FM.indd 1 03/14/2011 19:01:06 FM.indd 2 03/14/2011 19:01:06 FM.indd 3 03/14/2011 19:01:06 Copyright © 2011 by Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy- right Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and re- trieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Transaction Publishers, Rutgers- The State University of New Jersey, 35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8042. www.transactionpub.com This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2010046942 ISBN: 978-1-4128-1861-2 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mobile communication : bringing us together and tearing us apart / Rich Ling & Scott W. Campbell, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4128-1861-2 1. Mobile communication systems—Social aspects. 2. Inter- personal communication—Technological innovation—Social aspects. 3. Communication and culture. I. Ling, Richard Seyler. II. Campbell, Scott W. HM1206.M623 2011 303.48'33—dc22 2010046942 FM.indd 4 03/14/2011 19:01:06 Dedication Rich Ling To my colleagues at Telenor Scott W. Campbell To my mom Barbara and to my dad Clark, who are making great strides expressing themselves with 160 characters or less. FM.indd 5 03/14/2011 19:01:06 FM.indd 6 03/14/2011 19:01:06 Contents Acknowledgments ix 1. Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together and Tearing Us Apart 1 Rich Ling and Scott W. Campbell 2. Mobile Symbiosis: A Precursor to Public Risk-Taking Behavior? 17 Kathleen M. Cumiskey 3. Mobile Specters of Intimacy: A Case Study of Women and Mobile Intimacy 37 Larissa Hjorth 4. (Im)mobile Mobility: Marginal Youth and Mobile Phones in Beijing 61 Cara Wallis 5. Mobiles Are Not That Personal: The Unexpected Consequences of the Accountability, Accessibility, and Transparency Afforded by Mobile Telephony 83 Amparo Lasén 6. Mobile Communication in Intimate Relationships: Relationship Development and the Multiple Dialectics of Couples’ Media Usage and Communication 107 Joachim R. Höflich and Christine Linke 7. Bonds and Bridges: Mobile Phone Use and Social Capital Debates 127 Rowan Wilken vii FM.indd 7 03/14/2011 19:01:06 PrePublication copy. Not for reproduction or distribution. Mobile Communication 8. Extended Sociability and Relational Capital Management: Interweaving ICTs and Social Relations 151 Thomas de Bailliencourt, Thomas Beauvisage, Fabien Granjon, and Zbigniew Smoreda 9. Network and Mobile Sociality in Personal Communities: Exploring Personal Networks of ICT Users 181 Andraž Petrovčič, Gregor Petrič, and Vasja Vehovar 10. There’s an Off-line Community on the Line! 211 Pat Byrne 11. Mobile Social Networking: Learning From Tourists’ Use of CB Radio in the Australian Outback 229 Peter B. White and Naomi Rosh White 12. Generation Disconnections: Youth Culture and Mobile Communication 249 Gerard Goggin and Kate Crawford 13. Interpersonal Communication beyond Geographical Constraints: A Case of College Students Who Maintain Geographically Dispersed Relationships 271 Satomi Sugiyama 14. “I Love You, Man”: Drunk Dialing Motives and Their Impact on Social Cohesion 293 Erin E. Hollenbaugh and Amber L. Ferris 15. Conclusion: Connecting and Disconnecting through Mobile Communication 323 Scott W. Campbell and Rich Ling About the Contributors 331 Index 339 viii FM.indd 8 03/14/2011 19:01:06 Acknowledgments We wish to thank all those who have contributed to this book. Perhaps most of all, we would like to thank the authors who have been willing to work with us on their chapters and who have been patient during the all too-long production process. Each of them is presented in the section describing the contributors. In addition, we would like to thank the board of editors for the Mobile Communica- tion Research Series. These are the names of the individuals who have invested their time and energy in the blind reviewing of the chapters, and they have contributed their valuable comments to help the de- velopment of this work. These persons are as follows: Ken Anderson Intel Corporation, the United States Naomi Baron American University, the United States Manuel Castells University of Southern California, the United States/Open University of Catalonia, Spain Akiba Cohen Tel Aviv University, Israel Nicola Döring Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany Jonathan Donner Microsoft Research, India/the United States/ South Africa Gerard Goggin University of New South Wales, Australia Nicola Green University of Surrey, UK Leslie Haddon London School of Economics, UK Keith Hampton Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania, the United States Joachim Höflich