After the Mobile Phone? : Social Changes and the Development of Mobile Communication 9783865969989, 9783865961679

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K O M M U N I K AT I O N S W I S S E N S C H A F T

After the Mobile Phone? Social Changes and the Development of Mobile Communication

Maren Hartmann / Patrick Rössler / Joachim R. Höflich (eds.)

Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

Maren Hartmann / Patrick Rössler / Joachim R. Höflich (eds.) After the Mobile Phone?

Kommunikationswissenschaft, Band 4

Maren Hartmann / Patrick Rössler/Joachim R.Höflich (eds.)

After the Mobile Phone? Social Changes and the Development of Mobile Communication

Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

ISBN 978-3-86596-167-9 ISSN 1860-8353 © Frank & Timme GmbH Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur Berlin 2008. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Das Werk einschließlich aller Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlags unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Herstellung durch das atelier eilenberger, Leipzig. Printed in Germany. Gedruckt auf säurefreiem, alterungsbeständigem Papier. www.frank-timme.de

Contents

Maren Hartmann Introduction

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Mobile Imagination Kathleen M. Cumiskey “Do you want to have a Beer over the Phone?”: Capturing Metaphoric Evidence of Mobile Symbiosis and the Mobile Imaginary on Film

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Frauke Behrendt Texting and Calling Public Spheres: Mobile Phones, Sound Art and Habermas

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Mobile ‘Media’? Gerard Goggin & Christina Spurgeon Mobile Messaging and the Crisis in Participation Television

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Juan Miguel Aguado & Immaculada J. Martinez The Fourth Screen and the Liquid Medium: Notes for a Characterization of the Media Cultures Implicit in Mobile Entertainment Contents

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Sonja Kretzschmar Journalistic Content and the World Cup 2006: Multimedia Services on Mobile Devices

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Virpi Oksman Mobile Video – Between Personal, Community and Mass Media

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(Mobile) Social Networking Lee Humphreys Mobile Devices and Social Networking

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Andreas Hepp Communicative Mobility after the Mobile Phone: The Appropriation of Media Technology in Diasporic Communities

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Kakuko Miyata & Ken’ichi Ikeda Mobile Internet, Social Capital and Civic Engagement in Japan

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Mobile Appropriation Michael Traugott, Sung-Hee Joo, Rich Ling &Ying Qian The Mobile Phone: an Essential Item for the US Public

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Veronika Karnowski, Thilo v. Pape & Werner Wirth After the Digital Divide? An Appropriation Perspective on the Generational Mobile-Phone Divide

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Julian Gebhardt, Joachim R. Höflich & Patrick Rössler Breaking the Silence? The Use of the Mobile Phone in a University Library

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About the Contributors

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Introduction Maren Hartmann

From 2006... To introduce a book entitled ‘After the mobile phone?’ appears to be an easy task. And in many ways, this is true. It is, after all, a seemingly simple question. How simple, we had to discover when we first developed the idea. We, i.e. Patrick Rössler, Joachim Höflich and I, were then the conference-organisers for an ICApreconference to be held at the University of Erfurt in the summer of 2006. The title was meant to be thought-provoking, but we did not necessarily expect it to be provocative. The response, however, turned out to be – shall we say – rather concerned. One of our sponsors, a section of a major telecoms operator with close ties to a mobile operator, asked in an early meeting whether we were really proclaiming the end of the mobile phone – in which case they would have had difficulties justifying the sponsorship within their company. We were able to reassure them immediately: the end of the mobile phone was not necessarily what we had meant (hence the question mark). Instead, we had a rather open mind concerning the ongoing changes in the uses of the mobile phone. We were seeing (and further anticipating) a move from the mobile phone to a more general mobile media device as well as a move from certain uses and discourses to yet others. At the conference (and subsequently in the book), we wanted to question exactly these developments by updating ourselves on what was happening out there – and by asking how best to research and theorise it. This early response, however, showed us that a world beyond the mobile phone was (and is) indeed worth thinking about. This then was also the brief we gave the authors: we did not want a vision of the far-away future, but rather an analysis of the present, keeping in mind the question of what the medium is nowadays characterised by. Two years later, answers to this question are now appearing in print. These answers (most of which, but not all, stem from the original preconference or at least from there-present authors) present a good overview of developments in the field of mobile communication and mobile media in recent years – as well as in the field of mobile media research. The insights are both empirical and theoretical. They underline what we already began to see and think in the summer of 2006, but see more clearly now: there is definitely no ‘AFTER the mobile phone’, but there may be an ‘after the mobile PHONE’ after all. ‘After’ does not imply that the mobile phone is dead, but that it has broadened, entered new fields, has brought with it new social forms. Even more than before, the actual role as a phone is © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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diminishing. Its role as media though, as a hybrid mobile medium, has been strengthened. It is still a communication device, sometimes an interaction device, definitely also a mini-computer and hence an entertainment and information source. It is increasingly widely used in diverse settings – and thereby has become one of those widely accepted features of social life that have certain rules attached to them. The constant construction of use and meaning continues, but it has moved far beyond the initial eruption phase. The mobile phone is now ‘normal’ – and after a phase of relative stability, it is now erupting again, moving into new areas, new uses, new discourses. In 2006, we were already saying that the mobile phone had become a permanent fixture in everyday communication within a very short period of time. It had already changed existing communication practices and led to new social arrangements in terms of mobility and connectivity (see below). It had become a ‘personal medium’ and a medium for the presentation of the self. It was also a medium that was used not only for individual, but for collective communication and even for political mobilization. Furthermore, traditional boundaries of mass communication had been blurred as many contents were developed for crossmedia applications – the mobile phone was on the way to becoming even more of a hybrid medium. Especially the latter process has since accelerated (as can be seen in several articles in this book). The ‘reinvention’ process by its users has not stopped and will continue. In 2008, the mobile phone is part of an overall development in mobile communication, in which its use is only a small part of overall mobile media use, but one that might still broaden further. The emphasis in this introduction (as well as in the book overall) is hence on the idea of appropriation. The afore-mentioned normalisation is not a linear and automatic process, but rather a dynamic one that contains unexpected aspects and turns, resistances and potential non-uptakes. The position from which this idea is developed here refers to several levels. Next to the individual and group level, we have the societal level. Both are clearly intertwined, but with important differences. And there are other aspects, too. The industry moves, for example, that both react to individual forms of appropriation, but also introduce new aspects. Or the discursive appropriation, which signifies how society overall deals with (and partly wishes to deal with) the increasing use of these media. ... to 2008 The whole book then represents a continuation of debates not only from the preconference, but also represented in earlier texts. In an earlier book, for example, Joachim R. Höflich and I called for (and received) ethnographic views that were meant to relate more in-depth engagements with everyday uses of the mobile phone as we knew it then (Höflich & Hartmann, 2006).1 In a later article, we reflected more theoretically upon the social processes surrounding and enabling the 1

Höflich himself presented an in-depth study of the use of the mobile phone on a particular piazza in Italy (with references to another study in Madrid) while my own contribution reflected on the notion of ethnographies in this mobile context (both in Höflich & Hartmann, 2006).

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adoption and integration of the mobile into the micro-situations of everyday life, in what one could call ‚mobile social arrangements’ (Höflich & Hartmann, 2007). We declared a process of domestication taking place in public places where mobile media are increasingly being used. At the same time, we defined this process to be an establishment of social arrangements, i.e. the increasing acceptance of certain behaviours in public places that were before not to be thought of. I still want to hold on to this idea here, but also broaden and problematise the debate a bit. First of all, I would like to re-emphasise that we have two different context ideas here: the social arrangement is the expression of and reaction to a social situation.2 Domestication, on the other hand, is a longer-term process. These do not immediately fit. We looked closely at a micro-process, embedded in the specificity of situations, but we implied macro-processes of adoption. While these interrelate, they are not interchangeable. Hence I want to suggest here that we are dealing with different, interrelated sets of arrangements: the just mentioned immediate, situational (somewhat individual) set, but also a wider societal discourse concerning the technologies as such, their uses, the social norms (which relates to broader sets of social arrangements, e.g. in large groups, at events, etc.) and thirdly arrangements of a global, economic and social order that also play a role. At the time, we too easily conflated different sets of arrangements into one idea. The articles in the current book, however, reflect very clearly the different sets (and also their overlaps). The first set relates to social norms and values, or rather to situational and role expectations. Here, social arrangements are either adapted to incorporate the new technologies or new ones emerge to equally allow for an integration of the new into the existing. Social situations tend to be pre-defined. This pre-definition delivers hints as to how we should behave (as e.g. in a job interview). Then again, there are many situations that are not pre-defined or clear-cut or situations, where the actors do not reflect about the possible definition (or mis-interpret the situation). This does not, however, diminish the possible consequences (as hinted at in the so called Thomas theorem). In either case, social order needs to be negotiated, as Höflich has repeatedly outlined in detail. In the above mentioned article, we simply assumed at the time that this process of situational definitions can also be seen as being part of – and representing itself – the domestication process. One aspect, however, that we did not regard in detail is the time dimension. The question then is how the appropriation over time is reflected in the situational arrangements. Because they are in principle bound up with the negotiations that take place in society overall (whether as actually visible negotiations or as more subtle norm definition processes), these social arrangements are more universal than simply reflecting that moment. In many ways, this is already reflected in the sociological definition of situation, but is not clearly delineated. Overall, the linkage between the different sets of arrangements is underlined. 2

Another relevant idea here is that of the frame. Höflich (with reference to Goffman) has explored this idea elsewhere (Höflich, 1998). © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Höflich has shown how the new situation of the mobile phone introduced the third person into otherwise more localised situations. Negotiations in public were before not limited to, but more concentrated on face-to-face interactions. The eventual introduction of the third person – or the space between the phones – changes this. It does not radically change it from one day to the next, but over time different situational definitions come to be known. Hence the triad of the mobile phone user, the second person present in the same space and the third person “on the other end of the line“ (an outdated phrase) have become much more norm(-al) in recent years and situations begin to be defined differently. Uses also differ when the third person is present, i.e. the length of the phone conversation, the body language, etc. all change. What the triad represents here stands for interpersonal communication and the related social arrangements initially, but media content in the widest sense of the word in the long run. More and more, what-, who- and however is involved at the other end of the phone, the chat, etc. is becoming increasingly diverse. This will again need to be dealt with in diverse ways. This content aspect is part of the process of appropriation, but is not usually analysed in detail (see Hartmann, 2006). The acceptance (or change) of overarching situational definitions is the domestication aspect in this process. The social arrangement of how the ‚intrusion’ is being dealt with is not itself a domestication process, but it represents the overall domestication process. This domestication process is a different one to the one shown by Silverstone and others (e.g. in Berker et al., 2006). It is not about ‚bringing-something-home’ or about appropriating something for oneself, but about an appropriation process on a different social level. One of the expressions of this appropriation process is the notion of not being able to live without the mobile (cf. Traugott et al.’s chapter). While it appears to be an individual perception, it is closely linked to the pervasive use of mobiles everywhere and to discursive constructions as to their importance. This discourse also underlines the problem, because if one is seemingly excluded from use (cf. Karnowski, von Pape and Wirth’s chapter on the elderly), one is also excluded from certain forms of participation (which again the discourse defines as important). A similar move is shown in the chapter by Gebhardt, Höflich and Rössler. They first of all show how an appropiration process takes place in other public (or semi-public) places in a specific form, since they conducted research in a library. Next to that, their research underlines how embedded these processes are in the aforementioned wider societal debates. Here we first of all have a kind of mesodebate, since a library is a specific environment with clear-cut rules of conduct attached. At the same time, these rules are shown to become less relevant. The younger generation of users displays instead an ‚anywhere, any time’ attitude, which reflects general acceptance tendencies as an ‚always on’ medium and lifestyle. We find even more explicit traces of the social appropriation in the first section of the book, which shows how far mobile phone have become integral parts of art and film. In the film, we find another set of social arrangements as well

