screen
Page 183 Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones like this‖. Julia‘s remark highlights the mismatch of this application to her needs. She was aware of more advanced mobile phone features, though knowingly chose not to use them.
8.3 WHO DO YOU CONTACT VIA THE MOBILE PHONE?
Nearly half of the participants (48%) reported primarily contacting their partner using a mobile phone57. Even when not living with a partner, three of seven single participants reported contacting ex-partners primarily via the mobile phone. Other participants reported primarily communicating with their children over the mobile phone (39%). Only three participants (12%) reported primarily contacting friends. None of the participants mentioned work-related people as primary contacts. Friends were commonly identified as secondary contacts (50%), followed by children (22%) and work-related people (17%). The latter were also the most common contacts as a third priority of communication over the mobile phone (57%). Generally, participants primarily contacted partners, then children, followed by friends and, finally, work related contacts, as presented in Figure 42.
Figure 42: Participants‘ primary person of communication over the mobile phone (Source: case study, n=26)
Then the actual number of interactions by type of contact (partner, child, other family, friends and work colleagues) was examined. This was based on the mobile phone log which provided quantitative data. Most interactions (39%) were held between friends. Children were communicated more (24%) than partners (15%). Overall, interactions with family members
57 This data was collected in response to the question: "who do you usually communicate with over the mobile phone" (Appendix C ). Therefore findings are based on participants' perceptions rather than on an empirical examination (that was based on the mobile phone log and is described later on). Findings are also influenced by the perceived significance in communicating specific contacts, rather than on a quantitative figure of the sum of interactions.
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(partner, children and other family) accounted for 50% of the interactions. Work colleague were least communicated (4%), as presented in Figure 43.
Figure 43: Percentage of overall mobile interactions by type of contact (Source: case study, n=26)
A comparison (Figure 44) between the mobile phone log data of the case study (218 interactions) and the AMTA survey data (13,978 calls made, findings presented in Figure 15) regarding who respondents contacted over the mobile phone, shows a higher proportion of interactions by female respondents to family members in the AMTA survey (54%) than the case study (50%). Within the family category, partners were most frequently contacted (18% in the AMTA survey, 15% in the case study), followed by children (13% in the AMTA survey, 24% in the case study) and other family (23% in the AMTA survey, 11% in the case study). There are clear differences between the studies. Higher proportions of friends were contacted by the case study participants (39%) than the female respondents within the AMTA survey (25%). More interactions were made with work-related contacts by women within the AMTA survey (14%) than within the case study (5%). All other interactions consisted of 6% of the case study interactions and 7% of the AMTA survey (including calls to voicemails, which were not examined in the case study).
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Figure 44: Contacted people over the mobile phone, a comparison of the case study and the AMTA survey (Wajcman, et al., 2008) mobile phone logs
Based on the AMTA survey, Australian women make more calls to other family members and work-related contacts than the case study participants, while the Ocean Shores sample proportionally communicates more with their friends and children than the AMTA survey female respondents. These variations are explained here by the dominant role that friends play within the daily routine of women from this coastal community. The different results of the two studies are also influenced by several other factors including: age range, population distribution, sample size but also particular lifestyle in the case of Ocean Shores‘ participants. Following the review of mobile phone adoption, used applications and contacted people over the mobile phone, the next sections focus on needs, motivations and rationale for communication over the mobile phone.
8.4 WE DON'T RING AND SAY: "I LOVE YOU DARLING", NOT ANYMORE58
Previous telecommunication studies present evidence for use motivation. Drawing on Moyal‘s women and the fixed-telephone study (1989b), there are two main telecommunication use motivations: instrumental and intrinsic. While instrumental calls were found essential to run the household, the majority of the fixed-telephone interactions on Moyal‘s study were identified as intrinsic calls. They took longer (20 minutes on average in comparison with 2 minutes for instrumental calls) and most importantly, facilitated ―well-being, harmony, and community co-
58 A remark by Rebecca (45) when asked about her motivation to use the mobile phone.
Page 186 Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones operation‖ (Moyal, 1989b, p. 93). Years later, this kind of communication use over the mobile phone is associated with affective and immaterial labour (Fortunati, 2009), social capital (Hjorth, 2009b) and intimacy (Wajcman, Bittman, & Brown, 2009).
The distinction between instrumental and intrinsic interactions was found too general for the purposes of the Ocean Shores case study, as different motivations were included within the same category. Instead, another type of interaction: ‗work related‘ has been added, as paid interactions result in a different communication pattern to domestic coordination practices. Therefore, three main motivations for mobile phone use have been identified: coordination (unrelated to paid work, equivalent to Moyal‘s instrumental calls), socialising (equivalent to Moyal‘s intrinsic calls) and work-related (paid interactions). Coordination involved interactions of an informative and operational nature aimed at managing the daily domestic routine of participants. Socialising purposes include detailed conversations, intimate discussions, companionship and emotional support. These interactions were unrelated to paid work.
When completing the mobile phone log, participants classified a rationale for each of the documented interactions, as presented in Figure 2159. Based on this data, over half (58%) of 216 mobile phone interactions were motivated by coordination purposes. Socialising purposes accounted for 33% of all interactions, while 9% of interactions were motivated by work purposes, as presented in Figure 45.
59 The actual form included five categories of interaction rationale: life saving, coordination, socialising, work related and other. However, only few interactions were identifies as ‗life saving‘ or ‗other‘ (less than 1% of all interactions). Therefore, this section focuses only on the three main categories.
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Figure 45: Percentage of mobile phone interactions by motivation (Source: case study, n=25)
When sorting all interactions by types of contacts and by motivation of interaction, coordination is the dominant reason for most interactions, excluding communication with work- related contacts, other family and siblings, as presented in Figure 46. Notably communication with friends motivates over half of the interactions (53%) for instrumental coordination while 39% for socialising purposes. Socialising was the most dominant communication rationale between other family members and siblings (75% on average).60
60 Importantly, the mobile phone log of the total reported interactions of the sample consisted of over three times more interactions with friends (88 interactions) than with other family members and siblings (24 interactions).
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Figure 46: Purposes of mobile phone interactions by types of contacts (Source: case study, n=25)
Most commonly, mobile phone research discerns between personal and work use of mobile phone (Figure 12) or examines contacted people by focusing on family, friends, and work-related contacts (Figure 15). However cross reference of both variables as conducted in this case study, is not reported elsewhere. The case study findings‘ analysis of both factors emphasises that people communicate with their contacts for various reasons; 11% of calls to partners were work-related, 10% of interactions with work-related contacts were for socialising. Over half of the interactions among friends were motivated by coordination purposes. Focusing only on one of the two variables overgeneralises mobile phone use and leads to a more simplistic view and analysis of mobile phone use.
Rebecca (45) explained this coordination-motivated use pattern when communicating with her partner: ―I probably talk to Tim [her partner] a lot over the mobile phone organising stuff. It's the running of the household and the family. There's practical things. We don't ring and say: ‗I love you darling‘, not anymore [laughs]‖. Rebecca pinpointed three important aspects: 1. the social roles of most participants as mothers and wives, which is most commonly expressed by running the household and being responsible for most of their children‘s affairs, affected their pattern of mobile phone usage, therefore, 2. they all used the mobile phone extensively for coordination purposes. Moreover, 3. they barely used the mobile phone for expressive (phatic) communication, in which feelings of empathy, contact, affection and care are communicated (Geser, 2004; Srivastava, 2005). This latter purpose, which falls under social and sometimes emotional support, is especially popular among younger mobile users (Ling & Yttri, 2002; Sørensen, 2006). It seems that the dominant adolescent need for this type of affection reflected by phatic communication does not apply to the researched adult women and, perhaps to wider adult
Page 189 Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones populations, in the same intensity as it does to younger audiences, though this requires further investigation.
This preference for practical uses like locating family and friends, coordinating and interacting with work-related contacts over social interactions and, particularly, emotional support was evident following data analysis of the online survey. Participants were asked to classify the significance of selected social practices over the mobile phone. Findings are presented in Figure 47, sorted by level of significance. Of these activities, all participants ranked ‗being able to locate close family members‘ as being very important or important. The second most important activity was ‗being able to contact friends‘, then ‗interaction with people for work purposes‘61, followed by two quite similar results for ‗coordination of family related activities‘ and ‗coordination of activities with friends‘. Next, participants ranked ‗sustaining family relationships‘ and ‗building and maintaining friendships‘. The last three activities which fell under the emotional support category: ‗getting emotional support‘, ‗reinforcing self-confidence‘ and ‗working through personal feelings‘ were ranked lowest in importance when participants reflected on their mobile phone practices.
61 This contradicts earlier findings presented in Figure 45, which are based on the mobile phone log, according to which work purposes were the least common reason for communicating over the mobile phone with a partner, children and friends, and the more widespread findings that indicate that mobile phones are used more commonly for personal rather than work matters (Figure 12). Except for the work-related category in Figure 46, mentioned types of contact included minor work-related interactions; hence findings reflected lower work-related practices. Figure 47 exhibits participants‘ perceptions of their general mobile phone usage within which work purposes were regarded as being more important than some social support practices (including instrumental and emotional support purposes). The variations in findings emphasise differences between actual and perceived use, and highlight the need for further research among wider audiences.
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Figure 47: Sorting mobile activities by significance (Source: case study)
A certain time related pattern was evident in this data; shorter-time activities (of the ‗contacting‘ and ‗coordinating‘ type) were more commonly ranked as more important than interactions requiring more time (of the ‗sustaining‘, ‗building‘, ‗maintaining‘ and ‗reinforcing‘ type). The shorter-time-activities were also interactions that could be quite effectively communicated via text messages (SMS), which might have been a more comfortable method in certain situations and are often cheaper than voice calls. Following the popular perception that ‗time is money‘, emotional support interactions were translated into higher mobile phone expense. This issue, among others, is discussed in Section 8.6, which highlights findings regarding emotional support.
Following the dominant pattern of coordination activities over the mobile phone, it is worthwhile posing a few clarifications. First, the overall case study findings indicated that participants maintained a vibrant social life, showing that socialising is still a significant feminine need. Second, participants reported that social occasions were frequent and face-to-face. They also reported using the internet and the fixed-telephone to gratify their need for long interactions, though the mobile phone was barely used for this purpose. Third, participants socialised over the mobile phone with friends, though interactions were typically brief and mostly textual (SMS). The Ocean Shores participants were found to proportionally communicate more with friends over the mobile phone than has been reported in the national AMTA survey (Wajcman, et al., 2008); however, the motivation for communicating was mainly for coordination purposes, which in
Page 191 Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones many cases resulted in face-to-face meetings. In this way, mobile phones indirectly facilitated interactions, as was evident when Janet (46) read one of her received text messages aloud: ―I am just so sad and lonely, can I come over now and have a cuppa?‖.
8.5 USES AND GRATIFICATIONS OF MOBILE PHONE USE
Coordination, socialisation (including emotional support) and work-related motivations represent some of the participants‘ reasons for using the mobile phone, thus implying that mobile phones have impacted their lives to some extent. Participants‘ responses could also be classified under Leung and Wei‘s (2000) categorisation of seven motives and gratifications sought in mobile phone use, namely: mobility, immediate access, instrumentality, affection and sociability, reassurance, fashion and status, and relaxation. Coordinating and work-related reasons for using the mobile phone refer to Leung and Wei‘s (2000) category of instrumentality, while socialisation relates to the affection and sociability gratification. Most participants‘ remarks regarding the impact of mobile phones on their life could be classified within Leung and Wei‘s gratification categories.
Quite a few participants reported mobility aspects of mobile phone use. Ruth (40), for example, explained her perception of mobility when using the mobile phone:
[It] allows more freedom in going out. If the kids or the partner are looking for me, they
can contact me. Secondly, I could communicate even when I am not at home. Clients can
contact me for work purposes. Friends can always reach me. It provides wider
communication options to life, and that‘s a positive thing.
Lisa (53) mentioned immediate access concerns: ―it made me much more accessible and that‘s a good and a bad thing. I wonder, how do we find each other in big crowds without the mobile phone? Even in shopping centres, you ring if you don‘t know where someone is‖. Janet‘s (46) testimonial referred to both mobility and immediate access in her role as a mother to young children:
It made me feel that I could go and explore things and do things and still be accessible.
So, in a way, it‘s sort of like a babysitter.... It meant that I could have them when I
wanted if I needed to.