Erfurt University, Germany Mizuko Ito University of California-Irvine, the United States/Japan Shin Dong Kim Hallym University, Republic of Korea ix FM.indd 9 03/14/2011 19:01:06 PrePublication copy. Not for reproduction or distribution. Mobile Communication Ilpo Koskinen University of Art and Design, Finland Patrick Law Suga Electronics Limited, Hong Kong Christian Licoppe Telecom Paristech, France Sonia Livingstone London School of Economics, UK Steve Love Brunel University, UK Kristóf Nyíri Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary Leysia Palen University of Colorado, the United States Raul Pertierra University of the Philippines, the Philippines Madanmohan Rao Indian Institute of Information Technology, India Anxo Roibas Vodafone, UK Harmeet Sawhney Indiana University, the United States Gitte Stald IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark Hidenori Tomita Bukkyo University, Japan Jane Vincent University of Surrey, UK Barry Wellman University of Toronto, Canada Peter B. White La Trobe University, Australia We are grateful to Susan Douglas, chair of the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan, for all of her support. We are also grateful for the generous support of Constance F. and Arnold C. Pohs. We wish to particularly thank James E. Katz of Rutgers University and also the general editor of Transaction Books’ series on mobile communication. Jim has been on board with this project from the start, and he is a vital member of the mobile communication research community. Without his assistance and insight, the study of mobile communication would not have been as well developed as it has be- come. We also want to thank Irving Lewis Horowitz of Transaction Publishers, who has shown great support. As with the first volume in this series, Helen Ho has been a tremen- dous help in editing and formatting the material. Thank you, Helen. x FM.indd 10 03/14/2011 19:01:06 1 Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together and Tearing Us Apart Rich Ling and Scott W. Campbell Introduction In the first volume of the Mobile Communication Research Se- ries (MCRS), we examined “the reconstruction of space and time.” In this volume, we turn to a more explicit social question of mobile communication and social cohesion. Perhaps unfairly, we ask if mobile communication is bringing us together or if it is tearing our sense of social cohesion apart. The adoption and use of mobile communication technologies give rise to new forms of coordination and social networking. Undoubtedly, these uses of technology can lead to increased cohesion within personal communities. However, some have expressed concerns that social networks become overly configured through mobile communication, contributing to what Habuchi (2005) calls “telecocooning.” In addition, the highly personal nature of the technology might also lead to increased individualiza- tion of the user. This volume of the MCRS examines whether mobile communication can bring people together or, alternatively, create social division. This edition of the MCRS includes thirteen chapters that cover a wide range of issues associated with cohesion and the use of mobile communication. The broad themes include the following: • the replacement of copresent interaction with mediated contact, • analysis of mobile-based cohesion and gender, • the role of media choice and its effect on social cohesion, • mobile communication and communities of interest, and • mobile communication, cohesion, and youth. 1LingCampbell.indd 1 03/12/2011 07:16:28 PrePublication copy. Not for reproduction or distribution. Mobile Communication The chapters presented here include both qualitative and quantita- tive analyses of mobile use and its impact on social cohesion. There are chapters on caravan couples in Australia, factory workers in China, young couples in Germany, citizens of Slovenia, and sports clubs in Ireland. There is also research on drunken calls between university students in the United States, international students in Switzerland who strive to keep in contact with friends back home, and immigrant women in Melbourne, Australia. We know from the existing research that the mobile phone generally helps to hold groups together. Yet this is only the broad view. There are countertendencies where the mobile phone disrupts our ability to develop weak ties and, as will be discussed in the following section, disrupts colocated interaction. The Here and Now, in a Virtual Kind of Way In the opening chapter, Kathleen Cumiskey describes what she calls mobile symbiosis. While the general direction of her