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as an interesting take on the third person. On the other hand, we see the mainstream character that mobiles have by now gained. Several other aspects remain slightly more problematic: Höflich and I claimed in the former article that there is a tendency for eruption and subsequent integration in the appropriation process. This underlines its somewhat conservative character (as has been criticised in the domestication debate). This implies that the social needs to be conservative in order to survive. The new is equally important, but cannot dominate (at least not over a longer period of time). Nonetheless, we still need to find a better way to include the new into our analysis – and into the theoretical description of the character of appropriation. What, for example, is the relationship between erupture and (temporary) closure? And under what circumstances? And how can this be seen in the situational arrangements – or is this not reflected on that level? Another question is whether convergence is also a form of social appropriation? Different technologies merging, media content moving across platforms and/ or media production sites losing their traditional profile can also be seen as either reactions to certain needs or also as parts of a trend towards a more radical shift, albeit gradually introduced (as several papers in this collection underline). All of the above are, as stated, expressions of societal appropriation processes. Other expressions can be found in the diverse papers in this book. Structure of the book In the first section of the book on Mobile Imagination, we begin, as mentioned above, with two rather unusual pieces on the imaginary (and imaginative) usage of mobile phones in two separate cultural settings: on the one hand in Hollywood films, on the other hand in sound art projects. Kathleen M. Cumiskey shows in a detailed analysis of two films, how not only the mobile phone has become a ‚naturalised’ item, but how it is even used as a rather particular kind of plot-device that enables particular forms of social interaction (what she calls ‚co-presence’) and thereby questions distance and proximity and the nature of (mediated) communication. Similarly, Frauke Behrendt’s piece on the public sphere, sound art and mobile phones shows how the use of the mobile phone allows these art forms to integrate the user into the art and thereby enable him or her to engage, to publicly articulate certain thoughts, to ultimately take part in the/a public sphere. Both pieces re-emphasise aspects of art that are not necessarily always associated therewith and show the role that the mobile phone plays therein. Both underline also how far the mobile has already become a mainstream object – one that can now easily be played with and used to point beyond itself. In the second section then we move on to the question of Mobile Media. Here, another broadening takes place. When we first had the extension of the mobile into fields of art, we now see the move of traditional media into the mobile field – and vice versa. Gerard Goggin and Christina Spurgeon, following on from Behrendt’s suggestion of the public sphere, take a close look at participation television and the role that mobile phones (or rather mobile phone messaging) play/s therein. Goggin and Spurgeon show how difficult such phases of transition can be by pointing out © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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the new possibilities for betrayal (here in terms of ‚participation’ SMS messages in TV quiz or contest shows). This can then have wider societal consequences in terms of discourses surrounding the particular genre, the trust in the traditional medium as such and other such questions. The mobile as such plays only an indirect, but nonetheless very important role. Much more direct is the mobile’s role in Juan Miguel Aguado and Immculada J. Martinez’ paper on the fourth screen. They, too, are concerned with traditional TV formats, but from a rather different angle. In a paper that shows a whole range of current developments in the mobile field, Aguado and Martinez first look at mobile entertainment and show how mobile TV is becoming increasingly important within what they call a ‚mobile specific media culture’. Adapting TV to the mobile environment consolidates, in their view, the mobile environment. But it does not stop there. Web 2.0 applications also play an increasingly important role in the development of the moble specific media culture. These and similar developments will also contribute to the overall consolidation of the mobile environment. This is similarly underlined in Sonja Kretzschmar’s contribution. She looks at mobile TV in more detail, here in terms of television’s move onto the mobile phone (i.e. the mobile screen). The football world championship in 2006 was an initial incentive for many mobile operators to begin this process. Hence Kretzschmar shows what happened then and what has happened since. Virpi Oksman’s paper presents the next logical step in line, i.e. the use of mobile video content and mobile TV by end-users and its integration into everyday life. Based on data from two empirical research projects, the study suggests that such services can not only be used, but probably will be used. Nonetheless, these studies also underline that further studies are needed, since the small screen (the fourth screen) is a different kind of screen after all. In the third section, we have three papers that all speak about Mobile Social Networking, but in more than a web-related sense. Instead, Lee Humphreys looks at social networking applications that have been specifically developed for mobile phones (mostly related in some way to online-sites). She compares different applications in different countries and thereby points to possible future developments. Her arguments can be seen as an exemplification of what Aguado and Martinez debate more fundamentally in their article in terms of the merging of Web 2.0 and mobile applications. Andreas Hepp shows a different form of mobile social networking, which is not centred on specific technologies or applications, but concentrates on a specific user group instead, i.e. on diasporic youth. Here, a set of devices and applications is used to communicate and stay in touch with both friends and family in the country of origin as well as the place they live in (and sometimes a wider network of diasporic contacts is also kept alive with the help of these media). Once again, the impossibility to reduce such analyses to one medium only is shown. Instead, the network of contacts is kept alive via a network of media. Kakuko Miyata and Ken’ichi Ikeda also underline this point in their paper on social networking in Japan. They show how aspects that apply to several places mix with culturally specific adoption processes, as in the case of mobile emailing in Japan. This is an important aspect of civil networking in Miyata’s and Ikeda’s eyes, which cannot be separated from web-based social networking ideas. Overall – and 12

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despite quite few limitations to and qualifications of this claim in their own study – the authors hold on to the hope of the technologies serving the civil networking idea. In the last section, entitled Mobile Appropriation, the focus on the specificity of content use is replaced with appropriation processes in terms of large overviews, but also specific cultural and other locations. Hence Mike Traugott, Sung-Hee Joo, Rich Ling and Ying Qian begin their paper with reporting a similar trend to Miyata and Ikeda’s assumptions. They also underline wider adoption processes, in this case of the mobile phone in the US context. Using the domestication concept as a framework, their study underlines excatly how ‚normal’ mobile phone use has become for large parts of the US population in recent years. The mobile has become integrated into everyday life and is thereby both disappearing as well as moving into the sphere of the indispensible. Veronika Karnowski, Thilo von Pape and Werner Wirth show the actual limitations of such processes. As mentioned, they also concentrate on a specific user group, i.e. the elderly users. Similar to Hepp, they underline both general and specific trends within this group. Rather than uptake as such, they speak of a ‚second-level digital divide’, which separates those who use a technology according to qualitatively different usages. Here, too, we are moving into more subtle differentiations, provided by more in-depth data. This also applies to the last chapter of the book, Julian Gebhardt, Joachim R. Höflich and Patrick Rössler’s contribution, which also presents results of a particular study, this time concerning the mobile phone use and perception in the semi-public space of a university library. They are able to show how perceptions of disruption are clearly shifting. Stating that “the mobile phone has taken its profoundly anchored and meaningful place in people’s everyday life communicative practices”, the authors also manage to point to the fact that we need to either find new questions to ask about the existing technology – or to ask similar questions when yet again new technologies will be introduced. I would want to add that one difficulty for social scientists nowadays is to actually spot the new when it is still new. Because it might simply be a new application hidden in an old-fashioned looking mobile phone. ... and beyond3 What the book (re-)presents is a collection of papers that underlines that a process of appropriation of the technologies into everyday life is and has been taking place. In contrast to the emphasis in earlier articles, the emphasis here is on wider social and societal (rather than individual or group) appropriation processes. While these are closely related to each other, the net is now thrown even wider. Have we found all the answers? Hardly. But we have, at least in my perception, moved further both in terms of media developments and media uses – as well as the academic understanding thereof. Some of the questions we asked, will continue to remain with us. Hence “what will drive us in the future: what do we know and where are the most urgent research questions?“ is one of those questions 3

The editors would warmly like to thank Bettina Schulz for her excellent work on the manuscript. Any editorial responsibility remains obviously with us. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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that will remain relevant. The mobile hybrid medium is now closer to being ‚after the mobile phone’ than it was in 2006. But ‚after’ refers to a broadening rather than a closing down. In many ways, it should have therefore been called ‚beyond’. At the same time, the field of mobile research is equally broadening – and will hopefully continue to do so. Even after – or beyond – this book... References Berker, T. et al. (eds.) (2006): The Domestication of Media and Technology. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Hartmann, M. (2006): ‘The triple articulation of ICTs: Media as technological objects, symbolic environments and individual texts’. In: Berker, T. et al. (eds.): Domestication of media and technology. Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 80-102. Höflich, J. R. & Hartmann, M. (2007): ‘Grenzverschiebungen – Mobile Kommunikation im Spannungsfeld von öffentlichen und privaten Sphären.’ In: Röser, J. (ed.): MedienAlltag: Domestizierungsprozesse alter und neuer Medien. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, pp. 211-221. Höflich, J. R. & Hartmann, M. (eds.) (2006): Mobile Communication in Everyday Life: Ethnographic Observations, Views & Reflections. Berlin: Frank & Timme. Höflich, J. R. (1998): ‘Computerrahmen und Kommunikation’. In: Prommer, E. & Vowe, G. (eds.): Computervermittelte Kommunikation – Öffentlichkeit im Wandel? Konstanz: UVK Medien, pp.141-174.

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Mobile Imagination

“Do you want to have a Beer over the Phone?”: Capturing Metaphoric Evidence of Mobile Symbiosis and the Mobile Imaginary on Film1 Kathleen M. Cumiskey

To date, research on mobile phone use has been limited in its ability to represent what occurs in the space between the two people on the phone during the course of a mobile phone conversation. Researchers have studied how the use of mobile phones in public has impacted observers of that use (Cumiskey, 2005a). They have focused on how users (separately) use their phones and they have even studied how people ‘wear’ their phones (Arminen & Leinonen, 2006; Katz & Sugiyama, 2005; Ling & Pedersen, 2005). While there is the acknowledgement of a particular choreography that occurs as the presence and use of the mobile phone causes the users (callers) and observers to adjust to what is known and unknown about the social interactions taking place (Katz, 2006) as well as the sense of carrying remote others with you via the mobile phone, as in the Japanese keitai (Ito, Okabe & Matsuda, 2005), these studies are often limited in their ability to capture the entire domain of a mobile phone call. These limitations often require that researchers empirically study what is going on between the caller and the recipient of the call and between the mobile phone users and those with who they are in close physical proximity, separately. What is lost in that is the ability to fully comprehend the connected and bounded mobile realm that is created between the two people on the phone, who are at the same time not tethered by this form of communication and who often freely move about, interact with others, and continue to accomplish tasks beyond the conversation being had on the phone. In contrast to this, the analysis of storytelling, fiction writing, and film may be an important means through which we can capture at once the mobile user, the caller, and the outside observer and the virtual and actual contexts of a single mobile communication. 1. Mining for schemas of mobile phone use in popular films Since the dawn of motion-picture age, there has been great debate over the extent to which motion pictures are representative of reality (Barry, 1945; Dale, 1932). While what is on the screen is ultimately a work of the writer’s imagination and a product of a socially constructed ‘reality’, both film clips could be categorized as coming from a narrative film. A narrative film is a film that requires the audience to 1

Earlier version of this manuscript first published in PsychNology, 2007, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 83-99.

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become absorbed into the illusion presented by the filmmaker. This is in opposition to a ‘cinema of attractions’ where the audience is confronted and astonished by what is presented on the screen. A narrative film is a film focused on storytelling – where the audience is passive, absorbed and can relate to some degree with what is occurring on the screen (Staiger, 2000). The presence of mobile phones in popular American films, whether it be a tool of product placement or not, could be an indicator of the saturation of mobile phone use, in at least that part of the world (Katz & Sugiyama, 2005). The presence of the mobile phone in a narrative film is not seen as particularly confronting or astonishing. The audience may not question its presence but instead have a degree of familiarity with its use that, when presented as a narrative tool, the audience’s schemas for typical mobile phone use are triggered and played with throughout the scene. The presence and use of mobile phones in film may also highlight the provocative, in-between space mentioned above that has not yet been truly captured by social science but via film may present itself as ‘the mobile imaginary’. This paper will incorporate what is known about how mobile phone use facilitates social interaction and attempt to provide a multidimensional analysis of the use of mobile phones through cultural representations of mobile communication via two scenes from two different American films. While the author acknowledges that one cannot readily expect that what is on the screen represents ‘reality’, films are often studied as a means to document representations of cultural phenomena, to provide an understanding of the deeper psychological meanings that those images foster (Forrester, 2002; Steinke, 2005). Depictions of mobile phone use in films may also indicate the ways in which users imagine the uses for the phone to extend beyond what is actually possible. 2. Method and Textual Analysis This paper was inspired by scenes from two movies released in the United States in 2005: Elizabethtown and Broken Flowers. Scenes were chosen from these films because they illustrated significant aspects of mobile communication that appear to be involved in typical social interactions. In Elizabethtown (2005), Claire befriends Drew and gives him her mobile phone number. This scene focuses on an extended mobile phone conversation between the two. The conversation lasts all night long. During the conversation, Claire and Drew share their views on life, and in the process get to know each other better. While talking, Claire and Drew continue to participate in activities in their separate physical realms. Some of these activities go on beyond the awareness of the other. Despite this separateness, Claire and Drew work to foster a sense of “co-presence” by creating simultaneous experiences over the phone (i.e. sharing music with each other, having a “beer” over the phone)2. In Broken Flowers (2005), Winston, a home-bound father of five and an aspiring private investigator, tries to convince a reluctant Don, a retired ‘over the 2

On DVD, clip is in Chapter 9: ‘The All-Night Phone Call’ (Marker 47: 11; Clip length: 10 minutes and 7 seconds).