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Some respondents associated immediate access with life saving situations: ―…because you know that wherever you are, you can be contacted. If something happens, people can reach you‖ (Olivia, 60).
Instrumentality was evident in two main situations: when coordination is needed and in work (paid) related situations. Rebecca (45) commented on coordination via mobile phone: ―it's easier. It's very handy, very convenient. Makes life a bit easier to organise and sometimes you think it wastes time, but actually it saves you a fair bit of time‖. Most women who lived with partner and children acknowledged the advantage of using mobile phones, as stated by Doris (49): ―it's much easier to get hold of my son‖. She also emphasised another instrumental aspect when discussing communication patterns with her ex-partner (her son‘s father):
With my ex, I only use text. I tell him that in cases of emergency, he doesn't ring me,
because then, I can have a conversation that we are both aware of that isn't easy
conversation. So I use it [the mobile phone] both as a defence and as a contact method.
In this case, text messaging functioned as a practical buffer between people who had to communicate but wished to do so with minimal emotional impact. This use pattern was particularly relevant to separated women whose ex-partners were also their children‘s parent (5 of 26 women, 19% of the case study sample62). Instrumentality is also a dominant aspect of work-related communication. Kathy (39) recalled her much more active mobile phone usage in the past:
I used the mobile phone much more often when I lived in Israel. I was working full time
back then and the phone was given to me by my employer, for work purposes. I used the
mobile phone to be accessible to others, mainly for work purposes but obviously, it made
me accessible also to family and friends. I could be more efficient; contacting people
while on the move.
A few participants mentioned affection and sociability aspects of mobile phone use. Tania (52) enthusiastically noted:
62 According to ABS (2007a), 25.5% of the Ocean Shores families are one parent families compared with 15.8% Australia wide.
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I had realised that via the mobile you have daily contact with them [friends]. Live in their
lives day to day: ‗what kind of day have you had? Oh, bad day‘. It‘s so personal and
intense. It intensifies our relationships. Cause I can ask each of my friends: ‗what are you
doing? How are you feeling? Did you buy a new dress? What colour is it? What are you
having for dinner? Do you want to meet me in town?‘ Yeah…
Joanne (67), one of the oldest participants, frequently travelled interstate and said that the mobile phone made communication with friends ―more pleasant. It stopped me having to go buy postcards.... I like to keep in touch‖. Another sociability aspect was expressed by Joy (49): ―your kids are growing up, their needs are changing. So you kind of try to fit into their world in that way [using the mobile phone to communicate with them]‖. Lastly, Clair (44) said that communication via text messages helped her to have more contact with her friends: ―I still have that shyness about making the initial phone call, whereas in SMS, I can do it without having that kind of [inhibited] contact‖.
Reassurance aspects, mainly of safety and security issues, played a major role in participants‘ decision to carry mobile phones when outside their home and to use them in times of need: ―the security that you've got as emergency backup if you got stranded somewhere‖ (Linda, 62). Janet (46), a mother to two teenagers, also related to another reassurance aspect: ―I don‘t want to limit their [her children] mobile calls because the one time that there is danger and they need it, they can‘t use it. They can‘t ring you‖.
Though most participants provided interesting and diverse perspectives on the impact of mobile phones on their life, there was no evidence to two of the seven gratification categories of Leung and Wei‘s (2000): fashion-and-status and relaxation. When specifically asked whether mobile phones helped them to look fashionable, all participants dismissed this statement: Joy (49) commented: ―That's the furthest thought from my mind [laughs]‖. Beverly (76) laughed and said: ―it‘s ridiculous‖. Janet (46) was seriously questioning: ―did someone say yes to that?‖ The main advice on this issue was given by Doris (49): ―you need to meet someone younger. Ben [her 18 years old son] would look at my phone and go: ‗it's prehistoric Mum. It's 3 years old‘‖. This gratification which is common among younger age groups (Ling, 2004; Shade, 2007) and urban populations (Fortunati, 2002a) did not apply to the case study participants at all (a look at their mobile phone devices presented in Figure 41 can confirm this). Relaxation practices, including use of the mobile phone as an entertainment device was rarely mentioned by participants, as discussed in Section 8.2.
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Evidence for most gratifications suggests that mobility, immediate access, instrumentality, affection and sociability and reassurance are relevant needs of adult women in seachange communities. Nevertheless, the overall use pattern was basic and practical, primarily motivated by coordination / instrumental purposes. In the next section, I examine in further detail one particular communication motivation which was significant to the Ocean Shores participants, yet was barely practiced over the mobile phone: emotional support.
8.6 EMOTIONAL SUPPORT OVER THE MOBILE PHONE
Most participants referred to the mobile phone as a working tool, mainly facilitating domestic practices related to management of the family, the home and their social life. Their conservative use pattern somewhat contrasts with recent studies which highlight ―new forms of intimacy and labour‖ (Hjorth, 2009a), namely affective and immaterial labour (Fortunati, 2009), and social capital (Hjorth, 2009b), which are reproduced while using affective technologies such as the mobile phone (Lasen, 2004). While Hjorth (2009a) reports on the emergence of ―imaging communities‖, unofficial forms of reterritorialisation and redefinitions of hyperfemininity, the Ocean Shores findings show quite the opposite. Most participants used the mobile phone for practical, traditional reasons within their defined, territorial community and close family.
In line with this pattern and the generally traditional perspective of their social life, most participants stated that they barely used the mobile phone for emotional support (see Section 7.4), preferring other communication methods, most notably, face-to-face. Some women emphasised the importance of privacy and ―quiet, reflective time‖ (Kathy, 39) while having emotional support interactions. In the eyes of these women, using the mobile phone ―on the run‖ and in public areas classified the mobile device as inadequate to ―conduct conversations about personal problems or issues‖ (Dorothy, 66). This indicates that participants‘ perceived the mobile phone as ‗anywhere anytime‘ technology; hence it was constructed as a more public communication tool, rather than one of intimacy or privacy.
Throughout the interviews, older participants were more likely to be concerned about the social mores of the general use of the mobile phone. This was evident when specifically referring to emotional support conversations, as stated by Miranda (60): ―I have heard young women and girls using their mobile phones for this purpose and discussing very personal issues in public. My age group probably finds this behaviour inappropriate‖. It seems that emotional support becomes something more private for older women, thus they are more likely to use other methods; hence they also find it difficult to accept others publicly using the mobile phone for this purpose. Generally, age is found to be associated with certain behaviour patterns over the mobile phone (Fortunati, 2009; Hjorth, 2009b; Ling & Haddon, 2003; Ling & Yttri, 2002). Different needs and
Page 195 Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones gratifications of different age groups lead to very different behaviour patterns. It is suggested that use of the mobile phone for emotional support is also influenced by age. This needs further attention from scholars who either focus on young age groups or conduct nation-wide surveys that to a large extent lead to an overgeneralisation.
Among the few women who stated that not having emotional support over the mobile phone was problematic, a concern about the effectiveness of a busy lifestyle was raised. Ella (36) thought that women could use the mobile phone more effectively for emotional support purposes when ―driving the car or waiting for the kids to finish school‖ as ―often, women are very busy ... most often women will not share their feelings or get emotional support as they do not have enough time to share it with other women. This may increase the loneliness feeling in their life‖. Feelings of loneliness and isolation were concerns expressed also by Laura (61): ―women can feel ... isolated in times of great need of emotional support. This feeling of isolation can have a detrimental effect spiritually, psychologically and on social well-being‖. Often participants mentioned they were busy or that they were not wishing to impose on other ―busy people‖; on the other hand they also commonly practiced face-to-face interactions and reported getting enough emotional support. The perception and practice of sufficient emotional support is a personal matter depending on personality, social roles and self perception. Therefore, it is challenging to propose a conclusive position in this matter. However, as contemporary life tends to be perceived as hectic and as emotional support has already been flagged as vital to individuals, this issue would greatly benefit from further study among wider populations in different life circumstances, particularly in urban environments.
The concern of loneliness and feeling of isolation when not using the mobile phone to facilitate emotional support is associated with a concern about immediacy, as expressed by Dorothy (66):
If they aren't using their mobile phones for this purpose [emotional support] then they
possibly aren't reaching their sources of emotional support as easily. With a mobile
phone, women can reach their friends and partners readily.... That is, a woman can call a
friend at any time with some assurance that the person will answer. This may be
especially important if the need for emotional support is urgent.
Often, need for emotional support is spontaneous, urgent and crucial. The mobile phone is ideally designed to facilitate such scenarios as it can be used spontaneously, ‗anytime anywhere‘, while generating immediate contact. Nevertheless, participants hardly used their mobile phone for this purpose.
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Some participants raised anxieties about the health effects of mobile phone usage (radiation), discomfort (―it heats your ear‖) and unreliability (―poor connections or areas with minimal or no signals‖) in order to explain why they refrain from using the mobile phone for emotional support. These reasons were directly related to the perception that emotional support interactions are especially long.
An instrumentally oriented use pattern of communication technologies, as was evident in the Ocean Shores case study, has been associated in previous studies with light users. In line with this argument, Leung (2001) found that heavy users of online chat were motivated by intrinsic goals of sociability and affection, while light users were instrumentally motivated, tending to chat online for entertainment or appearances sake. Reid and Reid (2007) suggest that similar patterns apply among mobile phone users; light mobile phone users are motivated by instrumental purposes.
However, the main reason most commonly given by participants in this study for not using the mobile phone for emotional support was cost. Participants often associated emotional support with lengthy interactions, which meant that emotional support was too expensive when practiced over the mobile phone. This aspect is the focus of the next section.
8.7 WHY SUCH A MINIMAL USE AND WHY INSTRUMENTAL?
Several reasons explain the minimal instrumental use of the mobile phone in the female friendworks analysed here. Among these are: lifestyle in a coastal community, older age and social roles of participants, and social norms of coordination in contemporary life.
The wider context of relocation and life in a seachange community affects participants‘ lifestyle. When people relocate, they do not have many local friends: ―I didn't know anyone in Ocean Shores when I moved in.... I probably had only two good friends at that time‖ (Doris, 49). Holly (42) reported: ―I didn‘t really have anyone to call to other than my partner‖. Additionally, coordination over the mobile phone, which was found as the dominant motivation for mobile interactions (see Figure 45) is not crucial in seachange communities (contrary to cities), due to common face-to-face interactions. Hence, mobile phone use remains minimal for adult seachange women. This was reported by Ella (36) when asked about her current mobile phone use after moving from a big city and settling in Ocean Shores: ―today I am a prepaid customer.... I talk much less. The calls are shorter and much less frequent‖.
Additionally, as indicated in previous studies, age correlates with ownership percentage of mobile phones (Figure 10), which is lower among older users than for other age groups and is characterised by certain behaviour patterns. For example, Ling and Yttri (2002) connected
Page 197 Chapter 8: Women and mobile phones ownership of mobile phones among elderly mainly with safety and security considerations. Explanations for a minimal mobile phone use pattern among older populations revolved around lack of the skills needed when using the mobile phone, relatively high costs for lower-income population segments and ―entrenched habits that are difficult to change‖ (Dijst, 2009, p. 53). Additionally, within the research participants‘ age group, generational differences associated with social roles were apparent. Daily routine of mothers to young children was quite different to that of retirees or single women. While mothers practiced more coordination interactions with close family members, particularly children, over the mobile phone, retirees practiced the mobile phone less often, while communicating more with friends, mainly for coordination purposes.
The higher proportion of instrumental interactions over intrinsic communication can also be explained by the increased coordination needed as a part of contemporary life. People are frequently on the move and cultural norms dictate coordination of social gatherings:
We used to visit people. My kids don't understand that. They say: ‗what are you talking
about? You don't drop in on people anymore‘. OK, I forgot. Because we used to drop in.
We didn't call people at all to say you are coming. I just walked to my friends' house.
(Tania, 52)
This might explain why coordination is also the most dominant motivation among friends.
However, the most significant reason for using the mobile phone in such a restricted practical manner is cost. Most of these women were extremely concerned about, and aware of, their mobile phone cost, as articulated by Joanne (67): ―that was always an issue. I am always aware of how much it will cost. I want to be conservative with money. You don't just ring for the sake of ringing up‖. The same approach was reported by Julia (69): ―I try to restrict my mobile phone usage because I am aware of the cost and I try to keep my cost down because I see it as a tool‖. Consequently, it was not much of a surprise when Beverly (76) commented that of all things she disliked about mobile phones ―expense is at the top of the list‖.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority issued a report (ACMA, 2008)63 based on a survey of 1426 mobile phone users aged 18 and over. Cost was the major concern when faced with a decision to substitute the fixed-telephone service with the mobile phone (see
63 Hereafter, this report is referred to as the ACMA report.
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Table 3). The report discerned between two cost views. Half of the participants, especially the ‗techno non-adopters‘, perceived mobile phone costs as prohibitive. The other half, the ‗enthusiastic embracers‘ thought that ―mobiles offer good value for money, especially the capped plans‖ (ACMA, 2008, p. 11). Views expressed by the case study participants largely classify these women under the first category. This further clarifies their restricted use pattern.
