Mobile Communication in Everyday Life (PDF)

The mobile phone has become an integral part of our everyday life communication - in this sense a domestication of a 'nomadic' medium has taken place. For the very reason that the telephone has left its fixed home environment, it requires us to take an 'ethnographic view' in describing both this development and the changes taking place therein. Mobile Communication in Everyday Life takes a closer look at the mobile phone as an object of inquiry in the tradition of the so-called media ethnography. Consequently, the benefits and limitations of such research designs are the focus of the book. Some contributions focus on the mobile phone and the tension between private and public communication. Furthermore the authors examine the distinctive ways of mobile phone usage across a range of social groups and the mobile's cultural and cross-cultural dimensions. The book intends to advance (and criticise) media ethnographies as they relate to the mobile phone. At the same time Mobile Communication in Everyday Life presents a range of the most up-to-date research in the field of mobile communication.

Maren Hartmann joined the University of Erfurt, Germany, in 2004 (and can soon be found at the University of Bremen). Before, she had several university posts first in the UK and later in Belgium, both as a researcher and a lecturer. She has published books on the topic as well as several articles. Maren is also involved in several European initiatives. Her research interests include media ethnographies, cybercultures and the domestication concept. Joachim R. Höflich is a professor at the University of Erfurt, Germany. He is also a leading expert in the field of mobile technologies and interpersonal communication. Joachim has published several books on the topic in German as well as many articles in English. He is a regular attendant at the relevant conferences and a co-founder of the 'Society for the Social Study of Mobile Communication' (SSSMC).