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hill’ Don Juan, to pursue the writer of an anonymous letter. Winston instructs Don to list the potential writers of the letter he has received. This scene focuses on a phone conversation between the two, where Winston picks up the list from Don while they are talking to each other on the phone. As Don is talking to Winston on his mobile phone, he sees him cross his front lawn. Winston enters Don’s house, never pausing in the conversation over the phone until he is face-to-face with Don. Once they are face-to-face, Winston pauses and excuses himself from the phone conversation with Don to commence with a face-to-face conversation with him. After examining the list, Winston turns away from Don and resumes his phone conversation with him3. Scenes from both of these films were analyzed using qualitative research methods. Each scene was transcribed and time stamped. The transcription of the scenes included details surrounding the verbal and non-verbal communication occurring between the characters involved in the scene. Each scene was evaluated from the perspective of the actors. The audience perspective was not included since neither scene involved audience participation. The textual analysis was based on guidelines established by Miles and Huberman (1994). The transcriptions were coded for three major factors: contextual seams, mobile symbiosis, and interpersonal seams. These codes were selected based on previous research done on the impact of mobile communication on social interaction (Rudström, Höök & Svensson, 2005; Ling, 1997; Gergen, 2002; Ling, 2002; Döring, 2006; Humphreys, 2005; Rheingold, 2002; Colbert, 2005; Boden & Molotch, 1994; Koskinen, 2005; Ling & Julsrud, 2005; Cumiskey, 2005a; Zhao, 2005; Suler, 2004). A detailed explanation of each code follows. 2.1 Contextual seams Contextual seams are the seams, or the markers of separation between actual and virtual space. Contextual seams were indicated 1.) by instances in which the characters engaged in behaviours beyond the awareness of the person they were on the phone with and recognized that the other was not physically present; 2.) when the characters made non-verbal physical gestures intended for the caller that could not be seen by the caller; and 3.) by the times when the mobile phone conversation was interrupted by co-present actor(s) in the users’ physical context. Again, this could be viewed as moments when the users were reminded that they were not sharing the same actual space. The data for these codes are presented in Appendix A. In Elizabethtown (2005), there were 46 instances during the 10 minute clip where the contextual seams were revealed. In Broken Flowers (2005), there were 5 instances during the 1 minute clip. 2.2 Mobile symbiosis/the mobile imaginary Symbiosis is the close association between two organisms. Metaphorically, symbiosis is a joining, a sharing of experiences and a sense of mutuality. This 3

On DVD, clip is in Chapter 5: ‘What list?’ (Marker 22:44; Clip length: 1 minute and 9 seconds).

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experience of joining is characteristic of the illusive notion of the mobile imaginary because much of this cannot truly exist in the real world, as will be explained in the following section. This theme was coded in both films through 3 instances of joining: 1.) when one caller narrated for the other what they were doing, 2.) when both sides of the conversation could be heard, and 3.) when they shared a mutual experience over the mobile phone. In addition, the mobile imaginary was highlighted through the film medium by instances of mobile phone interaction that could not take place in ‘the real world’. The data for these codes are presented in Appendix A. In Elizabethtown (2005), there were 46 instances during the 10-minute clip when mobile symbiosis or the joining of the two people on the phone was depicted. In Broken Flowers (2005), there were 5 instances during the 1 minute clip. 2.3 Interpersonal seams Interpersonal seams are the seams between people. If mobile symbiosis is an indicator of the loss of separation between users, interpersonal seams are moments when the differentiation and separation between people is marked. These seams were indicated by instances when 1.) the characters appeared to be talking about two different things on the phone and/or only one side of the conversation was focused on; 2.) the user initiated silence or simply ended the call; and 3.) the user shifted their attention away from the person on the phone and toward the person with whom they were face-to-face. The demands of face-to-face interaction highlighted the limitation of the mobile connection and created a separation between the two people on the phone. The data for these codes are presented in Appendix A. In Elizabethtown (2005), there were 15 instances during the 10-minute clip when moments of differentiation and separation between the two people on the phone were depicted. In Broken Flowers (2005), there were 3 instances during the 1minute clip. Tables 1 and 2 provide the actual counts for instances of the three coding categories. Figures 1 and 2 depict the distribution of the instances of the three major coding categories across the two film clips. What follows is an in-depth discussion and analysis of the findings of the textual analysis. Time Intervals (every 30 secs.) Contextual Seams Mobile Symbiosis Interpersonal Seams

1 4 4

2 3 1

3 4 0

4 3 3

5 0 3

6 4 4

7 1 4

8 2 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 6 1 1 3 3 5 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 1 2 1 0 1 3 2 2 2 0

0

2

5

3

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Sum 46 46 15

Table 1: Instances of Codes for Film Clip from Elizabethtown (2005)

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9 8 7

Incidence of Codes

6 5

Contextual Seams Mobile Symbiosis

4

Interpersonal Seams

3 2 1

1

(0 : 2 00 (0 - 0 : : 3 31 - 30) (1 :0 1:0 0 4 1 (1 - 1 ) : : 5 31 30) (2 - 2 :0 : 6 1 - 00) (2 : 2: 7 31 - 30) (3 : 3: 8 01 00) (3 - 3 : : 9 31 - 30) (4 4: : 10 01 00 (4 - 4 ) 11 :31 :30 (5 - 5 ) 12 :01 :00 (5 - 5 ) :3 : 13 1 - 30) (6 6: 14 :01 00) (6 -6: 15 :31 30) (7 -7: 16 :01 00) (7 -7: 17 :31 30) (8 -8: 18 :01 00) (8 -8: 19 :31 30) ( -9 20 9:0 :00 (9 1-9 ) 21 :3 :3 (1 1-1 0) 0: 0: 01 00 -1 ) 0: 30 )

0

Time Interval (every 30 secs.)

Figure 1: Distribution of Instances of Codes for Film Clip from Elizabethtown (2005)

Time Intervals (every 10 secs.) Contextual Seams Mobile Symbiosis Interpersonal Seams

1

2 1 0 1

3 1 0 0

4 0 3 1

5 1 0 0

6 1 0 0

7 0 2 0

Sum 1 0 1

5 5 3

Table 2: Instances of Codes for Film Clip from Broken Flowers (2005)

3. Discussion 3.1 Playing with contextual seams: Negotiating the gap between physical and virtual space Through the use of mobile technology, users are forced to negotiate the gap between physical and virtual space, by adapting their behaviours to make the integration of this technology into everyday activities possible (Rudström, Höök & Svensson, 2005). Frequently, what is going on in the actual physical context of the mobile phone conversation is kept purposefully secret or just happens to be going on beyond the awareness of the caller. Users often engage in physical behaviours that they would not want or need the caller to witness. The user’s ability to censor what the caller knows about what is actually occurring in the physical context of the call can be viewed as an example of how the seams between the actual realms and the virtual realms keep them separate.

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3.5

3

Incidence of Codes

2.5

2

Contextual Seams Mobile Symbiosis Interpersonal Seams

1.5

1

0.5

0 1(0:00-0:10) 2 (0:11-0:20) 3 (0:21-0:30) 4 (0:31-0:40) 5 (0:41-0:50) 6 (0:51-1:00) 7 (1:01-1:10) Time Interval (every 10 secs.)

Figure 2: Distribution of Instances of Codes for Film Clip from Broken Flowers (2005)

In Elizabethtown (2005), there were many instances where either Claire or Drew was performing some activity beyond the awareness of the other. Claire opens her gate, drags her luggage up her front steps, gets her mail, makes dinner, cleans the kitty litter, paints her toenails, washes her undergarments in her sink and takes a bath. Drew takes off his pants, urinates in the toilet, holds the phone outside the door of the bathroom to shield the flush from Claire, washes his socks in his sink and plugs his phone charger in.

Figure 3: Examples of concealing behaviours while on mobile phone

In Broken Flowers (2005), when Winston asks Don about the list that he is creating, Don replies, “What list?” even though the list is sitting on the table in front of him. This power to conceal or to deny what is actually going on in the physical context of the call is something that most users engage in with confidence. However, these seams that separate virtual space and actual physical space may not be as impermeable as most users might fantasize that they are. 22

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The increasing ease and frequency with which users can now engage in phone conversations, along with the expectation that most of this communication is purposeful, places an enormous emphasis on verbal communication. As Ling (1997: 10) points out: In face to face conversation quite nuanced body language has several functions. Through our use of nods, glances, small sounds and other gestures we indicate attention, the desire to speak, the desire to retain the floor and indicate pauses. We also use these devices to impart meaning and emphasis. All of these gestures are changed in a normal telephone conversation. Visual gestures are replaced by intonation and linguistic structure in “grounding” the conversation.

It should be noted, however, that despite the aforementioned limitation of mediated communication, people still nod, glance, pause, make small sounds and engage in other physical behaviours (intended for the caller) while on their mobile phone. This tendency was also represented in the film clips. In the beginning of the scene from Elizabethtown (2005), when Drew tells Claire that his father is dead, Claire stops walking, switches the phone from one ear to the other and closes her eyes. She appears to do this to emphasize the importance of what Drew has said to her even though Drew cannot see her. Users often ‘get caught’ making gestures that emphasize points or sentiments in actual space while on the phone, even though the caller cannot see them. Observing this gesturing may be an indicator that the user has rendered the absent caller psychologically present (Gergen, 2002). A user may pause in their activity, literally stop in their tracks, in order to give the caller their full attention. This pause may be necessary in that the demands of the mobile communication may restrict the user’s ability to do anything else. However, as with the scene in the movie, Elizabethtown (2005), a pause in activity may also be a gesture intended for the caller, despite the fact that the caller cannot see it, and often to the chagrin of others present. By pausing physical activity, the user may believe, or at least desire, that the caller’s presence dominates their awareness. 3.2 “Do you want to have a beer over the phone?”: Mobile symbiosis and discovering the mobile imaginary Mobile communication provides new opportunities for sharing experiences and tasks that could not exist without the mobile aspects of the phone. Many mobile phone conversations occur as a means through which the callers share what is actually going on in their current context. The ability to share experiences virtually is enhanced through multimedia devices. The addition of cameras and video to most mobile phones boosts the user’s ability to convey affective and functional aspects of an experience shared via the mobile phone (Koskinen, 2005; Ling & Julsrud, 2005). This use is represented in research through the analysis of static text messages or mobile phone photo/video artifacts. However, in real, simultaneous mobile phone use, action is the key. The mobile nature of the use of the mobile phone is emphasized when both parties are on their mobiles at the same time. Face-to-face interaction requires either both parties to be stationary or both parties to be moving in the same direction; either way less gets accomplished. It should be © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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noted however, that often the receiver of this shared information is not a complacent receptacle. Receivers often ‘talk-back’, get involved, exchange information about their own current context and influence the behavior of the user. Could it be that the more joined users feel, the more likely they are to engage in risk-taking behaviours?

Figure 4: Example of gesturing while on the mobile

A sense of camaraderie and mutuality develops between user and caller when they are engaged in a mobile phone conversation. It appears as though this sense of mobile symbiosis has the potential to lead one into taking more risks than one might do on one’s own. In Figure 1, the highest degree of behaviours that depict mobile symbiosis in Elizabethtown (2005), occur during the part of the clip where Drew “steals Chuck and Cindy’s wedding beer” (3:30). In this scene Claire asks Drew if he would like to have a beer over the phone. In order to do this, Drew ventures out of his room, into the hall of his hotel (in his robe) to steal two beers from his next-door neighbour, Chuck. Chuck is getting married to Cindy and they are having a party in the hotel, with beers readily available in their tub filled with ice. Drew discovers “Chuck and Cindy’s beer” and proceeds to put a beer bottle in each of his robe’s pockets. He does this all while narrating his entire experience to Claire over the phone. Drew is caught by Chuck, just as he is leaving Chuck’s room with the beers. Drew remains on the phone with Claire so that she may witness the interaction. The adventure of capturing and sharing a beer over the phone is experienced by Claire via Drew’s phone while she is home in bed.