The retired women were most assertive in their comments about cost issues. Dorothy (66), an American immigrant and the only participant who did not use a mobile phone noted:
We are retired now, so we don‘t have that much money. We need to be much more
careful about our expenses.… Just charge a bit more for monthly fee and let them have
unlimited calls. It is absurd. In the States it was very economical and convenient in
comparison to here. Why would you do this? I am not attracted to having a phone. We
might have had one if the costs were reasonable. Just for the convenience of it.
Seven of the 26 participants emigrated to Australia as adults. They all used mobile phones overseas and reported a much heavier use pattern back then:
In Israel, where the mobile phone expense was lower, I used the mobile much more for
social needs and for much longer calls. The truth is that now I am limiting myself. I will
almost never call from a mobile to fixed-telephone line, only if I have to, and even then,
the call will be very short. Yeah, cost is meaningful. (Ella, 36)
Mobile phones were perceived as dearer than fixed-telephone services: ―mobile phone, I think, is infinitely more expensive [than the fixed-telephone] ... mobile [phone], whichever way you look at, is expensive‖ (Beverly, 76). This is why most of the participants reported using the fixed-telephone for intrinsic calls: ―I think it's expensive to have a long conversation. So, there's only very short conversations on there [the mobile phone]. For long conversations, I would use the other [fixed] phone or send an email‖ (Olivia, 60).
Mobile service providers are viewed as exploiting the mobile phone users:
They [the mobile phone service providers] are making profits out of people's need to
communicate. I don't mind if they make profits out of luxury shoes, ‘cause I can choose
not to buy them. But we live in a society that requires us to have telephones. If it was as
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cheap to use the mobile as it is cheap to use the landline, I would use the mobile.
(Elizabeth, 58)
Laura (61) expressed similar thoughts:
I hate the way that telecommunication companies have used it [mobile phones] to win
vague privacy [allegedly what mobile users earn] and to make people … victims of their
[giggles] need to supply their share holders with lots of money. I think that they have
been very smart in devising methods of getting people to use [the mobile phones] and
marketing their products to encourage people to spend money.
Julia (69) adds her perspective on the mobile phone service providers marketing tactics: ―I think that they [mobile phone service providers] suck you in with the ‗don't pay anything and here's your lovely new phone‘ and then the cost become quite high‖.
Participants referred to payment calculations as a big vague riddle: ―I find there's too many things—plans. It's really complicated. Too many plans, and if you don‘t use certain things, you still need to pay that amount, so sometimes the cost is quite high‖ (Clair, 44). On the same matter, Rebecca recalled a friend calling her on her mobile phone while she was skiing in New Zealand. As they commenced the call, the friend said: ―quick, make it fast. One of us is paying a lot of money‖, but neither knew who.
Participants reported techniques of using the mobile phone in cost effective ways. Julia explained her policy when she had to contact people on their mobile phone:
Now a lot of people don't have a fixed line at all. If I have to make a call to them, I'll text
them before ringing, but if I don't get any answer, I have to ring them. But I know it's
cheaper to text them and say: ‗are you available?‘, or ‗when can you come?‘ (Julia, 69)
This highlights a motivation to use newer methods of communication such as the SMS by older populations. A similar pattern was also observed in relation to email use by this age group. Cost provided an incentive to overcome technical challenges and habits.
Ella (36) mentioned her learning curve with the prepaid system (which she didn‘t use prior to emigrating to Australia):
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I have started to understand the prepaid boundaries. Like, for how long it lasts. In the
past, a month was passing by and I didn‘t get to use all the credit. Today I know how to
check my balance. I know how to use it better in order to use it throughout the month.
When specifically addressing the social aspect and asking participants whether they used their mobile for socialising, Julia (69) replied: ―not so much socialising because I'm wary about running up big bills. But, briefly, yes. If there was no cost issue, I wouldn't mind to discuss social matters over the mobile‖. Julia‘s remark reflects a common perception among the case study participants: social affairs require long interactions, hence are more expensive.
Elizabeth (58) reflected on the paradox between the accessibility and the affordability of mobile phone use for emotional support purposes:
It's no good having great technology if you can't afford to use it.... It is also problematic
if someone is forced to use a mobile in a crisis and the whole time they're talking, as well
as dealing with the crisis, they're freaking out about how much this call is costing them. I
received a call from a distressed young woman on an overseas mobile who became even
more distressed later when she realised the call cost her $80. (Elizabeth, 58)
A similar cost related concern was expressed by Miranda (60): ―as mobile phones are in general expensive I don't believe they are an effective way of communicating for deeply emotional support as it's difficult to relax when you are worried about the cost of a phone call‖. In line with these comments, most participants stated that if costs were lower, they would surely use the mobile more specifically for social purposes. Due to high costs, these women limited their use and prioritised their communication activities. When choosing between coordination and socialising, Doris (49) explained: ―I only coordinate because of money‖.
If cost is a major concern, it would be interesting to examine emotional support interactions over the mobile phone when not having to worry about expense. Such scenarios might be common among mobile phone users who are subscribed to special plans: ―if you are on plan where cost is not an issue then it would be a different matter‖ (Joy, 49). However, most of the Ocean Shores case study participants did not use such inclusive plans This situation was predicted by Moyal (1989b) in her fixed-telephone study and is discussed in further detail next.
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8.8 CONCLUSION
This chapter focused on mobile phones as one communication method practiced by the case study participants. It described the adoption, use patterns and gratifications of the mobile phone. All participants but one owned a mobile phone. This high adoption rate, in line with national (ACMA, 2009b) and global statistics (ITU, 2008), has affected communication practices and life routines of participants. Nevertheless, they were found to be lighter users than the average Australian woman within their age range. Participants primarily contacted close family members, especially partners and children. Friends were contacted less than close family members, but proportionally more than reported in national surveys. Work-related contacts were communicated the least. The most common use was for coordination purposes, followed by socialising and work-related reasons. Participants primarily used the mobile phone for practical rather than social matters, even when communicating with friends. This finding contrasts with findings from Moyal‘s study of women‘s use of the fixed-telephone (Moyal, 1992), where most practices were motivated by intrinsic considerations. Though socialising was an important aspect of participants‘ life in Ocean Shores, their mobile phone use did not reflect this.
A few combined factors explain this basic practical rather than social use pattern of the Ocean Shores participants. First, social motivations are practically embedded within any mobile phone interaction64(Lasen, 2004), or, more precisely, within any human interaction. Social motivations are inevitably practiced while ‗doing‘ family or work (Wajcman, et al., 2009, p. 12). Social motivations result in the production of immaterial labour and social capital (Fortunati, 2009). Mobile phone use led to the development of new forms of intimacy and labour (Hjorth, 2009a) which inherently encompasses aspects of social support. For example, any positive interaction affirms that one is cared for and loved, even when that interaction is primarily driven by instrumental or informative motivations. It might be worthwhile to highlight those few interactions which exclude social support (such as depressing interactions), in order to realise how such social support is so embedded in people‘s needs and practices. In other words, socialising is an integral part of any communication interaction regardless of the platform or medium of communication. Practically, socialising is a basic outcome of most interactions, so people get to practice socialising in most interactions. Nevertheless, socialising is not necessarily the prime motivation or purpose of interaction, as is found in this case study.
64 An exception to that are mobile activities which do not mandatorily engage another person, such as time and task management applications (alarm clock, reminder, calendar), games and browsing the internet for data.
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Second, lifestyle affects mobile phone use patterns. Frequent face-to-face interactions as a part of a seachange lifestyle motivate people to socialise face-to-face, while using the mobile phone mainly for unexpected, urgent, coordination-oriented interactions.
Third, population mobility, such as seachanging, reduces mobile phone use. Though, intuitively, one might assume that since mobile phones support mobility they are of great use to such populations. Quite the opposite was apparent in the case study. Participants reported decreased mobile phone use following the move to Ocean Shores. Moreover, due to a more peaceful lifestyle mobile phone use remained minimal.
Fourth, the fixed-telephone as a technology is different to the mobile phone, hence interactions are practiced differently. The fixed-telephone can result in social interactions that are more private and relaxed in nature than the mobile phone, which is mostly used for immediate access on the move (Wei & Lo, 2006), and facilitating quick, brief, ‗bottom-line‘ interactions, even when intrinsic in nature. Finally, age, gender and social roles also influence use patterns and can explain why mobile phone usage is basic and practical rather than being oriented around social matters.
However, it seems that the most significant factor in influencing the practical use of mobile phones is cost. As was identified by Ann Moyal in her women and the telephone study (Moyal, 1992), intrinsic (social) interactions take much longer than instrumental calls (average of 20 minutes versus 2 minutes). Most participants privately pay their mobile phone costs. Income in Ocean Shores is 27% lower than the national figure (ABS, 2007a). Both factors influenced the participants in prioritising mobile phone activities: more coordination (short) calls and SMS, less intrinsic (long) mobile phone conversations. The cost concern also correlates with basic mobile phone use, which was mostly limited to voice calls and SMS.
Cost concerns were among the motivations behind Moyal‘s study two decades ago, as well as this current mobile phone case study. Moyal explained:
Reactions [of participants] embodied fear of personal communication lost through costs;
concern that the character of women‘s telephone communication … would be changed;
disquiet at the likely diminution of friendship contact and the supportive care this
sustained; and a wide concern from most respondents at the effect that timed local
charging would have on pensioners, the poor, single parents, the physically
disadvantaged and society‘s most vulnerable groups. (1989b, p. 83)
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Moyal‘s work led to keeping the untimed local fixed-telephone calls policy that still applies in Australia. Retroactively, and compared with mobile phone use pattern, it is now realised how this act influenced communication patterns and assisted in embedding intrinsic calls as a dominant practice of the fixed-telephone use. Therefore, findings of this case study do not contrast, but rather support Moyal‘s assumption that cost oppresses intrinsic communication.
Nevertheless, cost is also what keeps the fixed-telephone so popular for affective use. Though fixed-telephone use is gradually declining (ITU, 2009), it is perceived as being cheaper than the mobile phone (ACMA, 2008). In practice, it is difficult to come up with a clear, comparative cost diagnosis due to the many payment plans available. Additionally, people often fail to factor in the cost of line rental per month. However, as long as fixed-telephone tariffs are perceived as being more transparent, if not affordable, people will prefer using it, especially for long conversations, most of which are intrinsic calls. Therefore, keeping the untimed local calls tariff is a strategic decision that gives a crucial advantage to fixed-telephone services. Exceptions to this are cases of service providers offering competitive tariffs for long calls through specific mobile cost plans, plans that provide fixed-fee service or financial incentives for interacting with users of the same service provider.
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9Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world
This thesis explores the social world of women. It investigates significant social concepts by analysing communication patterns within friendworks. It is contextualised by a specific setting of relocation in Australian seachange communities and focuses on adult women. In that respect, it captures a particular experience that might be similar (or not) to experiences of other populations. Nevertheless, its main contribution is in highlighting social practices and impacts of friendworks among an under-investigated segment of adult women.
This thesis examines three interdisciplinary themes: population mobility, friendworks, and practices of communication methods. This chapter incorporates these themes into one coherent idea connecting and concluding findings discussed in the thesis. It directly applies to the thesis research questions which address gaps in current literature of the investigated themes. This chapter also emphasises how the thesis findings contribute to relevant theories and practices.
In response to the overarching research question of this thesis: what is the contribution of friendworks to individuals in the mobile network society? The key findings of this case study suggest that friendworks are an important social structure in the network society, providing mooring relations in a mobile world. Friendworks are established, maintained and sustained by practices of communication methods, which facilitate continuous relations regardless of spatial and temporal constraints and assist in creating new local ties within social proximity in a present life stage. This reinforces the fundamental and critical social role attributed to communication in the network society.
