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THE MOBILE-PHONE FOOTAGE OF THE MAY 2020 KILLING OF UNARMED AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN GEORGE FLOYD BY A WHITE POLICE OFFICER TRIGGERED A WAVE OF PROTESTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND [...]

In this article, I examine the ideologies surrounding the poetic forms of Giriama text messaging in the town of Malindi, Kenya. I argue that young people use rapid code-switching and a global medialect of condensed, abbreviated English as an iconic index of a modern, mobile, self-fashioning, sexy, and irreverent persona, whereas their use of the local vernacular (Kigiriama) tends to reroot them in the gravitas of social obligations and respect relationships. In text messages, then, English and local African tongues are sometimes treated as foils for each other, suggesting that, rather than merely being mimicked, the English medialect is flavored by distinctly local concerns. Indeed, among many Giriama elders, the poetic patterns of text messaging are construed as a special breed of witchery in which hypermobility and linguistic innovation threaten ethnic coherence and even sanity itself. I suggest, however, that the use of Kigiriama in text messaging may point not to the abandonment of ethnicity bur to new ways of being Giriama that are simultaneously local and modern. [mobile phones, text messaging, globalization, Kenya, witchcraft, language ideology, code switching] DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01259.x

Data collected from mobile phones have the potential to provide insight into the relational dynamics of individuals. This paper compares observational data from mobile phones with standard self-report survey data. We find that the information from these two data sources is overlapping but distinct. For example, self-reports of physical proximity deviate from mobile phone records depending on the recency and salience of the interactions. We also demonstrate that it is possible to accurately infer 95% of friendships based on the observational data alone, where friend dyads demonstrate distinctive temporal and spatial patterns in their physical proximity and calling patterns. These behavioral patterns, in turn, allow the prediction of individual-level outcomes such as job satisfaction. engineering-social systems | relational inference | social network analysis | reality mining | relational scripts

Byline: Robert S. Weisskirch (1) Keywords: Parenting; Cellular phones; Adolescents; Parental monitoring; Family relations Abstract: Cellular phones provide a means for parents to monitor and request information about whereabouts, associates, and current activities from adolescents. Simultaneously, adolescents can communicate with parents to inform them of activities and to solicit support or they can also choose to nondisclose. The frequency, duration, and nature of calls may relate to parents' and to adolescents' perceptions of truthfulness and family relationships. 196 dyads (13% father--son, 11% father--daughter, 30% mother--son, and 46% mother--daughter) completed a questionnaire indicating cell phone use, their truthfulness of activities, the nature of their calls to one another, and family relationships. The parents were, on average, 45.38 years old (SD = 6.35) and were 83% Euroamerican, 9% Asian American, 3% Latino, 3% African American, 2% Mixed ethnicity, and 1% American Indian. The adolescents were, on average, 16.25 years old (SD = 1.17) and were 77% Euroamerican, 9% Asian American, 4% Latino, 3% African American, 8% Mixed ethnicity, and .5% American Indian. Correlational analyses revealed that parents who called more frequently reported less truthfulness when speaking to their adolescents via cell phone. Greater frequency in parental calls also was associated with less adolescent-reported truthfulness. From multiple regression analyses, for parents, calls when upset were associated with less parental knowledge and poorer family relations. For adolescents, the same was true however, adolescents who made calls seeking social support and to ask and confer with parents reported greater perceived parental knowledge and better family relationships. Author Affiliation: (1) Liberal Studies Department, California State University, Monterey Bay, 100 Campus Center, Building 82C, Seaside, CA, 93955-8001, USA Article History: Registration Date: 18/11/2008 Received Date: 25/08/2008 Accepted Date: 18/11/2008 Online Date: 25/12/2008

Byline: Michael Bittman (1), Judith E. Brown (1), Judy Wajcman (2) Author Affiliation: (1) Discipline of Sociology, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia (2) Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Article History: Registration Date: 04/11/2008 Accepted Date: 01/08/2008 Online Date: 16/01/2009

To better understand the dynamics of cell phone use among a sample of college students and their attachment for their parents, our study investigated the attitudes toward cell phone use, distinguishing patterns of cell phone users, and user group and gender differences related to attachment to parents among college students. Findings of this study point to implications for further research in three areas: cell phone use and adoption of special functions, family studies, and measurement improvement. KEYWORDS attachment, cell phone, college students DOI: 10.1080/01494920903224277