Figure 5: Getting caught while on the mobile phone

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This fictional representation of mobile symbiosis is enhanced by the fact that, in this scene, Claire’s presence is recognized by all parties in the interaction. Drew first lies to Chuck and tells him that he is a friend of the groom. Chuck then says that he is the groom, so Drew comes clean about the fact that he is not in the hotel for Chuck’s wedding. He explains that his dad has died and that he is there for his funeral. Chuck reacts to this news with emotion and takes the phone from Drew to tell Claire how sorry he is for her loss. With this gesture, he has recognized Claire as a participant in this interaction and thereby has rendered her present. This is a work of mobile fantasy in that it is highly unlikely that a stranger would take the phone out of the user’s hand. However, it has been shown, that acceptable mobile phone use in the presence of others is phone use that includes the user, the caller and those with whom the user and/or caller are face-to-face (Cumiskey, 2005a; Döring, 2006; Humphreys, 2004). The psychological sense of always having someone with you (via the mobile phone in the pocket) is very powerful. The fact that any user can immediately call someone, fire off an email or text message, means they have constant access to a witness who can share an experience. The sense of having a constant sidekick, or a partner in crime, may lead the user to do daring things that they might never have considered before or at least not while being alone in the presence of strangers. In Broken Flowers (2005), Winston is the only person that Don speaks with over the phone. Despite having made his fortune in the technology industry, Don is behind the times. He does not have a mobile phone, Winston does. Don does not have a computer or Internet access, Winston does. Winston’s insistence on making Don pursue the writer of the anonymous letter appears to be a consequence of his faith in the seemingly limitless access to information that the Internet affords. Between Don and Winston there appears to be a mutual desire to live symbiotically through the life of the other. Winston utilizes online travel services and MapQuest to schedule and map the entire route of Don’s pursuit. Despite Don’s lack of a mobile phone, Winston uses his phone like a cattle prod to push Don along on his half-hearted quest. Don’s lack of a mobile phone becomes more and more disconcerting as the movie progresses. Since Winston knows that his only contact with Don will be via hotel room phones, he makes his presence known in other ways that do not quite measure up to having mobile phone contact4. 3.3 Better on the phone: Enhanced intimacy via the mobile phone The presence of mobile technology provides a medium through which people can project meaning onto the use of these devices. There is no instructional booklet on how to conduct a mobile phone conversation. While it is true that the device itself shapes behavior in terms of what features are available on each phone, those 4

Winston provided Don with a very detailed portfolio prior to his trip that contained all of Don’s travel arrangements, car rental reservations, and maps. He also included “Good Luck” CDs with a mix of songs selected by Winston to accompany Don on different legs of his quest. Don also recited out loud to himself in the car, advice that Winston had given him about ‘looking for clues’.

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features then take on psychological significance through how the user uses them. For example, people who observe other people on their phones in public often interpret that use as rude (Cumiskey, 2005b). The scene from Elizabethtown (2005) is almost completely a work of mobile fiction: the never-ending battery charge (Drew plugs the phone in mid-conversation, but only for a short time), never losing a signal, never getting lost, never losing that sense of connectedness to those with whom we feel close. What happens during face-to-face communication can be completely different from what happens when one is engaged in mobile-mediated communication (Zhao, 2005). The flow and energy of mobile-enhanced communication may produce different results than face-to-face interaction. In Elizabethtown (2005), a soundtrack accompanies a montage of scenes that switch between Drew and Claire to indicate the ways in which being physically apart from each other can actually work to make them feel closer to each other via the mobile phone. The peaks and valleys of the overall tone of the conversation work to indicate an intimacy that is shared between the couple; something that might not exist if they were face-toface. Perhaps being face-to-face would inhibit their movement throughout the scene, which would then limit how much they share with each other. At the end of the scene, Claire and Drew decide to meet up during the course of their mobile phone conversation. They realize, once they are face-to-face, that they peaked on the phone. Hearing a soft voice in one’s head, whispers directly into one’s ear, creates a sense of closeness, of unfettered intimacy, of sharing secrets to the exclusion of all others. This “focused attention” of long romantic conversations may create the same amount of intimacy whether they are happening over the phone or face-toface (Goffman, 1961). Mobile-mediated communication may present venues, not unlike being online, that allow for the users to feel disinhibited and feel as though they have an ability to disassociate from social reality. The ability to share experiences virtually through enhanced multimedia devices creates something that may not be able to be experienced without the assistance of mobile technology. It may generate a sense that what occurs between the two individuals on the phone is something that does not exist anywhere else. As Suler (2004: 323) explains, in terms of personalities and relationships created online: Consciously or unconsciously people may feel that the imaginary characters they ‘created’ exist in a different space, that one’s online persona along with the online others live in a make believe dimension, separate and apart from the demands and responsibilities of the real world.

There is a significant difference between relationships that commence online and those that are created or maintained via the use of mobile technology. However, the use of mobile technology, especially with text messages, photos, and video, may create an online feel to the communication which then may trigger some of the same dimensions around disinhibition and the disassociation from social reality (Em & Lo, 2006). The lack of a true separation between the actual and the virtual may lead to the creation of hybrid personalities: who we are on the 26

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mobile combined with who we are when engaged in face-to-face conversations, a creature of social reality and a creature of fiction (Haraway, 1991; Pertierra, 2005). The increasing ways in which mobile technology is becoming integrated into our physical bodies and as something that we wear may make it even more difficult to manage the seemingly lacking social norms of virtual space with the strict demands of social expectations in actual, physical realms. Perhaps there is a different self that is created over the phone that might lead to the point that Claire raises in Elizabethtown (2005): “I am just wondering if this whole thing is just better on the phone? We’re so much better on the phone. Maybe we should never face each other again”.

Figure 6: Testing the limits of intimacy

Towards what seems to be the end of their conversation, Drew asks Claire, “Doesn’t your ear hurt?” Claire interprets this to mean that Drew may be done with the conversation. As a result, Claire says, with a tone of cynicism, “I’ll let you go”. When Drew responds with, “Wait! When will you be back?” Claire grins and appears to be overjoyed that she has had her intended impact on Drew. This ability to pick up on the slightest of hints indicates that some of the same mechanisms of ‘reading’ the other are in place via mobile phone communication as in actual copresent communication. Often the uninterrupted, intimate, symbiotic sphere created between the user and the caller cannot exist in the actual, physical world. When one recognizes the physical separation and the demands of the physical world, the user has reminded the caller that the symbiotic (and virtual) space created is tenuous. As a result, the caller may test the bounds of the intimacy of the relationship. Ostracism and rejection can be felt via this technology (Smith & Williams, 2004). As a result, a mixture of fantasy and reality underlie a significant amount of mobile phone use. It used to be that these intimate spaces remained within the private space of our homes. Being able to carry our phones with us now gives us the opportunity of infusing mundane physical realms with the often disassociative imaginary of mobile-mediated communication (Em & Lo, 2006). 3.4 Interpersonal seams, ego-centric communication, and the demands of faceto-face interaction As observers to mobile phone conversations in public, we are often privy to only one side of the conversation. The divulgence of personal details of one’s life is quite ego-centric. In Elizabethtown (2005), there was a segment of the scene where it © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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is quite noticeable that by being able to hear both sides of the conversation that Claire and Drew appear to be having two different conversations with each other simultaneously. This scripted disconnect could function as metaphoric evidence to support how ego-centric most mobile communication is. With the personalization of most mobile devices (i.e. ringtones, wallpaper, “skins”), what we do with our phones is ego-driven. When we are contacted during the course of our day we may be inclined to share with our caller what is on our minds at that point in time. Highly personalized modes of communication make us distinctive from others and highlight the separation and difference between ourselves and others. It may be difficult for us to disengage from our current train of thought in order to engage in conversation with our caller. The English idiom, ‘hold on’, means to wait for someone. People utilize this phrase to suspend the flow of the actions taking place. Telling someone to, “hold on”, whether they are the caller or someone observing the phone call, indicates a separation, either between the user and the caller or between the user and someone else present (Döring, 2006; Humphreys, 2005). Initiating a break in the presumably seamless flow of mobile communication then creates a liminal space, a disjuncture, and highlights the interpersonal seam between the two people on the phone. At times, like depicted in Broken Flowers (2005), this break often occurs out of courtesy toward those with whom the user is face-to-face. When one is face-to-face with another, it is viewed as rude not to attend to the face of the person in front of you. In Elizabethtown (2005), when Drew and Chuck are interacting, Drew removes the phone from his ear (while he does not hang up) so that he can give Chuck his full attention. In fact, after Chuck talks to Claire, and hands Drew back the phone, Chuck puts both hands on Drew’s shoulders, to have a “bro” moment. In this shot, the phone is not visible, and while Drew never “hangs up” on Claire, she is not rendered “visible” again until Drew walks away from Chuck, after two hugs, and then turns towards Chuck as he puts the phone back up to his ear. The demands of Chuck’s presence forces Drew to not attend to Claire for about thirty seconds of the clip. This part of the clip highlights how mobile phone users have to negotiate the social expectations of their immediate surroundings alongside the interpersonal expectations of the person who they are talking to on their mobile phone. Suspending communication may be how users compensate for the many demands on their attention and their need to break away from the exhausting work of mobile-mediated communication. Because one can move while on the mobile phone, and the technology itself is mobile, the realms of the virtual and the actual can meet and cross over. There is evidence of the power of this in the literature on Smart Mobs and ‘rendezvousing’ (Rheingold, 2002; Colbert, 2005). When the user and the caller meet, the current inclination is to cease mobile communication and to communicate directly. There is an assumption that face-to-face communication is preferred, that physical contact and the compulsion of proximity precludes the integration of the virtual and the actual (Boden & Molotch, 1994). In Elizabethtown (2005), when Claire and Drew meet each other face-to-face while still on the phone, they decide to simultaneously hang up. There is a slight indication that to continue to use their mobiles while 28

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face-to-face would be ridiculous. In Broken Flowers (2005), when Don and Winston come face-to-face while on the phone with each other, Winston’s break with Don, on the phone, happens so that he can respectfully talk to Don, face-to-face. When face-to-face communication ceases, the two parties remain in each other’s phones, so that physical separation may no longer be represented as disconnecting or parting company, but instead, merely being out of face contact, which is then compensated for by the ways in which the multimedia enhanced mobile phone is used. The prevailing anxiety of being disconnected, of letting the interpersonal seams show, may become an artifact not so readily experienced anymore. Being in someone’s phone may serve as protection from the negative psychological consequences of separation and may alleviate the fear of being forgotten, abandoned or left alone.