The three themes are joined in this thesis to describe real life scenarios, challenges and practices of adult women in social settings. Examination of a small, distinctive group of participants enabled an in depth analysis of contemporary life situations while emphasising: 1. the social impact of relocation, 2. the structure and significance of friendworks, and 3. practices of communication methods within friendworks. Focusing this thesis on these issues highlights an alternative, practical viewpoint of the significant social structure of the friendwork which supports contemporary social challenges, motivates social interactions and generates social capital.
The case study participants were found to be influenced by particular gender roles, primarily as women, but also as mothers, wives and house-workers, contextualised by age. This influence was expressed by gendered social practices, as reported in previous studies of women‘s work (Staples, 2007), intrinsic communication (Moyal, 1989b; Rakow, 1992) and social and
Page 205 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world emotional support (Wellman & Wortley, 1990). This thesis further illuminates how such social practices emerging from gender roles are significant as prime generators of contemporary forms of labour and capital; that is, affective labour (Hardt, 1999), immaterial labour (Fortunati, 2007) and social capital (Putnam, 2000).
The next sections of this chapter discuss and conclude in further detail the main findings of each of the researched themes within this thesis and their implications, starting with population mobility, moving to friendworks and concluding with communication practices within friendworks.
9.1 TOWARDS INCREASED POPULATION MOBILITY
Mobility is an increasing dominant aspect in the modern world (Adey, 2010). People physically move from one place to another, faster, further, more frequently and for more reasons (Larsen, Urry, et al., 2006; Urry, 2002); on a daily basis as commuters for work purposes, on an occasional basis for pleasure, or permanently due to life changing situations. Alongside the physical aspect, virtual mobility, mediated by telecommunications, enables constant communication with distant people, hence providing complementary options to stay in touch. Both aspects of mobility, physical and virtual, are facilitated by technology.
This thesis draws attention to social aspects of mobility situations. In a reality of constant movement, relocation processes require attention. With 42% of the Australian population changing their place of dwelling in five years (Pink, 2006, p. 4), newcomers are no longer a marginal phenomenon. This mobility trend calls for special consideration at all levels: individuals who undergo such a change or experience a relocation of a close person (whether a family member or a friend), population centres which expand and are subject to changes in social composition and balance between newcomers and locals, and decision makers, at local, state, and federal levels that are required to confront different aspects of mobility, including infrastructure, services and, drawing on this thesis, social concerns. However, while infrastructure and services gain the attention of most local government areas, as well as state and federal representatives, they have limited awareness and resources to respond to the social needs of relocating populations (Gurran, Hamin, & Norman, 2008). That is, social needs directly arising from the move to a new dwelling place. The focus in such cases is not on cultural adjustment, as is the case of overseas immigration, which is addressed to a certain degree (at schools or by offering language courses for adults). This thesis highlights the social challenges of internal migration populations. Due to the increasing numbers of relocators across Australia, this thesis suggests that special attention and support is required to address issues of social integration while turning social challenges into social capital opportunities.
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One way to turn such challenges in seachange communities to opportunities is by utilising social proximity to other town residents and public spaces. In the case study site, Ocean Shores, spatial proximity was a crucial feature of the seachange lifestyle. Participants associated geographical closeness with familiarity with locals, friendly social atmosphere and frequent face- to-face encounters. All of these positively influenced the nature of the local social relations among the community and were particularly beneficial among local friends.
The research question that addressed mobility in this thesis focused on the seachanging process and its social impact on seachangers. Within this broad issue, findings relating to relocating, befriending, sub-communities and social challenges were of particular importance. They are discussed in the next sections.
9.1.1 Relocating
None of the case study participants was born in Ocean Shores. They all relocated as adults. Two-thirds of the participants moved to Ocean Shores out of an affordable lifestyle choice. They wished to live in a coastal town and, unlike other close-by coastal destinations such as Byron Bay or Mullumbimby, the desired lifestyle was financially possible in Ocean Shores. This was frequently reported by pensioners, young families and single mothers. Supported by weekly income statistics, which shows it is lower by 27% in Ocean Shores than nation-wide (ABS, 2007a), this town attracts financially challenged populations. Affordable lifestyle as a motivation to relocate in a seachange community reinforces previous Australian studies (Gurran, et al., 2005; Marshall, et al., 2003).
One third of the case study participants moved to Ocean Shores because they knew locals: family members or friends. This is an example of a ―chain migration‖ (Stimson & Minnery, 1998, p. 207). It exemplifies how social capital (social connections with family and friends) is translated into practical demographic changes in the relocation process. It also shows how population centres can attract certain population segments that conform to the planned growth for a locality (for example: particular age groups, families). Not only can friendworks assist localities in targeting specific population segments by having familiar locals, they also ease the newcomers‘ social integration process.
9.1.2 Befriending
Participants moved great distances from their social networks. This motivated newcomers to befriend with locals. All participants reported befriending attempts. This was motivated by their ―want to feel wanted‖ (Laura, 61), the need for companionship and a desire
Page 207 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world for belonging. The case study participants established new local ties while adjusting their friendworks to their new place of dwelling.
Local friends took an active part in introducing newcomers to other locals, hence extending newcomers‘ local social interactions. Those having local friends prior to the move reported the mediated role that their local friends played in their befriending process. This was contrasted with a longer and more challenging befriending stage for those who did not have local friends prior to the move and who started their befriending attempts mainly with neighbours. Moreover, friends were found to be the primary way of meeting new friends, regardless of location. Based on the examination of the overall named friends in the case study, participants met the highest number of friends through an existing friend; higher than via a shared activity within organisations (such as school, youth movement, sports and cultural activities), higher than the proportion of family members within their friendworks and much higher than within a workplace or neighbourhoods. The high proportion of ‗friends via friends‘ within friendworks highlights the major role of friends in shaping individual‘s social environment.
Two different social statuses of newcomers and locals were evident among the case study sample. Newcomers sought to establish local friendships, as most of their friendwork was comprised of distant friends, while locals were often passively open to new friendships and most of their friendwork was local. The longer participants lived in Ocean Shores, the more local their friendwork was. This is yet another evidence of the impact of distance of space and time over social relations: spatial and temporal proximity promote social relations. This thesis regarded participants as newcomers if their friendwork mostly consisted of distant friends, and locals if most of their friends were local (up to five minutes drive). For most case study participants, the transition in status from newcomer to local occurred within four years of living in Ocean Shores. The first four years might be regarded as the socially challenging period that requires attention by community and governmental organisations.
Participants recalled that when moving to Ocean Shores they wished to develop their sense of belonging to the local community. This thesis‘s findings show that one of the social processes that address this motivation is befriending with locals. Befriending situations contextualised by a new place of dwelling enhanced newcomers‘ connection to the local community and their social identity, in addition to reinforcing their self identity. Individuals who made local friends, felt more connected to the local community. A sense of belonging to the local community was perceived and practiced differently by locals and newcomers. Locals‘ testimonials depicted a developed sense of community through local friendworks. They actively participated in community events, volunteering for and promoting local community issues. In contrast, newcomers‘ local knowledge was very restricted. They generally did not feel that there
Page 208 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world was a community in Ocean Shores, and certainly did not feel a part of what was there. Their sense of belonging was towards the geographical location (sense of place), as they were all charmed by the area‘s beauty.
9.1.3 Sub-communities: A case of bonding social capital
Sense of belonging was examined through two main aspects: sense of place and sense of community. While most locals and newcomers expressed an attachment to the wider locality and the Northern Rivers area in general (sense of place), a sense of community was more often expressed in relation to particular sub-communities within Ocean Shores.
Participants mentioned three local sub-communities, two were geographical (residents of South Golden Beach and New Brighton65) and one was cultural (the Israel-born community). Participants who belonged to one of these sub-communities expressed a stronger sense of belonging to the sub-community than to the wider Ocean Shores group, whether geographically or culturally oriented. Residents of smaller and older population centres within town (residents of South Golden beach and New Brighton) exemplified greater social solidarity and shared environmental goals within their sub-communities, while having minimal interest in the overall population of Ocean Shores. This sense of belonging to sub-communities was evident among locals but also newcomers.
Similarly, Israel-born participants tended to befriend others of the same ethnicity. Included in this research were five Israel-born participants. This allowed a close examination of a particular ethnic group of mainly newcomers. Four of them reported following a local who was Israel-born to the area, someone they knew prior to the move (a family member, a friend or an online acquaintance66). This person was their point of contact with locals. However, in all cases, this person was a point of contact to the local Israel-born community. Through this person, Israel-born newcomers got to know others from the Israel-born community. Overall, these participants reported primarily befriending Israel-born locals rather than establishing local ties with the wider population. Connecting with local Israel-born people was reported ―easy‖, a ―natural thing‖, ―basic‖, and ―obvious‖. Nonetheless, most of the immigrant women reported some disappointment in this befriending pattern, perceiving it as a failure to establish ―truly local
65 As mentioned in Section 4.2, Ocean Shores in this thesis relates to a conglomerate of three population centres: Ocean Shores, South Golden Beach and New Brighton.
66 For a detailed discussion regarding online acquaintances, see Section 2.3.3.
Page 209 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world ties‖. It seems as if they did not know how to bridge the cultural gap to reach into the wider local community. The many challenges associated with the immigration processes led them to choose the easier option of befriending people from a similar ethnic background. Even after five years in Australia, the local friendworks of Israel-born participants were almost exclusively composed of Israel-born locals. However, the longer they lived in Australia, the more ―Australian‖ their friendwork became. Importantly, they learnt to accept their situation and to celebrate their unique ethnicity as members of the sub-community.
Israel-born locals played an active mediation role in welcoming Israel-born newcomers to the place and to their sub-community, with the unintended consequence of making the belonging process to the wider community more challenging. It would be worthwhile to further examine the motivations of people with similar cultural background in taking an active role in welcoming immigrant newcomers. This would better address social challenges faced by immigrants and would help in actively welcoming people to communities.
The limited sense of community evident in local sub-communities suggests that Ocean Shores as a locality concept is an imagined community (Anderson, 1983). Locals perceived themselves as a part of the local community, though in practice they had face-to-face contact only with limited numbers of locals, especially within their sub-communities. The three discussed sub-communities exemplify bonding social capital (Woolcock, 1998), social relations between similar people that tighten the inward sense of the sub-community. However, from the point of view of the wider local community, such sub-communities pose social challenges in relation to bridging social capital (Woolcock, 1998), social ties between different types of people which tend to develop an outward sense of belonging to the wider community. Participants who felt they belonged to one of these sub-communities primarily identified with their sub- community rather than with the wider local community. Therefore, when in need of choosing where to put effort and time, they were more likely to become active members of their sub- community. Generally, residents of the wider Ocean Shores area did not express a strong sense of belonging to their wider local community. This situation was mirrored in the social relations between the case study participants (Figure 18). A strong sense of community would have resulted in a highly clustered social network among the participants, whereas the actual diagram exemplifies occasional relations between the case study women.
9.1.4 Facing social challenges in seachange communities
As newcomers increase in number and in proportion within the global population, they highlight a new sphere of attention: a sense of belonging and, especially, a sense of community. This has been an important aspect of localities (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003) indicating the social
Page 210 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world strength, hence the social capital, of population centres. This significant process of developing a sense of belonging and a sense of community is largely motivated by the personal interests of newcomers, sporadically, spontaneously and voluntarily supported by socially mindful (mostly similar) individuals.
While newcomers‘ numbers grow, locals are not motivated to actively welcome them as they are not interested in extending their network. It is also a challenge to reach all those who are seeking to establish local ties as there are so many of them. Additionally, newcomers become weary of ongoing befriending situations following frequent relocations. Overall, the results in the case of Ocean Shores showed a growing gap between locals and newcomers in association with sub-communities and in a sense of belonging to the general community. From the community point of view, mobility produced a lack of connection, commitment, trust and emotional nearness, as has been indicated in previous studies (Albrow, 1997; Cresswell, 2002). From newcomers‘ point of view, lack of a sense of belonging is unfortunate, but might also ease the move to the next location.
The Ocean Shores case study highlighted a strong sense of sub-community and a lack of overall local sense of community to Ocean Shores, or in Woolcock‘s (1998) terms; bonding social capital among smaller groups was common, while bridging social capital within the wider local community was scarce. Nevertheless, it is the bridging social capital that is ―especially important for reconciling democracy and diversity‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 279). Finding ways of generating bridging social capital, which are harder to build, is essential in such cases. As size is also a matter of concern, and ―social capital is higher in smaller settings‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 275), as was evident in the Ocean Shores case study, Putnam and Feldstein (2003, p. 278) suggest that bridging social capital could be generated by federations that would nest small groups (the local sub-communities) within larger groups (the wider Ocean Shores or the overall Byron Shire area) around a new dimension of similarity within which bonding can occur (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 282).