Mediated interaction has become a feature of everyday life, used routinely to communicate and maintain contacts, yet sociological analysis of mediated communication is relatively undeveloped. This article argues that new mediated communication channels merit detailed sociological analysis, and that interactional differences between media have been overlooked. Goffman explicitly restricted his interaction order to face-to-face interaction. The article adapts some of Goffman's interactional concepts for synchronous mediated interaction, but argues that his situational focus is less relevant to asynchronous media. The theoretical approach developed is illustrated and supported by qualitative research on mobile phones, which fortuitously afford both synchronous and asynchronous communication. The study suggests that although the distinction between synchronous and asynchronous interaction is important, it is not technologically determined, but shaped by interactional norms. KEY WORDS Goffman / interaction order/mediated communication / mobile phones / new media / SMS / synchrony

An interview-based study was conducted to trace cultural differences and similarities in the use of mobile phones in various European countries and obtain early insight into the relationship between private and public communication. Data clearly reveal that the mobile phone redefines the sense of personal and public space, whilst also reflecting what might perhaps be more deeply rooted national cultural and social behaviors.

A Delphi study involving a collection of industry and academic experts that investigates opinions across all aspects of social and cultural development concerning mobile phones is presented. The ability to provide connectivity and connectedness was found to be the most important positive effect from the mobile phone whereas intrusiveness and loss of privacy was the most important negative effect.

The mobile phone personalisation in an Australian sample group is studied to find out if sending of text (SMS) and picture (MMS) messages is crucial to the maintenance of personal social connections. It is concluded that personalisation is performative act, which proves that gender and identity are not innate, but are constantly practised, rehearsed and expressed in everyday life.

A compilation of existing research trends and forecasts of the future research trends into the social impact of mobile phones is presented. The compilation would serve in illuminating people with the understanding of the existing and emerging social practice and their implications.

Negotiation of phone bills within families, specifically between parents and children, can be seen as a method some parents use to try to prepare their children for a time when they would have to take responsibility for their actions. Thus the management of the mobile phone has the potential to become an activity where moral and ethical codes are discussed within the children.

The purpose of this study was to test the argument that perceptions and uses of mobile phones are socially constructed in close personal networks. The study hypothesized that, through collective sense making, perceptions and uses of mobile phones would be more similar within 45 personal communication networks than for the entire sample of 194 individuals. Findings from a self-report survey reveal that several factors were significantly more similar within the networks than for individuals throughout the sample, including perceptions of the handset as a means of display, use for safety and security, attitudes about use in public, microcoordination, hypercoordination, and comfort with technology. Interviews were conducted to explore how perceptions and uses were shaped through relationships and interactions situated in social context. The interview data illuminate how social interaction contributed to perceptions and uses in four key areas: mobile phone adoption, attitudes about products and services, perceptions of non-normative use, and collective use. Results of the study serve as evidence supporting the argument that perceptions and uses of communication technologies are, at least in part, constructed socially among close personal contacts. This study demonstrates why it is important for researchers to consider social contacts and social contexts when examining the implications of communication technologies.

Dual-task studies assessed the effects of cellular-phone conversations on performance of a simulated driving task. Performance was not disrupted by listening to radio broadcasts or listening to a book on tape. Nor was it disrupted by a continuous shadowing task using a handheld phone, ruling out, in this case, dual-task interpretations associated with holding the phone, listening, or speaking. However, significant interference was observed in a word-generation variant of the shadowing task, and this deficit increased with the difficulty of driving. Moreover, unconstrained conversations using either a handheld or a hands-free cell phone resulted in a twofold increase in the failure to detect simulated traffic signals and slower reactions to those signals that were detected. We suggest that cellular-phone use disrupts performance by diverting attention to an engaging cognitive context other than the one immediately associated with driving.

In a sample of 128 undergraduate students, a higher frequency of texting to others was associated with finding the relationships with those others less fulfilling. Similarly, having more social network 'friends' was associated with finding the relationships with those individuals less fulfilling. DOI: 10.2466/17.PR0.107.5.402-404

Data from mobile telephones are used to study differences in behavior across cultures. Information on the people's pace of life, reactions to outlier events, and social support, can be determined from communication patterns.

A case study is employed to explain the way the students' inventory of social actors is concerned by the controversy surrounding the cellular telephones. The analysis has shown to have several future implications, as the controversies had not been researched till now.

The study examines Beijing residents' perception of the significance of mobile phone usage on the social and communicative aspects of their lives in the ten years since its introduction. Findings suggest that mobile phone technology has made the most significant contribution to the modernization of China.

The growing market size for wireless telephones and their economic and social benefits to the society are discussed.

Byline: Sumit. Kapadia, Surbhi. Joshi Dear Editor, We read with great interest the controversial viewpoint by Kaushik Bhattacharya.[1] It is true that with their wide availability and connectivity, mobile phones [...]