Figure 7: Examples of preferring face-to-face contact

4. Conclusion: Peaking on the Phone The goal of this paper was to illustrate the need to develop new ways of gathering evidence to elucidate aspects of mobile communication that appear to be beyond the reach of directly observing actual mobile communication. The kind of analyses performed for this paper would be very difficult to do in the real world. Trying to devise data collection schemes to approximate the amount of access that these film clips provide to the intimacy of mobile symbiosis would be near impossible. In addition, there is a benefit to studying mobile communication beyond the context of actual use and into the mobile imaginary. What mobile communication means to people and their ability to incorporate mobile devices into their daily interactions with others can provide researchers with a glimpse into the fantasies and fears of mobile phone use. In Elizabethtown (2005), once Claire and Drew are face-to-face, they fall silent in each other’s presence. Sitting together next to each other on a stone wall, staring out towards a valley, they remain silent until Claire announces: “We peaked on the phone”, Drew then agrees and they mutually decide to leave. Their recognition that they peaked on the phone and Claire’s fear that perhaps they are better on the phone represented both the angst and the ecstasy around building intimate relationships with others. Peaking on the phone could be represented by the experience of mobile symbiosis. Fig. 1 displays that when mobile symbiosis is at its best, the awareness of contextual and interpersonal seams are low. Does our desire © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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for seamlessness, our penchant to be ‘perpetually connected’, and our incessant chasing of peaks of mobile symbiosis mean that we have discovered a new nirvana – a means to escape the bounds of actual, physical space – the mobile imaginary? 5. References Arminen, I. & Leinonen, M. (2006): ‘Mobile phone call openings: tailoring answers to personalized summonses’. In: Discourse Studies, 8: 339-338. Barry, I. (1945): ‘Motion pictures as a field of research’. In: College Art Journal, 4: 206-209. Boden, D. & Molotch, H.L. (1994): ‘The compulsion of proximity’. In: Friedland, R. and Boden, D. (eds.): NowHere: Space, Time and Modernity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 257-286. Colbert, M. (2005): ‘User experience of communication before and during rendezvous: interim results’. In: Personal & Ubiquitous Computing, 9: 131-141. Cruise, T., Wagner, P. & Crowe, C. (2005): Elizabethtown. [Motion Picture]. Hollywood, California: Paramount Home Entertainment. Cumiskey, K. M. (2005a): ‘Framing public mobile phone use (PMPU): A question of perspective and projection’. Paper presented at the Conferenca ‘Seeing, Understanding, Learning in the Mobile Age’, April 2005: Budapest, Hungary. Cumiskey, K. M. (2005b): ‘”Surprisingly nobody tried to caution her”: Perceptions of intentionality and the role of social responsibility in the public use of mobile phones’. In: Ling, R. & Pedersen, P. E. (eds.): Mobile Communications: Re-negotiation of the Social Sphere. London, UK: Springer-Verlag, pp. 225-236. Dale, E. (1932): ‘Methods for analyzing the content of films’. In: Journal of Educational Sociology, 6: 196-203. Döring, N. (2006): ‘Just you and me – and your mobile’. In: Receiver, 15: Downloaded on 15 May 2006 from http://www.receiver.vodafone.com/15/articles/pdf/15_09.pdf. Em & Lo (2006): ‘I want your text’. In: New York Magazine, April 3, 2006: Downloaded on 15 May 2006 from http://www.newyorkmetro.com/relationships/mating/16496/index.html. Forrester, M. A. (2002): Psychology of the Image. London: Routledge. Gergen, K. J. (2002): ‘The challenge of absent presence’. In: Katz, J. E. and Aakhus, M. (eds.): Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 227-241. Goffman, E. (1961): Encounters. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. Haraway, D. (1991): ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, technology, and Socialist Feminism in the late Twentieth Century’. In: Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge, pp. 149-181. Humphreys, L. (2005): ‘Cell phones in public: social interactions in the wireless era’. In: New Media & Society, 7: 810-833. Ito, M., Okabe, D., & Matsuda, M. (2005) (eds.): Personal, portable, pedestrian: Mobile phones in Japanese life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Katz, J. E. (2006): Magic in the Air: Mobile Communication and the Transformation of Social Life. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Katz, J. E. & Sugiyama, S. (2005): ‘Mobile phones as fashion statements: The co-creation of mobile communication’s public meaning’. In: Ling R. & Pedersen, P. E. (eds.). Mobile Communications: Re-negotiation of the Social Sphere. London: Springer-Verlag, pp. 63-82. Kilik, J., Smith, S., & Jarmusch, J. (2005): Broken Flowers. [Motion Picture]. Universal City, California: Universal. Koskinen, I. (2005): ‘Multimedia Mobile Imaging’. Paper presented at the conference ‘Mobile communication: Current research and future directions, International Communication Association Pre-Conference’, May 2005. New York City, NY, US.

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Ling, R. (1997): ‘"One Can Talk about Common Manners!": The Use of Mobile Telephones in Inappropriate Situations’. In: Haddon, L. (ed.): Themes in Mobile Telephony. Final Report of the COST 248 Home and Work Group. Telia, Farsta: Downloaded on 3 April 2006 from http://www.telenor.no/fou/program/nomadiske/articles/09.pdf. Ling, R. (2002): ‘The social juxtaposition of mobile telephone conversations and public spaces’. Paper presented at the conference ‘Conference on Social Consequences of Mobile Telephones’, July 2002, Chunchon, Korea. Ling, R. & Julsrud, T. (2005): ‘The development of grounded genres in Multimedia Messaging Systems (MMS) among mobile professionals’. In: Nyíri, K. (ed.): A Sense of Place. Vienna: Passagen-Verlag, pp. 329-388. Ling, R. & Pedersen, P. (eds.) (2005): Mobile Communication: Re-negotiation of the Social Sphere. London: Springer-Verlag. Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994): Qualitative Data Analysis (2nd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pertierra, R. (2005): ‘Mobile phones, identity and discursive intimacy’. In: Human Technology, 1: 23-44. Rheingold, H. (2002): Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Basic Books. Rudström, Å., Höök, K. & Svensson, M. (2005): ‘Social positioning: Designing the seams between social, physical and digital space’. Paper presented at the conference ‘HCI International Conference’, June 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada. Smith, A. & Williams, K. D. (2004): ‘R U There? Ostracism by cell phone text messages’. In: Group Dynamics, 8: 291-301. Staiger, J. (2000): Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception. NY, NY: NYU Press. Steinke, J. (2005): ‘Cultural representations of gender and science: Portrayals of Female Scientists and Engineers in Popular Films’. In: Science Communication, 27: 27-63. Suler, J. (2004): ‘The online disinhibition effect’. In: Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7: 321-326. Zhao, S. (2005): ‘The Digital Self: Through the looking glass of telecopresent others’. In: Symbolic Interaction, 28: 387-405.

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Appendix A: Coded Data from Both Film Clips. Contextual Seams 1.) Markers of physical separation/ separate activities.

2.) Making gestures

3.) Interruption by copresent actor in current actual space

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Elizabethtown (2005)

Broken Flowers (2005)

:00 Claire opens gate. :02 Claire dragging bag up stairs. :26 Claire getting her mail. :58 Claire making dinner. 1:08 Drew taking off his pants. 1:16 Drew urinates in the toilet. 1:21 Drew puts phone outside door of bathroom to shield Claire for hearing the flush. 1:22 Claire is cleaning the kitty-litter while talking to Drew. 1:33 Claire paints toenails. 1:39 Drew washes his socks in his bathroom sink. 1:49 Claire washes her undergarments in her bathroom sink. 2:39 Claire laughs and pulls phone away from ear. 2:41 Drew plugs phone charger in. 3:10 Claire is using both hands to pack her bag. 6:12 Claire taking bath. 6:20 Claire slips down into tub. 6:40 Drew pulls phone away from ear and smiles at it. 6:59 Claire plays with suds in bath. 7:17 Claire pulls phone away and smiles big but does not make a sound to hide exuberant response from Drew. 7:45 Drew turns off light. 8:00 Drew turns light on. 8:21Claire putting on lipliner 8:26 Drew looking around :30 Claire pauses and closes eyes (when Drew tells her that his dad is dead) :41 Claire nods head towards phone :55 Drew making hand gestures 2:46 Drew dances to music listening through phone 2:49 Claire dancing in bathroom 4:12 Chuck asks Drew who he is. Drew removes phone from ear to address Chuck and he says “Drew Baylor, your neighbour”. Phone is still in Drew’s hand but he is waving it around and not listening through the ear piece or talking into the phone. 6:21 Claire mouths: “Ow” to “no-one” 6:35 Drew with outstretched arms and raised voice: “And who says that we are supposed to listen to them!” 6:36 Claire emphatically raises her arm with index fingered extended and says “THEY DO!” 6:51 Drew nods and smiles 3:49 As he is walking out of the room, still on the phone with Claire, he comes face-to-face with Chuck also in his hotel bathroom 3:56 Chuck says: “You’re a friend of Chuck’s right?” – Drew says “Yes” – Chuck says “No you’re not… I’m Chuck” – Drew is still holding the phone close to his ear and mouth. 4:06 Claire says “Is that Chuck?” 4:08 Drew says into the phone “It’s Chuck” 4:12 Chuck asks Drew who he is. Drew removes phone from ear to address Chuck and he says “Drew Baylor, your neighbour”. Phone is still in Drew’s hand but he is waving it around and not listening through the ear piece or talking into the phone. 4:15 Chuck says “Oh you are here for my wedding” – Drew says “No” – Chuck: “Business?” Drew: “My dad died” Chuck: “Ah I’m sorry, I can’t think of… that’s hard” Drew (still with phone away from ear, but in hand) “It is hard” 4:30 Chuck starts to get choked up – Drew says “No no no” Chuck moves towards him, Chuck starts to cry, Drew doesn’t know what to

:02 Don making list; Answers phone “Hello Winston?” and then says: “What list… nope I haven’t even thought about it” :41Winston picks up paper with list on it

1:08 Looks at Don through window, off the phone and waves list in air

:19 Don sees Winston walking across his front lawn :31 Don suspends his phone call with Winston to be interrupted by Winston face-to-face; Winston approaches Don leans over coffee table, reaches over picks up list and says to Don, “Any other info on where they might be?”; Don: “Not really that’s where they live, where their families live, that all I can remember” Winston: “Good, cool”

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do – still holding phone. 4:59 Chuck hugs Drew 5:22 Claire says: “Thank you Chuck” –Chuck says: “I love you Claire” Chuck cries into the phone and then waves phone above his head and hands the phone back to Drew. (Drew is left out) 5:33 Chuck puts both hands on Drew’s shoulders, phone is not visible, and says: “It’s all about family bro” 5:50 Drew starts to walk away after hugging Chuck and then turns and Chuck points to Drew and Drew points to Chuck and then places the phone to his ear at the same time.

Mobile Symbiosis 1.) One caller narrates for the other what they are doing (joining)

2.) When both sides of the conversatio n can be heard (by the audience)

Elizabethtown (2005)

Broken Flowers (2005)

:22 Claire: “I am actually almost home now” 2:10 Cut to Drew “Look at this, he was so young here” Drew looking at this father’s photo album Drew only 2:20 Cut to Drew “wow, my mom, not the one they wanted him to marry” 3:45 Drew whispers into the phone as he places two beer bottles, one in each pocket of his robe, “I am currently stealing Chuck and Cindy’s Wedding Beer” 7:53 Claire through Drew’s phone, in the dark, “Hey you are only 45 minutes away; Cut to Claire in the dark too, “Wanna meet halfway and see the sun rise?”; then through Drew’s phone in the dark, “At this point its probably easier to just stay up”; Drew turns light on; Cut to Claire with light back on; Cut to Drew “You think so?”; Cut to Claire. “I think that’s what they say!” 8:21 Cut to Claire: “Take exit 43” Drew through phone to Claire: “Ok” 8:46 Drew and Claire begin to see each other’s cars; still on the phone 8:49 Cut to Drew: “I see your headlights… I see your red hat” 8:57 Cut to Claire: “There you are” 9:14 Cars simultaneously pull over and driver doors open: first Drew then Claire; alone together on a deserted highway; 9:30 Both begin to walk toward each other while still on the phone; Claire through Drew’s phone: “Hello” 9:37 Both walking toward each other while still on the phone; 9:47 Both pause soak in each other’s presence; Claire laughs “Should we hang up now?” :18 Audience sees Claire but hears Drew say: “Tell me about the Nashville airport” :26 Drew’s eyes closed he says: “Claire, my dad’s dead” :30 Claire stops closes eyes, switches ears and says: “I know” :35 Drew opens eyes and says: “You knew” 1:40 Drew says: “Ok I’ll drive back home…” 1:44 Claire smiling, not saying anything, but Drew is heard through Claire’s phone. Drew: “I will go on a road trip ,I was actually going to go with Mitch next year” 1:58 Claire: “Did you ever think, I am just fooling everybody 2:01 Cut to Drew: “You have no idea” 2:26 Claire: “I think that I have been asleep most of my life” Drew: “Me Too” – Music rises to drown out speech and montage of shared experience begins 6:16 Claire: “It’s good to talk about it … that’s what ‘they’ say” Cut to Drew: “That’s what they say huh? 6:28 Drew: “I have always wondered this.. who are they” Cut to Claire: “Ya, know – them” Cut to Drew: “Them” Cut to Claire: “The inimitable collective them” Cut to Drew: “And who says that we are supposed to listen to them!”

:23 Winston: “Are you on a cell phone?” :25 Winston: “Yeah” (as he enters Don’s house) “is it ok that I run in and grab that list?” Don: “Sure why not?” Winston: “Great, hold on a second” :51 Winston: “Ok sorry about that.. look man I am all over this the day after tomorrow, I have everything ready”.