As has already been identified by Putnam and Feldstein (2003), a sense of belonging, as well as social capital, were evident among the case study participants when community members gathered around particular goals (protecting the natural habitat, preserving cultural values), and not for their own sake. Ocean Shores probably lacks these kinds of goals, or its residents lack awareness of such goals. However, as was evident among the sub-communities, once goals are set, ―society as a whole benefits enormously from the social ties forged by those who choose connective strategies on pursuit of their particular goals‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 269). Social ties between community members have "valuable spill over effects beyond the group itself
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... the 'process' [maintaining social ties] is crucial to the product [social capital]" (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 270-271).
A few of Putnam and Feldstein (2003) recommendations address policy makers and formal institutions, but which could inform the Ocean Shores social challenges. 1. background structures such as education, public policy and government policy that support community members in building social capital, and 2. constructing common spaces in urban planning and local media and technology which ―foster redundancy and multi transcendences by creating opportunities for encounters that knit together existing ties‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 291).
Following the proposition that local friendworks play a crucial role in enhancing a sense of belonging to the local community, such friendworks and befriending situations might be intentionally encouraged and supported by local community institutions. In order to do so, further exploration of how and why friends and socially mindful individuals actively welcome newcomers might enlighten this challenging affective process, especially within cases of befriending individuals from different backgrounds, which consequently motivate the creation of bridging social capital.
In line with a rich literature (for example: Bryan, et al., 2001; Dare, 2009; Fischer & Oliker, 1983; Hardt, 1999; Schroedel, 2007; Trimberger, 2005), this thesis highlights female friendworks as a fruitful source of knowledge of friendship practices. Women master this art of befriending and friendship as a result of their traditional gendered social roles as mothers and wives who are actively socialising within the community and the domestic arena. One way to study these social practices is to explore communication practices within friendworks. This is discussed in Section 9.3.
9.2 THE FRIENDWORK SOCIETY
The role of friendworks, becomes more significant in contemporary life (Gouldner & Strong, 1987; Rubin, 1985), as they provide important benefits for individuals (emotional support, instrumental aid, companionship and self-identity) in a world of increased mobility. These benefits could explain the empathy, warmth, trust and appreciation that the case study participants expressed towards their friends. Out of the social networks‘ sub-groups discussed in Section 2.3.4 (family, friendwork, work-related, location based and online acquaintance), two groups in particular provide most types of support to individuals: family and friendworks. Unlike the family sub-group, which is pre-determined, limited in number and sometimes involves involuntary relationships, friendworks are a larger group of chosen, voluntary social ties.
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Therefore, in order to sustain friendships, individuals must take an active role in these relations, driven by responsibility, commitment and motivation.
Unlike relations with family members, friendworks are influenced by changes in life over time and space, hence they provide a flexible structure of support synchronised with life circumstances. Consequently, friendworks‘ composition is adjusted to individuals‘ contemporary choices throughout life. Though dynamic, the friendwork as a social concept is stable. Most of us will always have friends to rely on. This is the mooring effect within the mobile contemporary world.
9.2.1 Friendworks‟ composition
All participants reported having a friendwork that varied in size subject to personal preferences, characteristics and some socio-demographic variables. Women with children in the same household reported, on average, fewer friends (22). Women working part-time, working from home or engaged with home duties had, on average, the smallest friendworks in comparison with full time workers. Unemployed and students had the largest friendworks (Figure 25). Women with a higher level of education named more friends on average (Figure 26). Comparison of friendwork size with international studies was inconclusive due to extreme variety in results (friendwork size between 2.1 to 35 friends). The Ocean Shores friendworks (25 friends) were larger than Fischer‘s American study results (Fischer & Oliker, 1983, 18.5 friends) and smaller than a more recent American study (Boase, et al., 2006, 35 friends). The researched friendworks consisted of a mixture of local and distant friends. Most friends were women (75%). Seventy five percent of the friends were reported as close (strong ties).
Four types of friends have been specifically identified within the overall friendworks: best friends, family members, spouses and neighbours. Most participants reported having all four types of social relations within their friendworks. Most participants reported one or two best friends, mostly females (88% of best friends), whom they have known for over 20 years and most likely resided at a great distance (interstate or overseas). Participants said they met their best friends during their early 20s when they were also spatially proximate and kept their best friendship ever since. Best friends were commonly named at the top of the friendwork‘s list. Participants expressed strong positive emotions towards best friends, indicating that they were an important source of social and emotional support. Though 20 of the 25 participants reported living with a partner, only two women instinctively regarded their partner as a ‗best friend‘. Nevertheless, all partners were included within friendworks. Most commonly, participants‘ classified partners as a separate category to friends, based on their intimate relationship. Most participants named some family members within their friendworks, usually parents and siblings.
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Neighbours were often mentioned within friendworks, highlighting the influence of spatial proximity on social relations.
These varying groups within friendworks exemplify on the one hand the rich connections and support that each individual maintains. On the other hand, from a scholarly point of view, defining the friend concept is challenging. Nevertheless, most individuals intuitively identified their friends and excluded others from their friendwork, subjecting this filtering process to personal considerations and needs. Those titled friends were distinctively regarded as supportive, influential and accessible individuals. Friends were measured by the benefit that individuals gained (mainly instrumental aid, companionship and emotional support); therefore, a strict definition of friend was secondary in this thesis to the impact of friendships on individuals.
The case study findings also indicated that existing (mostly distant) friends of newcomers provided continuous support and connection, which is profoundly important in sustaining a sense of self and social identity, while new (mostly local) social ties readjusted self and social identity definitions to the current life stage. In this way, the overall friendwork provides substantial social support regardless of time and space, or, more accurately, throughout time and space.
9.2.2 The role of friendworks
In addition to the crucial role that friends play in supporting individuals, friendworks also mediate between individuals and society. Friends who are associated with certain communities bridge between individuals (their friends) and (their) communities (acquaintances and other friends). These communities might be location-based, virtual, cultural, national, religion-based or any other type. Therefore, the role of friendworks is twofold: they reinforce self identity and they function as active agents of social identity. Friendworks influence self identity by projecting experiences, feelings and meanings onto an individual‘s interior world and by doing so they influence and reinforce self perception. They also link between individuals and the wider society, hence expanding the individual‘s social networks and their interface with society in an informal manner while also generating social capital. Both aspects contribute to the individual‘s well- being and quality of life.
Local friendworks were found to be a connecting link between newcomers and the local community. Participants reported joining local communities while following their local friends, as was evident for example, in the case of the Israel-born community. There was also a correlation between the local friendworks and a sense of community. Ocean Shores‘ participants with extended local friendworks expressed attachment to, and affection for, a local community
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(or sub-community) and its values and members. This was not evident among women with only a few local friends. Those with local friends prior to moving to Ocean Shores described quicker and easier establishment of a sense of belonging than those who didn‘t know any locals prior to the move. From a community perspective, smooth befriending processes with locals and the ongoing maintenance of local friendworks are crucial in the social integration process of newcomers as well as locals.
In the context of this thesis, the role of friendworks as social agents has been found to be important in population mobility situations of seachange. While new local friends mediated befriending situations with the local community members, old distant friends sustained familiar, stable social relations, assuring continuous social support ‗anytime anywhere‘ (Licoppe, 2004). Friendworks reinforce a spatial as well as a conceptual sense of belonging.
9.2.3 Affective labour and social capital
Participants‘ friendships involved affective labour and generated social capital. Relations were voluntary, mutual, unrelated to paid work, and mostly revolved around intangible goods such as communication, information, interaction and support, emphasising the affective nature of friendships. Not only is affective labour produced within friendworks, it simultaneously fosters the very same social relations. Moreover, affective labour also reinforces a sense of community and is generated within communities. The case study which focused on affective labour within social relations made friendworks and practices within friendworks visible.
A methodological concern relating to the invisibility of affective labour was addressed in this case study by examining practices of communication technologies within friendworks, which mirrored social relations and affective labour production processes. Analysis of the use of communication technologies facilitated the tracing of affective labour, hence making it more visible. Particularly in the Ocean Shores case study, the examination of mobile phone logs and text messages provided electronic traces that enabled an empirical analysis of affective labour activity. In addition, participants‘ testimonials contributed qualitative examination of affective labour, its practices and its role within friendworks.
In conclusion, in response to the research question what is a friendwork of adult women in a seachange community and why is this social structure important, the short answer is: friendworks are a common social network of friends composed of local and distant, strong and weak social ties. Their significant social support contributes to individuals‘ well-being and community creation by generating affective labour, a sense of belonging and social capital.
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Friends are our chosen people through whom we experience, interpret, feel and understand the world within a supporting, empathetic environment. Hence, friendworks encompass unique social experiences and affective labour, different to and complementary to those practiced within formal or traditional institutions such as workplaces, education systems and the family. In this respect, friendworks are an alternative source of intelligence for social needs. They are an important theoretical construction that can inform about social aspects of individuals and networks within society while filling in current gaps regarding individuals‘ needs and motivations in daily life.
9.3 COMMUNICATING FRIENDSHIPS
Communication is one of the main intangible goods of affective labour (Hardt, 1999, p. 93). It plays a foundational role in maintaining and sustaining social relations in the network society (Castells, 2000b). Consequently, investigation of communication practices can inform social networks and friendworks. This rationale directed this thesis to focus on a communication perspective when investigating friendworks. The research question regarding communication methods addressed practices of communication methods within seachangers’ friendworks. The following section highlights findings and conclusions regarding this question.
This case study as well as other studies (for example: Baym, et al., 2004; Kim, Kim, Park, & Rice, 2007; Wellman & Wortley, 1990) found that various communication methods are used within friendworks to fulfill social support gratifications, including emotional support, instrumental aid and companionship, primarily face-to-face, but also via telecommunications (the internet, the fixed-telephone and the mobile phone). A communication model (Figure 38) illustrates the relation within friendworks between social ties (strong or weak) and physical proximity (local or distance) to social support type (emotional support, instrumental aid and companionship) and the chosen communication method which mediates it.
The case study findings indicate that while more types of communication methods were used more frequently between strong local ties, interaction with strong distant ties (for example, distant best friends) was executed mainly via the internet and the fixed telephone. Weak local ties were communicated mainly via face-to-face interactions while internet was the main communication method to maintain weak distant ties. Overall, people constantly evaluated, prioritised and chose which communication method to use based on a set of characteristics adjusted to specific situations and relations.
Participants‘ testimonials reinforced earlier findings that practicing more communication methods with local ties, originated redundancy of contact ―creating opportunities for encounters
Page 216 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world that knit together existing ties‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 291). The dominant role of face-to- face interactions within participants‘ life routines left only a secondary role for communication technologies when contacting local friends. This also reinforces the complementary approach of communication in which communication technologies complement face-to-face meetings by virtual mobility, facilitating efficient planning and coordination of direct interactions (Boase, et al., 2006; Graham, 2004; Larsen, Urry, et al., 2006). Moreover, frequent face-to-face meetings by the case study participants reinforce previous study indicating that spatial proximity motivates face-to-face encounters (Mok, et al., 2007) and vice versa, due to spatial restrictions, greater use of mediated communication methods was evident with geographically distant friends, while participants reported mainly using the internet and the fixed-telephone.
From a community perspective and in line with Putnam and Feldstein‘s (2003) conclusion, face-to-face interactions were found to be ―more effective at building relationships and creating empathy and understanding, than remote, impersonal communication ... the more extensive interchange that is possible in smaller groups makes it possible to discover unexpected mutuality even in the face of difference‖ (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003, p. 276). This idea was expressed by many of the participants. Nevertheless, this thesis shows also that all communication methods can potentially facilitate the maintenance of relationships. By doing so, communication also facilitates a sense of community by mobilising information and affections within community members.
The following sections highlight findings of particular interest within the three telecommunication methods of interest in this thesis: the fixed-telephone, the internet and the mobile phone.
9.3.1 The fixed-telephone
Generally, participants reported using the fixed-telephone less frequently than the internet but more often than the mobile phone (Figure 33). Testimonials show that the fixed- telephone was perceived as less agreeable communication form than it used to be. When participants compared the various telecommunication methods for interaction with friends, the fixed-telephone was perceived to be more expensive, intrusive and time consuming than the internet, mainly when using emails.