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:25 Winston: “Yeah” (as he enters Don’s house) “is it ok that I run in and grab that list?” Don: “Sure why not?” Winston: “Great, hold on a second” :51 Winston: “Ok sorry about that..” Don: “Its ok” Winston: “look man I am all over this the day after tomorrow, I have everything ready

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3.) Shared mutual experience over mobile phone.

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Claire emphatically raises her arm with index fingered extended and says “THEY DO!” 6:43 Through Claire’s phone we hear Drew: “Doesn’t your ear hurt?” Claire: “Yes” Through Drew’s phone we hear Claire: “I have to get up in two hours and be charming”; Cut to Claire: “I’m going to Hawaii”; Drew nods and smiles: “You’ll get there and have fun”; Cut to Claire: “I’ll get there and I’ll sleep”; 2:44 Claire holds phone up to speaker of stereo 2:46 Drew dances to music listening through phone 2:49 Claire dancing in bathroom to presumed music being played for her by Drew over the phone 2:52 Drew lying on bed wagging foot to music listening over phone 3:13 Audience hears but does not see Claire ask Drew: “Do you want to have a beer over the phone?” 3:18 Cut to Drew in hotel hallway in his robe and socks with phone up to ear 3:23 Music and cheering in the background while Drew saunters down the hallway 3:29 Drew notices a poster for “Chuck and Cindy’s” Wedding that is being celebrated in the hotel, he says into the phone “Chuck and Cindy” 3:31 Cut to Claire laying in bed listening to Drew (Drew is heard through her phone saying “Cindy and Chuck”) she laughs and her facial expression shows her curiosity and enthusiasm. 3:37 Drew comes upon an open hotel room door and spots a tub filled with ice and beer bottles and says “Ahhhh” into the phone, he looks behind himself and then dashes into the room. 3:40 He crouches in front of the bathtub filled with beer bottles and then says into the phone “Nectar from Olympus” 3:41 Cut to Claire still listening, laughing, 3:45 Drew whispers into the phone as he places two beer bottles, one in each pocket of his robe, “I am currently stealing Chuck and Cindy’s Wedding Beer” 3:49 As he is walking out of the room, still on the phone with Claire, he comes face-to-face with Chuck also in his hotel bathroom 3:56 Chuck says: “You’re a friend of Chuck’s right?” – Drew says “Yes” – Chuck says “No you’re not… I’m Chuck” – Drew is still holding the phone close to his ear and mouth. 4:06 Claire says “Is that Chuck?” 4:08 Drew says into the phone “It’s Chuck” (brings her in) 4:23 Chuck: “Ah I’m sorry, I can’t think of… that’s hard” Drew (still with phone away from ear, but in hand) “It is hard”; 4:59 Chuck hugs Drew Chuck takes phone from Drew’s hand puts it up to his ear – “Chuck Hasborough” starts to cry, has arm on Drew’s shoulder and says “Hi Claire – look if there is anything I can do for you guys okay?” 5:22 Claire says: “Thank you Chuck” – she is not mourning loss but now included in the interaction between Chuck and Drew. Chuck says: “I love you Claire” Chuck cries into the phone and then waves phone above his head and hands the phone back to Drew. 5:50 Drew starts to walk away after hugging Chuck and then turns and Chuck points to Drew and Drew points to Chuck and then places the phone to his ear at the same time. 8:19 Drew in car; talking to Claire and driving toward her in his car; 8:22 Claire putting on lipliner, talking on the phone to Drew, and driving!

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Texting and Calling Public Spheres: Mobile Phones, Sound Art and Habermas Frauke Behrendt

1. Introduction “The public sphere is not just there, but has to be invented.” (Schneider, 2002)

This paper is concerned with mobile sound art, that is, with the use of mobile technology in public sound art. Both, mobile technology on the one hand and public sound art on the other, have already been discussed in relation to public space. This paper instead investigates their relation to the public sphere. Can works of mobile sound art show ways of (re-) constituting public sphere(s)? Debates in contemporary art that do consider the relation of art and public space, such as the debates surrounding public art or locative art, have an almost exclusively visual focus. McQuire (2006), for example, examines large-scale public screens, as in his opinion these screens facilitate a collective form of media use in public space, whereas mobile technology, such as mobile phones, tend to be used individually. While individual use of mobile phones is certainly the most prevalent kind of use, it is not the only possible one. The three examples in this paper show how mobile technology can be used in a collective way. This still poses the question whether collective media use in public space constitutes a public sphere – a discussion that will be guiding this contribution. The chosen case studies suggest ways of continuing the tradition of ‘New Genre Public Art’ (Lacy, 1995) and ‘Media Art’ in a mobile context. I additionally propose that Habermas’ work offers a relevant link between public art and communication art as his definition of the public sphere asks for communicative acts to constitute it. Habermas also suggests that art could be one possible link between the private and the public. During the course of the 20th century, electronic media tended to be increasingly situated in private space, including broadcasting media such as TV, communication media such as the telephone, and networked media such as the internet. Those media and communication technologies that arguably enable people to participate in public debates or contribute to public spheres (Dahlgren, 2005) have been largely tied to the private space of the home. By now, mobile technology has started to reverse this development and allowed people to use (their own) media (devices) in public space. Both, non-mobile and mobile media, are not necessarily and not primarily used to constitute public spheres, but it is one of their © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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possible functions. Bringing back this function to public spaces changes them – a process still in the making. At present, this happens mainly in form of private communication and consumption: phone calls, text messages, music listening. This paper challenges this use by looking at art projects that experiment with a different use of mobile media, with opening up private messages to a public debate. I suggest that artistic, activist and collective use(s) of mobile media might also be able to contribute to contemporary public spheres. 2. The framework Habermas is the most widely read and criticised scholar in regards to the concept of the public sphere. This paper evaluates how far Habermas’ concept is productive for the broader debate surrounding the public sphere in sound art and mobile technology by focussing on ‘Between Facts and Norms’, and especially the chapters ‘Deliberative politics: A Procedural Concept of Democracy’, and ‘Civil Society and the Political Public Sphere’ (Habermas, 1996: 287-387). ‘Between Facts and Norms’ is mainly concerned with legal theory, making it less popular in cultural and social criticism than most of his other works. But in the two mentioned chapters he revises many aspects of his earlier concept of the public sphere and thereby opens up interesting ways to discuss public sound art. Overall, Habermas’ revised public sphere concept with its multiple public spheres, mobilised peripheries – and even “rock concerts” (Habermas, 1996: 374) – has become much more flexible in comparison to his earlier conception. The growing discussion about ‘urban screens’ and interaction via mobile phones has attracted an increasing numbers of scholars. Projects with an acoustic focus, sound-based or musical, on the other hand, are still an emergent area of interest (Gaye & Holmquist et al, 2006; Kirisits & Behrendt et al, 2008). Sound is a significant factor of the public sphere, but the debate around the public sphere has been largely overshadowed by a textual focus (with the exception of radio). Other auditory phenomena have only relatively recently attracted sustained scholarly attention within the growing fields of Sound Studies, Auditory Culture and Sound Art (e.g. Bull & Back, 2003; Seijdel & Melis, 2005; LaBelle, 2006). The selected examples add to this debate by exploring the auditory mobile public. The examples discussed in this paper are taken out of the dedicated art institutions into the streets and squares of our cities. This move is more than about the setting though: one of the fascinations of public art and public sound art is that public space is also part of the work’s concept. The audience encounters a piece of public sound art in their everyday context, for example on the way to work. This often involves a surprise moment, an irritation of the daily routine, a curiosity for unusual sounds. It is up to the audience to stop and spend some time with the piece and possibly interact with it, or to just listen while walking past. Drawing on Augé and Flusser, Föllmer (1999) suggests that public space has lost many of its social and communicative functions to the media over time, but hopes that public sound art can be one contribution to a reviving of public space. This is where discussions of sound art usually stop – but the next step is the actually interesting one: Is the act of reviving public space also creating a public sphere? Using mobile 36

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technology to bring back communicative functions to public space might be especially successful in doing so. ‘TextFm’, ‘Tool for Armchair Activists’ and ‘Contact’ all feature the mobile phone as the interface to interact with the work. I suspect it might lower people’s inhibitions to actually participate in a work of public sound art if they can use their own well-known mobile devices, and therefore potentially invite a larger audience to experiment with new forms of constituting public spheres. Habermas argues that shared knowledge in public spaces is eradicated by the private consumption of news through TV and radio (or its silent reception in movie theatres). He is also concerned about the professionalisation and routinisation of media production. My paper attempts to give some hope where reading Habermas might lead us to despair. In the following, this paper introduces three case studies, three examples of mobile sound art: ‘TextFm’, ‘Contact’ and ‘Tool for Armchair Activists’. These examples are discussed in relation to Habermas’ concept of the public sphere as well as the role of media and art in this concept. The paper then explores some aspects of his modified concept of multiple and porous public spheres in more detail: the mobilising of dormant public spheres, agenda-setting on the periphery; as well as episodic, occasional and arranged publics; and finally the role of art in linking private and public. In conclusion, it brings the discussion of art, media and public sphere together to argue that the case studies illustrate the potential of contemporary public spheres by the very process of enabling communication, making a link between private mobile phone communication and public spaces and sonic broadcasting. 3. TextFm The first of the three case studies is ‘TextFm’. In this interactive installation by the British artists Matthew Fuller and Graham Harwood text messages are transformed into a sound collage that is broadcast on radio. Participants are invited to send messages to a phone number that has been published in advance. In addition to the content of the message, people can add parameters concerning the style of the computer voice by adding a specific code: the language (e.g. English or German) as well as pitch and speed of the voice (both on a scale form 0 to 9). The text messages are then read out by speech synthesis software according to these parameters and finally broadcast on a local radio station. The work is constantly changing, depending on how many people participate at any given moment. When many people take part, the incoming text messages sequences of speech weave a seamless carpet of words, whereas during quieter periods only the a continuous background sound, (a mix of un-processed bird song) with the occasional messages in between were heard on radio (Fuller, 2004).

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Figure 1: Technical set-up of ‘TextFm’ by Fuller and Harwood, 2001 Illustration by the author (Behrendt, 2004)

‘TextFm’ has been shown several times in 2001 and 2002.1 Here, I describe two installations, one in London and one in Vienna. On May 10th 2002, ‘TextFm’ was broadcast life on Resonance FM, “London’s first radio art station”. The same broadcast was simultaneously fed into a life performance at a London venue. The audience in the packed London venue used the system to communicate with each other and with the performers: “An intense sequence of exchanges gave a great sense of the spatial and communicatory characteristics of radio being crossed with those both of the mobile phone and of a relatively raucous, tightly-packed phonecarrying crowd” (Fuller, 2004). For all installations of ‘TextFm’ the artists’ log of all the messages shows that the participants invented all sorts of uses for the platform: Some people used the system for “sloganising, conversations, insults, meeting arrangements, flyering for DJ sets, asking questions, setting up conversations” (Kasprzak, 2002). A very different use was more “reminiscent of concrete or sound poetry. Such users would send repeated clusters of characters. For instance a message might comprise of: ‘ugh a ugh a ugh a ugh a ugh a ugh a ugh a...’ et cetera” (Fuller, 2004). In the summer of 2002 ‘TextFm’ was installed in Vienna for a second time, in collaboration with ‘Netbase’. This institution put up a ‘Basecamp’, an orange tent in the streets of Vienna’s museums quarter, which was open for the public. At this particular TextFm installation, the sound was not broadcast on radio, instead, a PA was used for audio output. In addition, people could listen to the audio stream on the internet (and also send messages via a web interface). The internet access was the idea of the host institution that aimed to promote Vienna’s media culture and 1

The first installation of ‘TextFm’ took place in June 2001 at the ‘Lustrum’ event in Amsterdam that was organised by ‘De Waag, Society for Old and New Media’ (Fuller, 2004). There seem to have been some more installations in Amsterdam (Mandl, 2002). In October 2001, the work was also part of the event ‘Interface Explorer’ organised by ‘Public Netbase Media Space’ in Vienna, Austria. There was a live broadcast on the local, non-commercial radio station ‘Orange’.