Nevertheless, when in need for long conversations, which mostly concerned emotional support, participants preferred using the fixed-telephone over the internet, as it was perceived as more personal. The fixed-telephone was consistently reported as being used more often than was the mobile phone. This was also the case when in need for emotional support. The main reason
Page 217 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world being that the mobile phone was perceived as very expensive to use. Drawing back on Moyal‘s findings (1989b), the fixed-telephone is still the most practiced telecommunication method for emotional support among the case study women, mainly due to cost constraints.
9.3.2 The internet
Four internet communication applications were examined within this case study: emails, instant messages (IM), social network sites (SNS) and voice and video calls over the internet (applications such as Skype). Together they offer a rich communication portfolio that potentially substitutes other telecommunication methods, for example: voice calls over the internet provide an almost identical experience to fixed-telephone or mobile phone calls (excluding the mobility aspect), and instant messages or emails might function similarly to text messages over the mobile phone (SMS). Participants reported that the varied internet communication applications available combined with a monthly fixed use rate model resulted in an increased use of the internet for interactions with friends. This is already evident when comparing the declining use of the fixed- telephone worldwide with the opposite pattern of increasing internet use (ITU, 2009).
Thesis findings indicate that the use of different internet applications generates different communication behaviour, which stimulates different types of support. Therefore, in addition to examining an overall use of the internet, it is worthwhile to separately address online applications based on their functionality and characteristics when examining needs and gratifications of internet users. Of the case study sample, two population groups reported interesting internet use patterns, those of older participants and immigrants, each is discussed in the following sections.
Older participants
The case study findings show that participants over 60 years preferred to communicate with friends over the internet (mostly via email) more than any other telecommunication method, including the fixed-telephone. This finding is unexpected since older people are perceived as conservative with their communication choices (Haddon, 2000b), preferring old familiar methods such as the fixed-telephone over novel (usually more complicated to operate) technologies, due to an increasing challenge in learning and embracing new technologies. However, practically, this challenge motivated older participants ―to keep some sort of tabs on technology to be able to make most of what‘s they‘re offering‖ (Laura, 61).
Yet, some of the older participants mentioned that they favoured older communication methods simply because they were used to using them. However, as a result of growing technology awareness, it was evident that most older-participants knew how to use the internet,
Page 218 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world either learning this in recent years or because they were using it for a long time while being a part of the labour force.
Older participants chose to use the internet, over the fixed-telephone, more often when communicating with friends due to several reasons, including availability at home where most of these participants spent most of their time, the non-intrusive nature of emails, the option to use emails for reflective, thoughtful-through communication and due to time differences with overseas contacts. However, the most significant consideration for using the internet over other telecommunication methods was cost concerns. In this case, cost issues influenced their communication behaviour, despite the fact that some of them were technologically challenged. The internet cost model of fixed-monthly rate suited the older participants‘ life style. They chose a monthly plan that fitted their needs and budget frame. This type of cost model provided older participants with a comprehensive acknowledgment and a sense of control which they considered as important, based on perceived financial restrictions.
When it came to fixed-telephone and, moreover, to mobile phone use, which offers a variety of payment plans and options, older participants commonly perceived these as overwhelming and too complicated to track. Due to this cost uncertainty, many of them restricted fixed-telephone and mobile phone use, while using the internet more often. Therefore, it is not that they reduced their communication volume with friends, they just knowingly chose to use a more cost effective communication method available: sending email messages over the internet.
The immigrants
Use of more novel internet applications than email, including voice and video calls, instant messages and social network sites was particularly popular among immigrants67, those who kept contact with family and friends abroad. Using these applications originated from the need to communicate with loved ones overseas at an affordable cost. Not only that, international calls over the fixed-telephone or the mobile phone were expensive, these interactions often involved long conversations. Driven by financial restrictions, immigrants chose to use cheaper communication solutions.
Emigration is the most extreme example of population mobility. It involves not only a geographical move and often a change of language, but also a cultural shift, of places, people and
67 Eight participants were born overseas. All but one emigrated to Australia as adults. Their age ranged from 36 to 66 years: 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 48, 62, 66. They all reported advanced internet applications use.
Page 219 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world shared history, to a foreign environment. The case study immigrants expressed a need to stay in touch with family and friends overseas for two main reasons, to preserve their sense of community, belonging and identity and to overcome feelings of loneliness and unfamiliarity within the new environment.
Using the internet enabled migrants to frequently communicate with family and friends overseas in an affordable way. By this virtual mobility they were able to hold on to some of their old connections, habits and preferences. This has already been reported in previous diaspora studies (Brah, 1996; Miller & Slater, 2001, p. 56). This communication pattern also makes the social integration process within the new country more challenging, as some of the participants in the case study reported, that most of their social needs were fulfilled by strong distant ties. Borrowing a term originally used in media and diaspora studies (Cunningham & Sinclair, 1999), telecommunications act as social agents cultivating existing social relations rather than promoting the establishment of new local ties.
In line with these findings, the case study immigrants also confirmed that an internet connection was one of the main considerations when moving to the new place of dwelling. Once they had used the internet for international communication, immigrants expanded their internet use to also communicate with local friends (mostly immigrants). The financial incentive of using the internet motivated immigrants to examine additional Voice over IP services, some of which offer cost effective communication even when communicating with fixed-telephone or mobile phone users (local or distant). This reduced their communication expenditure and increased their internet communication consumption at the expense of using the fixed and the mobile phone.
Immigrants, as well as older participants, exemplified change in communication patterns resulting from cost concerns. The immigrants within the case study demonstrated an advanced telecommunication use pattern. Due to cost motivations, this segment practically embraced behaviour patterns of early adopters (Rogers, 1995) and, therefore, might be considered as an interesting group to track when examining domestic use of new cost-effective media.
9.3.3 The mobile phone
Participants reported minimal mobile phone use, with a lower expenditure rate than that of national figures. This distinctive behaviour pattern might have been influenced by age, gender, residential location, lifestyle and social roles. Most participants used only the basic mobile phone applications of voice and SMS. They were aware of some of the more advanced applications of mobile phones, yet they rarely used them. These advanced applications did not fulfil the needs of this group of women or were perceived as too expensive to use.
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The case study participants reported primarily contacting their partners and children over the mobile phone, while communication with friends was reported as a second priority, more frequent than communication with work-related contacts. This pattern was also reported in a recent national survey (Wajcman, et al., 2008), nevertheless other national surveys (Mackay & Weidlich, 2007, 2008, 2009) tended to examine communication purposes (personal or work purposes), while referring to communication with both family and friends under the same category. In line with the main proposition of this thesis regarding the growing importance of friendworks, mobile phone research could benefit from exclusively examining communication practices within friendworks. Moreover comparative analysis indicates that Ocean Shores‘ women proportionally contacted friends more frequently than women in the national sample (Figure 44). This further emphasises a distinctive use pattern in which friends are more frequently contacted within friendworks of adult seachanging women than they are nationwide, and motivates comparative research with wider population segments to learn more about the role of the mobile phone within friendworks as a dedicated interest group.
Some of the minimal mobile phone use patterns might be explained by taking into consideration the context of population mobility and seachange communities. The case study findings indicate that people mostly communicate with spatially close family and friends. When relocating, the number of local contacts to communicate with over the mobile phone decreases. Yet, even after settling in to the new location and getting to know new contacts to potentially communicate with over the mobile phone, lifestyle in such places influences communication methods. Spontaneous face-to-face interactions increase, fulfilling social ratifications. This minimises the need for mobile phone use for either coordinating or socialising. Paradoxically, mobile phones do not support this kind of mobility; seachangers do not extensively use mobile phones.
Most participants reported having short conversations (or SMSs) over the mobile phone, for coordination purposes. Participants reported that they restricted communication with friends for intrinsic purposes of companionship and emotional support. These purposes were regarded as long interactions and were translated into a high expense. Restricting their mobile use to short interactions resulted in a use pattern dominated by instrumental interactions, mainly coordination, even when communicating with friends. As was evident in the case of the older participants and the immigrants when using the internet, that mobile phone use was manipulated by cost concerns. Socialising and, particularly, emotional support was practiced via alternative communication methods, primarily via face-to-face conversations.
The deficiency of communication with friends over the mobile phone for intrinsic purposes supports Moyal‘s proposition (1989b) based on her study on women and the fixed-
Page 221 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world telephone, that cost oppresses intrinsic communication. The Australian fixed-telephone policy of flat-rate for local calls on an untimed basis motivates users to prefer the fixed-telephone over the mobile phone for long (intrinsic) local conversations. The lack of similar flat-rate policy of local calls in mobile phone motivated the case study participants to refrain from long conversations over the mobile phone.
Overall, the question of whether or not minimal use of mobile phone for intrinsic calls is a problem remains open. On the one hand, users report getting emotional support in alternative ways, while on the other hand, as people become more mobile and use mobile phones to interact while on the move, intrinsic communication might be restricted to specific situations, while the overall available emotional support for individuals might be limited. This might be a more probable scenario among wider urban populations, resulting in a lack of emotional support when it is most needed in a modern hectic lifestyle. However, among the case study participants it was not perceived as problematic. This requires further investigation.
Following the modern hectic lifestyle ‗on the move‘ and due to cost issues of long mobile phone conversations, it is worthwhile also to investigate to what extent short (cheaper) forms of interactions such as SMS, short mobile conversations, online chats and social network sites‘ ‗walls‘ provide emotional support especially for adults, and whether these new short-timed forms of phatic communication (Geser, 2004; Srivastava, 2005) substitute or complement more traditional communication patterns. Previous mobile phone studies mention phatic communication as a way of intimacy (Wajcman, et al., 2009) which generates affective labour (Hjorth, 2009a, 2009b). However, it seems that phatic communication, which is more around announcing feelings and aims, fulfils different motivations than long emotional support conversations. Though not included in this thesis, a comparative analysis of practices and impacts of the two different interactive styles might better inform complementary versus supplementary approaches concerning emotional support and would clarify related social issues.
While teens research suggests that such forms of phatic communication are emotionally effective and common among young audiences (Sørensen, 2006), the case study implies that adult women did not perceive short interactions as emotional support and scarcely used SMS or other quick communication methods for this purpose, with one exception: using the mobile phone (and particularly SMS) as a coordination method and a means to the ‗actual‘ support: face- to-face interactions. The consistent mobile phone use of the case study participants for micro- coordination among friends highlights the role of the mobile phone as a mediator resulting in face-to-face meetings. This way, mobile phones indirectly facilitated emotional support.
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9.4 LIMITATIONS
This thesis is based on a case study. As such, it highlights particular individuals, their behaviour and thoughts in a particular setting. The case study findings underline new ideas and insights about population mobility, friendworks and communication methods that might apply to wider population segments. However, as the scope of the study is limited, it is acknowledged that findings in this thesis cannot be generalised to a wider population but rather offer directions for further wide-scale studies, which must take place if inclusive conclusions are to be drawn. In other words, this thesis paints a very rich, location-specific picture. The extent to which findings can be generalised is highly constrained. While they provide a basis for further research into the generalisability of the findings, most of the conclusions only hold true for Ocean Shores at this stage.
Additionally to the limited number of participants (26) and their restricted characteristics (women over 35 years recruited by a snowball sampling), findings from this study are primarily contextualised with the life of adult women in a small seachange community. This might assist in explaining the variation from conclusions that come from national surveys mentioned in this thesis, especially in relation to communication use, and the mobile phone in particular. The significance of the case study findings in this aspect is to highlight that communication use varies between different groups of populations, influenced by many factors and should not be generalised. However, this also requires detailed examination of defined population segments to determine whether certain findings apply to wider groups.
The recruiting method of snowball sampling was appropriate to provide the type of information needed to inform the research questions. Within this sample, age distribution proportionally similar to local census figures assisted in providing realistic representation of the population composition within Ocean Shores. Moreover, the snowball sampling was highly relevant to the researched theme of friendworks. In that respect, the snowball sampling follows natural friendworking patterns of ‗friends via friends‘ approach. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that the same recruiting method also resulted in an inclusion of a particular group of women, not necessarily in line with local demographics.
Lack of generalisability is the main drawback of this thesis. Attempts to ameliorate this limitation include a clear description of the research design, which consists of a discussion of the methods used in this study, enabling other researchers to replicate the study. Additionally, triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data strengthened the thesis findings. For example, the mobile phone log provided quantitative data on use patterns while qualitative mobile phone data collected throughout in-depth interviews supported these figures. Finally, comparative
Page 223 Chapter 9: The mooring affect of friendworks in a mobile world analysis with national studies highlighted similarities and differences between the case study findings and the national figures which marked issues for further research.
9.5 FURTHER RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
There are a few areas in which the researched themes could benefit from further study. One of the main concerns would be to investigate the researched topics among wider and different population groups, as population mobility, friendworks and communication practices concern many contemporary societies. This will allow generalising the thesis findings beyond the specific location of Ocean Shores or sea change communities. Most of the thesis findings are at variance with national study findings for the general population and for this segment. What factors might explain this variation? To what extent does location figure as a factor? Until further work has been done the extent to which Ocean Shores‘ findings will be similar in other seachange communities in Australia or elsewhere in the world or other regional urban locations, remains unknown.
Population mobility is a growing field of interest beyond Australian coastal settlements. Many migration situations share similar social concerns regarding social and self identity, sense of belonging and community and social capital, within specific contexts. Among these situations, immigration might be of particular interest, implying a dramatic change in individuals‘ lives. Though this thesis included immigrant participants, this was not the focus of this study. Migration, as well as other population mobility situations might be informed by this thesis and contribute to the theoretical as well as practical understanding of complex social processes of befriending, sustaining and maintaining friendworks and creating a sense of community.
Population mobility is of particular importance to decision makers and local government areas constantly undergoing demographic changes. Their attention to social challenges is crucial when searching for social integration and social capital. Therefore, further studies that address policy makers‘ dilemmas by examining additional case studies can assist in prioritising social concerns of population mobility within localities.
Friendworks, though a new term, have been long-time researched as the object of many studies. The main novel outlook on this network originates from the recognition in its unique growing influence on individuals and communities, which requires particular and exclusive research attention, rather than investigating individuals‘ overall social networks. Focusing solely on friendworks could be useful in many socially oriented fields of interest, including communication, psychology, sociology, economics, geography, health and politics (Ben-Harush,
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2009). Therefore, further research of friendworks within different schools would provide a fresh, informal and concrete perspective while informing varied areas of interest.
There is an important distinction between friendships and friendworks. The thesis focuses on how friendships are mediated. It identifies the existence of friendworks as a particular type of social network and considers the contribution of friendworks to community building. The thesis considers how friendworks are implicated in the experiences and perceptions of social inclusion and exclusion. It does not analyse the dynamics of friendships, their tightness or friendly and unfriendly behaviours. These issues are outside of the scope of this thesis. Nevertheless, further study on dynamics of friendships including the use of quantified methods such as social network analysis, could contribute to existing knowledge about friendworks.
This case study focused on four communication methods: face-to-face, internet, fixed- telephone and mobile phone, all scholarly investigated. One particular communication area would mostly benefit from further study: comparative analysis of across media practices and dedicated applications within each communication method. Examination of an array of communication methods and applications instead of focusing on one communication method would bring research closer to real life situations. Unlike the examination of one specific communication method, looking into people‘s choices when preferring one method over another highlights comparative aspects of relevancy of communication methods. This also acknowledges human behaviour patterns as motivating communication use, in line with the approach of the social shaping of technology.
Of particular interest is a further study of social and emotional support over mediated communication and especially over the mobile phone, among different age groups, gender and social roles. New communication technologies generate new social support practices which require further scholar attention while repositioning old forms of social support within contemporary lifestyle.
Finally, women‘s work (J. Butler, 1999; Plumwood, 1993) as an overarching concept of affective labour (Hardt, 1999), intrinsic communication (Keller, 1977), social and emotional support (Wellman & Wortley, 1990), social capital (Putnam & Feldstein, 2003) and sense of belonging (Marsh, et al., 2007) are under recent scholarly attention (Fortunati, 2009; Hjorth, 2009a, 2009b; Lasen, 2004). Nevertheless, these areas of interest are far from being comprehensive. There are many invisible strings within this fabric of women‘s work that need to be untangled. Further research on these areas of interest will inform motivations, practices, significance and impact of mundane, yet obscure, human behaviour, influencing individuals as well as societies.
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9.6 CONCLUSION
The case study reported in this thesis provided a comprehensive examination of an under-researched interdisciplinary area of seachange friendworks and their communication practices among an under-investigated population segment, adult women. The aim of the thesis was to answer the overarching research question of the role of friendworks in contemporary society. The case study applied different research methods to investigate aspects of this overarching question, while addressing the three main themes of population mobility, friendworks and practices of communication methods derived from identified gaps in mobility, sociology and communication knowledge in academic literature.
The integration of the network society theory and the new mobilities paradigm provided a solid conceptual framework to situate this thesis within contemporary studies of modern society. It also combines interdisciplinary areas into one coherent proposition that suggests friendworks are an important social structure in the contemporary network society, and that it provides mooring relations in a mobile world in which communication plays a critical social role.
Findings from the case study provide a significant contribution to research, methodology and practice of social needs, in this case of adult women in seachange communities and their use of communication methods to fulfil their needs. While there are acknowledged limitations in the case study undertaken, the research findings provide a solid foundation for further research into friendworks and communication practices.
Decision makers interested in population mobility, sense of community and social capital, have the opportunity to translate findings from this thesis into a practical agenda to address similar population challenges in additional locations, physical as well as virtual. Researchers interested in these areas might use this thesis as a basis for further research that can conceptualise and theorise this emerging area of social challenges within mobility situations in order to inform theory and practice.
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Appendices
Appendix A : Contact details form (the online survey)
Hello,
Thank you for agreeing to take part in my research ‗friends, communication and mobile phones‘. Participation in this study is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time.
I would like to contact you in the next 2 weeks to schedule convenient time for you to be interviewed. The interview will take place in your house and will last approximately an hour and a half.
I will appreciate your cooperation in providing your contact details:
Name: Address: Telephone number: Mobile number: Email address:
For any questions or clarifications, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you
Orit Ben-Harush
Telephone: 6680 5680 Mobile: 0415 415 126 Email: [email protected]
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Also, I would highly appreciate it if you will be able to fill in the following questionnaire. It is totally confidential and will be used as background information fir the upcoming interview. Thank you very much!
1. What year were you born in? ______
2. Where were you born? Australia Overseas ______(please specify your country of birth)
3. How would you best describe your current living situation (circle the relevant answers):
Single married widowed separated divorced living alone living with husband and/or with family single parent sharing accommodation living with elderly parent(s) living with and caring for ill, or elderly 4. How many people live in the household? ______. Who (partner, daughter, son…)? and their age: ______
5. Please indicate close family members (son, daughter, mother, father, brother sister, etc)) that live outside the household, their age and place of residence? ______
6. What is the highest level of education you have completed? (circle your response)
Up to 10 years schooling 12 years of schooling Undergraduate degree (Bachelors)
Postgraduate degree Professional qualification Other (please specify) ______
7. How would you best describe your current work situation? (circle your response)
Home duties work part time work full time retired
Paid work from home (part-time, full-time) self employed Employee student unemployed Other ______8. Are you satisfied with your family level income? It is more than I need It is enough It is not enough for me and my family needs
9. What types of transport are you using? Car public transport bicycle
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10. How would you describe your general health condition? Excellent good fair poor
11. Do you do volunteer work? No yes.
11.1. For what venues? Church community cultural school support work sport organisations disabled.
11.2. How many hours a week? ______
12. What are your hobbies? Gardening weaving art work writing discussion groups sports reading cooking other ______
Mobile phone use
13. Who owns the phone you are currently using? ______14. Currently, I am a (please circle) mobile subscriber prepaid customer 15. How long have you been using a mobile phone? ______16. Do you share your mobile phone with anyone else? No Yes 16.1. Who? ______. 16.2. What is the usage percentage of each? Mine______the other ______17. Who pays the mobile phone bill? Me my employer other ______18. What is your average monthly mobile phone expenditure? ______19. Who is the most dominant mobile user in your family? ______19.1. What might be the reason for that? ______20. How would you rate your usage of your mobile phone? Heavy Medium Light 21. How many times a day / per week you are generally usually using your mobile phone? ______
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22. What is the primary use of your mobile (sort by importance)
Coordination Life Work All sorts Emotional Companionship Personal use saving Related of social support other than purposes communicating with others (calendar, alarm clock, internet browsing, games...) First
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
23. How important is the role of the mobile phone in the following aspects of your daily life?
Very Important Not so Not NA important important important at all building and maintaining friendships being able to contact friends being able to locate close family members sustaining family relationships (for example discussing family issue) Working through personal feelings child-caring or for your children's purposes Coordination of activities with friends Reinforcing self-confidence Coordination of family related activities Interactions with people for work purposes Getting emotional support‘
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24. Which features do you use on your mobile phone, and how often? Please choose only one answer, the most appropriate one.
Quite a Few Once a A few Once a Few I never I don‘t know few times a day times a week times a used this what this day week month feature feature is about Voice calls SMS Alarm clock Calendar Voicemail MMS Photo Shooting Internet browsing Email Video calls Moblogging Instant Messaging Music (MP3…) Games
25. What is your most common communication method for emotional support interactions? sort by frequency
Face-to-face The fixed- The internet The mobile telephone phone
First
Second
Third
Fourth
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Appendix B : The consent form
PARTICIPANT INFORMATION for QUT
RESEARCH PROJECT
“Social networks and mobile phones”
Research Team Contacts: Orit Ben Harush, PhD Student, Tel: 02 6680 5680, Mobile: 0415 415 126, Email: [email protected]
Hello,
My name is Orit and I am a doctoral student at Queensland University of Technology. I am researching Australian women and their mobile phone usage.
Description
I would like to ask for your assistance in learning more about women and their mobile phone usage as a mobile phone user.
You will be asked to take part in two activities, as part of the research:
Fill in a basic questionnaire - This can take up to 10 minutes Interviewed in person - you will be asked questions about your mobile phone use. This can take up to an hour and a half.
The mentioned activities will take place in your own dwelling.
Participation
Your participation in this project is voluntary. If you do agree to participate, you can withdraw from participation at any time during the project without comment or penalty. Your decision to participate will in no way impact upon your current or future relationship with Queensland University of Technology.
Your participation will involve two activities: filling in a questionnaire and personal interviewing by me.
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Expected benefits
No financial benefit is offered as part of the research. The expected benefit is information on women and mobile phone usage, which will be shared with you throughout the interview. In a broader outlook, it is expected that your participation will benefit the overall understanding of women‘s personal benefit from using mobile phones, the role of mobile phones in women‘s friendships and social implications of mobile phone usage.
Risks
There are no risks associated with your participation in this project.
Confidentiality
All comments and responses will be treated confidentially. Names of individual persons are required for internal research purposes and will not be exposed in any identifiable way in public.
Full confidentiality is guaranteed also when interviewing other participants, whom you might have relations with.
Interviews will be audio recorded by me. I and my two university supervisors are the only people who will have access to the recordings. They will be saved and might be used by me for additional purposes.
It is not possible to participate in the project without being audio recorded.
In case you wish to verify the content prior to final inclusion in the report, please make sure to approach me and mention this clearly, prior to participating in the research.
Consent to Participate
I would like to ask you to sign a written consent form (enclosed) to confirm your agreement to participate.
Questions / further information about the project
I would love to share with you further information regarding the research. Please feel free to approach me anytime, anywhere, if you have any questions
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Concerns / complaints regarding the conduct of the project
Queensland University of technology is committed to researcher integrity and the ethical conduct of research projects. However, if you do have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the project you may contact the Queensland University of technology Research Ethics Officer on 3138 2340 or [email protected]. The Research Ethics Officer is not connected with the research project and can facilitate a resolution to your concern in an impartial manner.
Statement of consent
By signing below, you are indicating that you: have read and understood the information document regarding this project have had any questions answered to your satisfaction understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the research team understand that you are free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty understand that you can contact the Research Ethics Officer on 3138 2340 or [email protected] if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project agree to participate in the project understand that the project will include audio recording
Name Signature Date / /
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Appendix C : In-depth interview schedule
The in-depth interviews consist of nine components: introduction, Ocean Shores, friends, mobile phone log, communication methods, mobile usage, personal effects and affects of mobile use, wider implications and conclusion. In order to maximise the interview experience, closed- ended background questions, relating especially to socio-economic and mobile phone usage, are asked via an online survey prior to the interview (see Appendix A ). Therefore, the interview mainly consists of questions that might benefit from a dialogue and interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee. All interviews are audio recorded. Below is a detailed description of the interview layout. Specific forms and sheets are separately exhibited as additional appendices.