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to locate it in a global context. The artists remained sceptical about the internet option: “This initiative effectively de-localised the installation” that was originally meant to “find out whether a rich interactive culture of use could – following the London pirate radio scene – be developed in an urban area restricted by the broadcast range of a radio transmitter, or other means of broadcast using the materials of ‘TextFm’” (Fuller, 2004). The main focus of the artists was not the actual content of the messages. They were more interested in discussing the context of open media systems, including aspects such as censorship, legal issues, technological limitations (e.g. length of a text message) etc. The artists understand ‘TextFm’ as an open system that illustrates the term “Media Ecology”2. Fuller’s understanding of “Media Ecology” is that “all media be taken as mutational fields and aggregations of force, subject to change by multiple dynamics, conjunction with new devices, techniques and usages” (Fuller, 2004; see also Fuller, 2005). The work also illustrates Fuller’s concept of “speculative software [that] can be understood as opening up a space for the reinvention of software by its own means” (Fuller, 2003: 30). Harwood and Fuller’s TextFm (hard- and software) platform opened up a dynamic space that is played by the participants and their mobile devices. Later on, I argue that one could understand this dynamic space that is created as a public sphere. 4. Contact The second case study for this paper is ‘Contact’ by Mark Bain, installed in 2003 in Amsterdam. ‘Contact’ consists of two identical units, each comprising of a microphone and a mobile phone, both linked to a bullhorn. These two units are strapped to lampposts “situated across a space but facing each other” (Bain, 2005: 104). The phone numbers of both mobile phones are advertised locally as well as on the internet, disguised as an opportunity to meet someone of the same/opposite sex, not as an invitation to participate in an art installation. If someone calls one of the mobile phones, the call is amplified and projected “into the outside location” by the bullhorn (ibid.). Ideally, someone is calling the second mobile phone at the same time, so that the two remote callers can have a conversation with each other via the bullhorns and microphones. This conversation is blasted across the space, audible for all passers-by, who can also join the conversation by speaking into one of the microphones (Bain, 2005: 104,108). The artist explains the confusion of private and public communication this installation can initiate: “Here, private becomes public and the outsider becomes the interloper, witnessing and disrupting the personal conversation of unwitting participants. It can be seen as an act of strangers listening to strangers talking to strangers, an amplification of communication and confusion” (Bain, 2005: 107). Both parties are taken by surprise, the ones phoning in believe they are contacting a potential partner and the people in front of the units do not expect to hear an amplified phone call. 2

For a more detailed discussion of Habermas and Media Ecology (that does however not discuss ‘Between Facts and Norms’) see Grosswiler (2001). © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Figure 2: ‘Contact’ by Mark Bain, 2003 (Illustration from Bain, 2005)

From the artist’s written description I imagined the work was situated in a public space. The photograph on the other hand suggests that work was set up in the space of a gallery. The only other source about ‘Contact’ is by the Dutch writer and journalist Swenne (Swenne, 2003) and helps to clarify the location of the work: it was actually set-up indoors, in one of several rooms of the ‘Smart Project Space’ in Amsterdam. Swenne writes that the quality of the audio was so bad that she could not understand the phone call that is amplified by the bullhorn. She also observes that the caller being amplified (in this case) is actually in the same room calling from his mobile. Regarding my interest is in public sound art, the gallery setting is not an ideal location. The artist’s emphasis in the written account of the piece and his overall interest in the relation of sound and public space makes it still relevant in this regard. Though Bain is best known for his works that amplify the seismographic information of buildings (e.g. of the collapsing twin towers) (Oliver, 2004), I suggest that his other work exploring “Psychosonics and the Modulation of Public Space” (Bain, 2005) is posing equally interesting questions due to its (potentially) highly interventionist nature. The artist has an ongoing interest in the relation of sound and public space, especially in the “use of advanced sound technologies to control public space” (Bain, 2005: 95). In fact Bain’s work addresses the speculation about the use of sound technology by the military and the police in several countries. Following from this interest, Bain designed several “portable acoustic devices, which play public space in real time” and each of them 40

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“incorporates the public as performer” (Bain, 2005: 104, 108). In the light of this interest of the artist, ‘Contact’ might have worked better in a public context than in a gallery space. 5. Tool for Armchair Activists The ‘Tool for Armchair Activists’ is the third case study for this paper and was designed by the interdisciplinary art group ‘Troika’ (Sebastien Noel, Conny Freyer and Eva Rucki) in collaboration with Moritz Waldemeyer in 2005. It is a selfcontained unit meant to be strapped to a lamppost “in front of pro-eminent buildings like the house of parliament, or other institutional buildings in front of which many protests occur” (Troika, 2005). Participants can send text messages to an advertised phone number. The unit receives the messages, reads them with a computer voice and plays them loudly via a bullhorn.

Figure 3: ‘Tool for Armchair Activists’ by Troika 2005 (From: Troika, 2005)

There seem to be few similarities to ‘TextFm (input by text messages, that are transformed into computer-generated speech) and ‘Contact’ (units strapped to lampposts and output of conversations via a bullhorn), but there is only one unit and no radio connection. Troika advertise as one of the main features of the tool that the activists can stay warm in their comfortable living rooms instead of the “hassle of sitting in the rain, waiting for your favourite MP to pass by” (Troika,

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2005)3. One of the main differences to the two projects presented earlier is the attitude of the artists: Troika regards the work as irony (Baker, 2006) and the group was amused when the work was featured on an activists’ blog (Debatty, 2006), they label protests are “rants” (Troika, 2005). Consequently, they do not see themselves in the tradition of ‘remote activism’ with its culture of online campaigning and hacktivism that has invented numerous new ways for remote (electronic) intervention. 6. Reflections on Habermas’ Public Sphere All three examples juxtapose private communication via text message or phone call with public broadcasting of these private messages. The importance of the communicative action, the platform for communication provided is discussed in relation to how the public sphere is established via communicative action in Habermas’ concept, and some specific aspects of his revised public sphere concept are made productive for talking about these examples. The main reception of Habermas (in the English-speaking world) has been around the 1989 English translation of his 1962 publication ‘The structural transformation of the public sphere’ in which he describes the rise and fall of the bourgeois public sphere. In this book, Habermas idealises the 18th century European bourgeois public sphere although this ideal model was only ideal for white middle class males, discussing politics in places such as coffee houses. “However, as it turned out, from the emergence of capitalism and liberal democracy onwards, the demands of the working class, women and colonial subjects for citizenship and self-determination were framed to practical effect by that contradictory amalgam between the ideal and the actual“ of the public sphere, as McGuigan observes (2005: 428). In Habermas’ 1992 book ‘Between Facts and Norms’, he offers at least a partial reply to various critiques of his theory. In complex societies, the public sphere consists of an intermediary structure between the political system, on the one hand, and the private sectors of the lifeworld and functional systems, on the other. It represents a highly complex network that branches out into a multitude of overlapping international, national, regional, local and subcultural arenas (Habermas, 1996: 373).

Importantly, Habermas understands the public sphere as neither an institution or an organisation or a framework of norms nor as a system; for him it is “a social phenomenon” (Habermas, 1996: 360). Communication is central in establishing the public sphere: “The public sphere can best be described as a network for 3

Troika also refer to the English tradition of ‘Speaker’s Corner’, an area in London’s Hyde Park where the tradition of public oral debate is kept alive, especially on Sunday mornings. There have been visual attempts of using mobile phones to create a modern ‘Speaker’s Corner’ version, e.g. ‘Speakers Corner’ by Matt Locke and Jaap De Jonge. This work offers a public forum for private text messages since 2001 at the ‘The Media Centre’ in Huddersfield, where the messages are being displayed on a large LED screen above the building’s entrance.

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communicating information and points of view” or as a “social space generated in communicative action” (ibid.). One of the key features of the public sphere is the “ideal speech situation”, a space between two (or more) people who communicate with each other, constituting the speech situation by doing so: “Every encounter in which actors do not just observe each other but take a second-person attitude, reciprocally attributing communicative freedom to each other, unfolds in a linguistically constituted public space” (Habermas, 1996: 361). Speech acts have the goal to produce some sort of mutual understanding. Not in terms of a binding law, but in terms of trying to persuade the other person with the better argument. Habermas’ public sphere concept has been criticized extensively, in particular demands for a consideration of multiple and diverse public spheres have been prevalent (e.g. Fraser, 1992; Calhoun, 1992; Crossley & Roberts, 2004), with Fraser’s 1992 account being one of the most prominent ones. Fraser values his concept as “conceptual resource” and necessary for any debate of critical theory and contemporary democracy (Fraser, 1992: 110), but rejects key assumptions of Habermas’ concept of the public sphere as inadequate for existing late-capitalist societies. Her four main points are: a) instead of bracketing inequalities they need to be eliminated, b) we need multiple public spheres, c) the private needs to be included and d) not only weak but also strong public spheres are needed. These four claims together form Fraser’s post-bourgeois concept of the public sphere. 7. Multiple and Porous Public Spheres One of the main critiques of Fraser and others is Habermas’ idea of a singular public sphere. In ‘Between Facts and Norms’ it becomes clear that he has taken some of this criticism on board. His concept has become more fluid and he seems to embrace the idea of multiple public spheres: he observes a “substantive differentiation of public spheres” (Habermas, 1996: 373). Where he talks in the plural he seems to use the terms “publics” and “public spheres” interchangeably, e.g. when he names some publics to illustrate his point about differentiated public spheres: “popular science and literary publics, religious and artistic publics, feminist and ‘alternative’ publics, publics concerned with health-care issues, social welfare, environmental politics” (Habermas, 1996: 373-4). He still talks about a “universal public sphere” referring to it as “the one text” (Habermas, 1996: 374). But he then clarifies that within this overarching public sphere there are numerous “small texts” or “segmented public spheres” (ibid.). He is very insistent about the porosity of the boundaries between them; they “remain permeable” and small texts “can always build hermeneutic bridges from one text to the next” (ibid.); this is a main difference to systems theory with its auto-poetic systems (Luhmann, 1994). In Habermas’ theory, systems can communicate with each other, they do not develop a language of themselves; systems are not auto-poetic. All the various public spheres operate with “natural language” and thus “remain porous to one another” (Habermas, 1996: 374). The question is how a dialogue, a communication situation, can be discussed as an aesthetic experience. There is no art object in a museum or a performance on stage to look at. Art is an open-ended process, a facilitation of communication as © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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art work that is produced through the process of communication on the side of the participants. The participants are collaboratively producing the piece by texting and calling; the artist could be described as a facilitator of this process. The participants are not speechless in front of an art object, nor are they trained art critiques talking about it. Rather, the very process of talking makes the art work. This process seems to bear similarities to Habermas’ public sphere concept, where the public sphere comes only into being though the process of communication between people. Mobile media allow for a distinct way of communication, and this is illustrated in the examples. 8. Mass Media and Habermas This section gives a brief overview of Habermas’ understanding of the role of media, and then moves on to have a closer look at those three aspects that are most relevant in the context of mobile media and artistic practice. Overall, Habermas is very critical about the dominance of the 20th century public sphere by mass media (1996: 355-6, 367, 376) with mass media employing “strategies that lower rather than raise the discursive level of public communication” (Habermas, 1996: 380) and the depoliticisation of public communication being “the kernel of truth in the theory of the culture industry” (Habermas, 1996: 377). He points out that there is a discrepancy between the normative expectations or the ideal state of how media “ought to be” on one hand and the sociological descriptions of a mass-media dominated public sphere on the other hand. For Habermas, mass media have the central role of channelling the exchange of communication between various public spheres: “The currents of public communication are channelled by mass media and flow through different publics that develop informally inside organisations” (Habermas, 1996: 317). In relation to the importance of the flow of communication in Habermas’ concept of the public sphere, it is surprising that for him the media are not the most important part of public communication: The diffusion of information and points of view via effective broadcasting media is not the only thing that matters in public processes of communication, nor is it the most important. True, only the broad circulation of comprehensible, attention-grabbing messages arouses a sufficiently inclusive participation. But the rules of a shared practice of communication are of greater significance for structuring public opinion. (Habermas, 1996:362)