1. Introduction (2 minutes)
The interview opens with introductory information about the research and the interviewer. The research design and the expectations from the research as well as the participant (take part in a one hour and a half interview, optional follow up interview), are presented. The participant is requested to sign a consent form. The interview agenda is outlined (personal background, mobile phone usage, network of friends, methods of communicating with friends, attitude towards mobile phone usage).
2. Ocean Shores (5 minutes)
The aim of this section is to smoothly get the participants into the interview mode, while learning about their choice to live in Ocean Shores as well as pointing potential friendship relations that will be revisited in the following interview sections
Tell me about the move to Ocean Shores (when, why, where did you move from, how did she hear about the town)? What‘s Ocean Shores like? (What do you like about Ocean Shores, what don‘t you like?) Did you know anyone in Ocean Shores before moving in? How did you get to know each other in the first place? How would you define your relation before moving to Ocean Shores? Did your relationship play a role in the decision to move to Ocean Shores? In what way? What was the nature of your relation soon after moving to Ocean Shores? Are you still in contact with these people? What is the nature of your relationship today? How did you make new friends once moving to Ocean Shores? Are you still looking for new friends?
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Do you feel you have a sense of belonging to ocean Shores? Why? How? Generally, do you feel you there is a sense of community in Ocean Shores? Why? How? Personally, do you feel connected to the Ocean Shores community? How? Do you feel connected to Ocean Shores as a place (rather than a connection to its community, the people)? How? Why?
3. Friends (20 minutes)
Once location aspects have been addressed, social relations are examined through a concrete set of questions regarding the best friend and friends in general.
Tell me about your best friend (how did you meet, when was it, why is she a ‗best friend‘, what do you like to do together – and is it via face-to-face, telephone, internet or mobile phone, how is your relationship today). o Do you feel you have enough, not enough or more than enough interactions with your best friend? If this situation is unsatisfactory, what would you do in order to change it? How many friends do you think you have? (ask them to suggest a number) o Do you feel you have enough, not enough or more than enough – friends? Why do you feel this way? Is getting emotional support important for you? who do you usually communicate with for this matter? Are your supporters accessible enough for you for emotional support matters? Why? Please name your friends (the my network of friends sheet, Appendix E , is handed to the interviewee. First, interviewee is asked to name her friends, then she is asked to fill in complementary information regarding each friend as detailed in Appendix E )68.
When the interviewee is done writing friends‘ names, I ask for the sheet in order to fill in additional information regarding each friend. Based on this sheet, it is possible to map communication methods of each interviewee within her friendwork.
68 Along the interview, whenever names of additional friends are mentioned, they will be added to this sheet.
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4. Mobile phone log (15 minutes)
Participants are asked to fill in mobile phone log based on their last ten mobile activities. The requested data is stored within the participants‘ mobile phone devices. I take an active part in documenting responses, to make sure that relevant information is drawn in the most efficient way. The actual mobile phone log form is attached as Appendix D . The completed form is used by the interviewer in the next part of the interview which discusses networks of friends.
―We will now turn to check the 10 recent activities on your mobile device. I would like to write down details regarding recent calls, sent or received, and text messages‖.
Next, the names of friends on the mobile phone log are compared and marked within the my network of friends list, if new names come up, they are added to this form (Appendix E ) and information about the relation with them is to be completed.
The aim of this section of the interview is to provide quantitative data regarding people with whom the respondent was recently in contact with and to infer the proportion of friends from the overall list.
5. Communication methods (20 minutes)
In this part, based on the ‗my network of friends‘ sheet, participants define the frequency and the way they communicate with their friends. Each respondent was asked to stick named tags on the ‗network sociogram‘ sheet (Appendix F ) as a reference to her friends, while indicating most used communication method and communication frequency.
When completing the sociogram and based on it, the interviewee chooses three names (one of each most frequent contact cycles). Then she is asked about the nature of the relationship with each of the three friends and their communication pattern.
What‘s ______like? (What type of person, what do you like about her?) What do you get out of your friendship? (the aim is to get the respondent provide the reason for their friendship: emotional support, instrumental aid, companionship, coordination, work-related) Why do you choose to mainly communicate with _____ via _____? What other ways of communication are used between you and ____? Who usually initiates the communication? Where are you usually located when communicating with _____? Where is she located during the communication session?
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When do you usually communicate with _____? (time, day) and for how long? Would you like to communicate with ____more/less? (yes / no). If yes - Why don‘t you?
This set of questions is repeated three times about three chosen friends.
The last part of this section includes general questions regarding communication methods:
How many years have you been using the telephone and the internet for communication with friends? What is the difference when communicating with friends face-to-face, via telephone, mobile or internet? When is it best to use each? What is your favourite way of communication with friends? What is the one most commonly used? Why? Where do you keep your most up to date contacts list? (mobile phone, computer, internet application, address book…)
6. Mobile use (10 minutes)
The purpose of this part of the interview is to collect information about the respondent‘s mobile phone usage.
Could you share a special personal story about the mobile phone? Could you share a special text within your SMS archive? How was using the first mobile phone like (just when started to use it)? How did you use your mobile phone when just moving to Ocean Shores? Is it different to the way you use your mobile phone today? Who do you usually communicate with over the mobile phone (Partner, kids, other family members, friends, work colleagues, errands related, other) and how often (few times a day, once a day, few times a week, once a week, less than once a week)?
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7. Personal effect and affect: Attitudes and perception of mobile use (10 minutes)
In this section I aim to grasp the respondent‘s attitudes towards the mobile phone, as a way to better understand perceived effects and affects of mobile phone usage. Quite a few of the questions were originally used in Moyal‘s study on telephone usage (1989b). Their context is customised to mobile phone usage.
The questions are offered as pointers to the discussion in order to encourage the interviewees to describe how they feel about the mobile phone and what it means in their lives including, if appropriate, negative views. Therefore my intent is to stimulate the interviewee's thoughts on her experience of mobile phones. Some responses may already be evident from earlier discussions and therefore are modified in this part of the interview
What is the primary use of your mobile (sort by importance: coordination, life saving, work-related, social purposes, other – explain)? Why? What do you mostly like about your mobile phone? Why? What do you mostly dislike about mobile phones? Why? What animal represents the mobile for you? Why? Did using mobile phone change your way of life? How? What do you think about the following aspects of mobile phone usage in your daily life? o being able to freely communicate with others o building and maintaining friendships and being able to contact friends o looking fashionable o being able to reach people directly (not through other home or office members) o being able to locate close family members o doing errands on the run o being reached 24/7 and everywhere o sustaining family relationships o alleviating loneliness o contributing to your self-esteem, sense of person and self-worth o offering a sense of security and safety o child-caring or for your children's purposes o In your work/business o giving you access to information (specify) o (In cases where English is not a first language) as an opportunity to speak in your own language Do you use the mobile phone for emotional support?
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Do you find it problematic that women do not make emotional support interactions over the mobile phone (yes/no)? why? In what ways the mobile might be considered as a substitute for face-to-face contact? In what ways the mobile phone serve as a medium for the discussion of personal and intimate questions, feelings, experiences does it enable you to talk more freely or are you more constrained when talking on mobile. (Cases would be, for example, a young mother with a new baby a woman recently widowed or someone in the break-up or trauma of a relationship, etc.) Is the mobile sometimes a source of conflict in the family, e.g. husband objection to too much use, or other? Have your mobile ever been unavailable for hours or days (forgotten at home, stolen, battery was over, etc.)? If so, how did this ‗mobile deprivation‘ affect you? How do you feel about people you can‘t reach because they are unavailable on their mobile phone? (If doing volunteer work) Would you use the mobile phone as part of your volunteer work? Why? How many calls per week, and their duration? What additional services would you like to have on your mobile phone, and are currently missing? In relation to social activities?
8. Wider implications (5 minutes)
This part is mainly for brain storming purposes, in order to expose the researcher to potential wider implications of mobile phone usage, from the respondent‘s point of view. These questions tend to be more theoretical and philosophical.
Do women use mobiles differently? How? Is this behaviour can be found in other activities? Where? Do mobiles change the way we socialise? In what way? What do you think about the cost of mobile phone usage? Are there any other wider implications you would like to suggest? Is there anything else that I didn‘t cover and you think is important?
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9. Conclusion (3 minutes)
If appropriate, I ask for contact details of the interviewee‘s friends who reside in Ocean Shores, in order to approach them and include them in the research. Their phone number is then added to the My network of friends form (Appendix E ).
Finally, I asked for the participant‘s consent to take a photo of her (for research analysis purposes only) and her mobile phone
The researcher thanks the participant for her time and effort.
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Appendix D : Mobile Phone Log Form (within the in-depth Interview)
Please have a look at your mobile phone and fill in details about your 10 most recent activities, both made and received.
Name or Engaged phone sent/ Length Person‟s Necessity of Date time modality Your Location Engaged Person category rationale received of call gender & call/SMS Age 1 □ voice Call □ sent □ Home □ Spouse/partner □ Female □ Paid Work □ Life saving □ Vital □ SMS □ received □ Car □ Parent/sibling □ Male □ Unpaid □ coordination □ Nice to □ internet □ Work □ child work □ socialising have □ video call □ Leisure related □ other Family Age ____ □ work related □ Indifferent □ Kids related □ friend □ Other: □ redundant □ Errands related □ Work related ______□ Work related □ Errands related □ Acquaintance □ Other 2 □ voice Call □ sent □ Home □ Spouse/partner □ Female □ Paid Work □ Life saving □ Vital □ SMS □ received □ Car □ Parent/sibling □ Male □ Unpaid □ coordination □ Nice to □ internet □ Work □ child work □ socialising have □ video call □ Leisure related □ other Family Age ____ □ work related □ Indifferent □ Kids related □ friend □ Other: □ redundant □ Errands related □ Work related ______□ Work related □ Errands related □ Acquaintance □ Other 3 □ voice Call □ sent □ Home □ Spouse/partner □ Female □ Paid Work □ Life saving □ Vital □ SMS □ received □ Car □ Parent/sibling □ Male □ Unpaid □ coordination □ Nice to □ internet □ Work □ child work □ socialising have □ video call □ Leisure related □ other Family Age ____ □ work related □ Indifferent □ Kids related □ friend □ Other: □ redundant □ Errands related □ Work related ______□ Work related □ Errands related □ Acquaintance □ Other
* The actual form included 10 records (using a hard copy).
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Appendix E : My network of friends (within the in-depth Interview)
For each of your friends, please fill in the mentioned information:
Name Sex Age Ways of knowing How Especially Where does s/he Choose to Same line of Same Same her/him many close to live? „hang out‟ work? ethnicity? religion? years? with? 1. □ Female □ spouse/partner □ Yes □ Walking distance □ Yes □ Yes □ Yes □ Yes □ Male □ parent/sibling □ No □ 5 mins drive Where? □ No □ No □ No □ child □ up to hour drive □ other Family □ over hour □ friend □ abroad □ co-worker □ neighbour □ organisation □ No □ other 2. □ Female □ spouse/partner □ Yes □ Walking distance □ Yes □ Yes □ Yes □ Yes □ Male □ parent/sibling □ No □ 5 mins drive Where? □ No □ No □ No □ child □ up to hour drive □ other Family □ over hour □ friend □ abroad □ co-worker □ neighbour □ organisation □ No □ other 3. □ Female □ spouse/partner □ Yes □ Walking distance □ Yes □ Yes □ Yes □ Yes □ Male □ parent/sibling □ No □ 5 mins drive Where? □ No □ No □ No □ child □ up to hour drive □ other Family □ over hour □ friend □ abroad □ co-worker □ neighbour □ organisation □ No □ other
* The actual form included 20 records (using hard copy).
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Appendix F : Friendwork sociogram sheet (within the in-depth Interview)
10. Choose sticker colour for each of your friends: o Red – if you mainly contact her/him in person o Yellow – if you mainly contact her/him via fixed-telephone o Green - if you mainly contact her/him via mobile (call or SMS) o Blue - if you mainly contact her/him via the internet (email, chat, voice/video calls, or social network sites) o Pink - if you mainly contact her/him otherwise (specify next to the sticker)
11. Name the appropriate sticker for each of the people within your network of friends.
12. Stick it in the relevant frequency circle defining how often you communicate: everyday, few times a week, once a week, few times a month, once a month or less than once a month Less than once a month
Once a month
Few times a month
Once a week
Few times a week
Every day
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