In Habermas’ opinion mass media are important, but not central. The “shared rules of communication” he refers to have the rational argument as their highest aim. The quality of the outcome of a controversy is related to the rationality of the argument and the exhaustiveness of the material taken into consideration. I would argue that the “rules of a shared practice of communication” that Habermas regards as more significant, are also largely formed by the media. Several of Habermas’ observations regarding media – the asymmetry of the media landscape, the pressure of selection and the dominance of established opinions, for example – seem to be less relevant for those of us who are heavy internet users, but are still an issue for traditional mass media such as TV. 44

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“Selectivity” by the producers together with an “unequal distribution of information and expertise” makes the media landscape asymmetric (Habermas, 1996: 325). And “[a]s the mass media become more complex and more expensive, the effective channels of communication become more centralized” (Habermas, 1996: 376). Habermas states that at both ends of the media food chain, “the supply side and the demand side” there is an “increasing pressure of selection”. For him, “this power of the media” is a new type of power that is developing through the “selection processes” (ibid.). He thinks that this new power needs more regulation: it is “not sufficiently reined by professional standards” but “is being subjected to constitutional regulation” (ibid.). Habermas draws a picture of highly professionalized media in all its stages: production, feeding in (via press conferences etc.), personnel, financial and technical resources. He observes that most input into the media is “professionally produced” and also the way of feeding information into the media is professionalized with “press conferences, news agencies, public relation campaigns, and the like” (Habermas, 1996: 376). It is not only being outside these systems that diminishes the chances of being represented in the media, it is also the content of the messages. Drawing on Kaase, Habermas states that “electronic media” are dominated by “’established opinions’”, a “balanced” and “narrowly defined spectrum” (Habermas, 1996: 377). How is information being processed once it has been picked up by the media? All the various channels and programmes compete for the “scarce resources” of “public receptiveness, cognitive capacity, and attention”. This is the reason for designing news according to “market research” with its resulting mix of “information with entertainment”. He disapproves of this as a “syndrome that works to depoliticise public communication” (Habermas, 1996: 557).4 After this general introduction to the role of mass media in Habermas’ concept of the public sphere, I would like to point out three aspects that seem to be especially relevant for artistic practice with mobile technology. First, the mobilisation of a dormant public sphere, second, the ability of topics to move from 4

Some of these developments have arguably been changed by the internet. For a discussions of Habermas’ theory and the internet see for example Dahlgren (2005), Downey & Fenton (2003). Habermas (2006) himself only sees a very limited potential for the internet in balancing mass media developments, as this footnote from a 2006 talk shows: “Allow me in passing a remark on the Internet which counterbalances the seeming deficits that stem from the impersonal and asymmetrical character of broadcasting by reintroducing deliberative elements in electronic communication. The Internet has certainly reactivated the grassroots of an egalitarian public of writers and readers. However, computer-mediated communication in the Web can claim unequivocal democratic merits only for a special context: it can undermine the censorship of authoritarian regimes which try to control and repress public opinion. In the context of liberal regimes the rise of millions of fragmented chat-rooms across the world tend instead to lead to the fragmentation of large, but politically focused mass audiences into a huge number of isolated issue publics. Within established national public spheres, the online debates of web users only promote political communication, when news groups crystallize around the focal points of the quality press, e.g. national newspapers and political magazines” (Habermas, 2006: 9). © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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the periphery of the public sphere to its core and third, levels of density of information. 9. Mobilising Dormant Public Spheres The mobilisation of a dormant public sphere is explored as a way that might be relevant for mobile media and artistic intervention. Habermas introduces the idea of two different states of the public sphere, a dormant one and a mobilised one. In a “public sphere at rest” the influence of the civil society on the political system is rather small, but “in periods of mobilisation, the structures that actually support the authority of a critically engaged public begin to vibrate” (Habermas, 1996: 379). A mobilisation of the dormant public sphere takes place in a “perceived crisis situation“ (Habermas, 1996: 380). According to Habermas, the actors in civil society thus far neglected in our scenario can assume a surprisingly active and momentous role. In spite of a lesser organizational complexity and a weaker capacity for action, and despite the structural disadvantages, mentioned earlier, at the critical moments of an accelerated history, these actors get the chance to reverse the normal circuits of communication in the political system’s mode of problem solving. (1996: 380-1)

One of the first prominent examples for mobile media being used to mobilise a public was the use of text messages (SMS) to summon people for demonstrations in the Philippines in 2001 (Rheingold, 2003: 157). Mobile technology can facilitate two forms of mobilisation. As in the Philippines example, they can be used to gather people for ‘traditional’ forms of protest such as demonstrations. But devices, such as mobile phones, can also be used for remote forms of activism, where the mobilisation does not result in a physical gathering, as the ‘Tool for Armchair Activists’ illustrates. Gordon (Gordon, 2007) gives interesting case studies of mobile phones being used in moments of crisis (e.g. SARS, London bombings) but does not discuss the public sphere concepts. 10. Agenda-Setting on the Periphery Habermas gives a detailed account of how issues can move from the periphery of the public sphere to its core in three different ways. To answer “the central question of who can place issues on the agenda and determine what direction the lines of communication take”, Habermas modifies a model by Cobb, Ross and Ross (Habermas, 1996: 379). These authors have three different models for how new topics can be pushed from first initiatives to decision-making bodies: “inside access model, mobilization model, outside initiative model” (ibid.), depending on who is raising the issue and how it is moved to the decision making bodies. If the initiative comes from inside the political system, and stays inside it without any influence or inclusion of the public sphere, they talk about the inside access model. If the “proponents of the issue must mobilize the public sphere” to successfully pursue an initiative that originated inside the political system, it is the “mobilization model”. The first two models are the most common ones because the power of agenda-setting is with government leaders rather than with the “parliamentary complex” (Habermas, 1996: 380), at least in times of relative stability. For the third 46

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model – the “outside initiative model” – the forces of the initiative are located “at the periphery, outside the purview of the political system” (ibid.). As discussed earlier, the mass media mainly draws on sources by professionals that originate in the centre. Therefore it is much more difficult to “start and manage” issues from the periphery (ibid.), but Habermas gives a long list of successful examples that made this move, from environmental to Third World issues. This third model is the most relevant one for this paper’s examples. Habermas credits initiatives on the periphery as more normative, initiatives from “associations (...) and cultural establishments (...) to ‘public-interest-groups’ (...) and churches or charitable organisations” (Habermas, 1996: 355). ‘TextFm’, ‘Contact’ and ‘Tool for Armchair Activists’ can be regarded as examples for the “informal, highly differentiated and cross-linked channels of communication” that operate at the periphery of the public sphere (Habermas, 1996: 355-6). Along this process of moving from the periphery to the core, the issues need to be taken up by institutions such as “newspapers and interested associations, clubs, professional organisations, academies and universities” (Habermas, 1996: 381). Here, the mass media have a crucial role; they are the main means of moving issues from the periphery onto the public agenda: “Only through their controversial presentation in the media do such topics reach the larger public and subsequently gain a place on the ‘public agenda’” (ibid.). Habermas describes various activities that can boost this process, such as “sensational actions, mass protests and incessant campaigning” (ibid.). I argue that art projects can be one of these activities that can help agenda-setting from the periphery. 11. Episodic, Occasional and Arranged Public Spheres Habermas distinguishes three different levels of the public sphere – episodic, occasional and arranged – depending on the “density of communication, organisational complexity, and range” (Habermas, 1996: 374). Moreover, the public sphere is differentiated into levels according to the density of communication, organisational complexity, and range - from the episodic publics found in taverns, coffee houses, or on the streets; through to the occasional, or ‘arranged’ publics of particular presentations and events, such as theatre performances, rock concerts, party assemblies, or church congresses; up to the abstract public sphere of isolated readers, listeners, and viewers scattered across large geographic areas, or even around the globe, and brought together only through the mass media. (ibid.)

Habermas regards the abstract public that is constituted by the mass media as “isolated” and “scattered” and the only connection between them are the mass media (Habermas, 1996: 317). If ‘TextFm’ is successful in opening up private text messaging to the public sphere, would this public be a episodic one, an occasional one or a abstract public? I suggest that with mobile technology abstract publics might become less abstract and more occasional (participants in some sort of collaborative event in a physical location) and/or more episodic (chance encounters in public space). Users of mobile technology might be chance passers-by that decide to participate in some sort of collaborative event in that very physical location by using their scattered media device. This is what happens with the © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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participant in the presented examples; they participate in a collaborative event with others (who are possibly anonymous and remote), they might join this ‘event’ while on their journey through public space, in the streets for example, and they are participating via their mobile phones. Even though these levels of public sphere seem to become more fluid, they still present relevant terms for describing public sphere that are useful to talk about audiences of public (sound) art. 12. Linking Private and Public via Art Art is part of the “’literary’ public sphere”. Habermas had an ongoing interest in the acoustic medium radio, but predominantly as a mass medium. Music and art have in general been a bit of a pour cousin in Habermas’ theory5. Habermas does not explicitly talk about art in the ‘Between Facts and Norms’ chapters analysed in this paper, but he mentions it twice to illustrate an argument (Habermas, 1996: 360, 365). On one of these occasions, Habermas argues that art can be a way to connect personal life experience and public spheres with its own ‘language’: Besides religion, art, and literature, only the spheres of ‘private’ life have an existential language at their disposal, in which socially generated problems can be assessed in terms of one’s own life history. Problems voiced in the public sphere first become visible when they are mirrored in personal life experience. To the extent that these experiences find their concise expression in the language of religion, art, and literature, the ‘literary’ public sphere in the broader sense, which is specialised for the articulation of values and world disclosure, is intertwined with the political public sphere. (Habermas, 1996: 365)

Habermas makes an interesting link between art and the political public sphere. He describes art, literature and religion as “specialised for the articulation of values and world disclosure”. If art has the capacity to find a language to voice personal life experience, this is potentially quite a powerful position. Art can produce condensed versions of personal life experiences and then bring them out into the public sphere. If these experiences are problems that are situated at the periphery of the public sphere, art might take up a similar function as media in moving issues from the periphery to the core of the public sphere. For the case studies presented in this paper, this function is not centred on the content of the messages sent in by the participants, it is focussed on the very process of communication itself. 13. Communication as art In ‘Conversation Pieces’, Kester develops a “concept of a dialogical aesthetic” and draws on Habermas to make a link between aesthetics and dialogue that is largely overlooked in art discourse. Kester uses Habermas because his model is a “model of human interaction that retains the emancipatory power of aesthetic dialogue without recourse to a universalising philosophical framework” as has been the case in Enlightenment era writings that made the link between aesthetic experience and 5

For an overview of Habermas’ “scattered remarks” on the subject of aesthetics and the problematic of establishing an aesthetic domain of rationality alongside the other two domains of cognitive and moral rationality see Sitton (2003: 104-108).

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its capacity for communication by relying on a transcendent authority (Kester, 2004: 14). For Habermas, discursive communication is to generate a consensus that is not binding, but good enough for the moment. This communication, this striving towards a consensus, becomes necessary if the existing consensus in a group or community breaks down. The universality claim in his concept does not relate to the knowledge that is produced, the universality is in the process of knowledge production as such. It is important to note that this process is productive even if no consensus is reached, as the participants of the debate have honed their debating skills for future discursive encounters, and they have had to take a look from the other’s point of view; this makes the participants of a debate and, I would argue, of an art work, more critical and self-aware. In one of Kester’s case studies – ‘Intervention to Drug-Addicted Women’ by WochenKlausur – the artists invited a diverse range of concerned parties to discuss the drug problem in Zurich during several boat trips on the lake Zurich. The participants were not listening and speaking as people with official roles, but as individuals, and the artists provided the space and time for this. Kester argues that this resembles Habermas’ ‘ideal speech situation’: “WochenKlausur was able to create a physical and psychological ‘frame’ around the boat talks, setting them apart from daily conversation and allowing the participants to view dialogue not as a tool but as a process of self-transformation” (Kester, 2004: 111). The project did actually lead to a local solution to the problem. In the mobile media case studies introduced in this paper, the dialogue is not aimed at resolving a specific social problem, but they can be regarded as enabling by the very process of sending or calling, reflecting about everyday mobile media consumption and communication. In these case studies the frame is the sound, the noise of having these messages broadcast into the public. Kester also argues that the projects tend towards establishing their framework by the very process of communicating. This observation is relevant for ‘TextFm’, ‘Contact’ and ‘Tool for Armchair Activists’. The key is that you do not have to ‘like’ an artwork to start engaging, to open up your sense, to enter the process of self-transformation, because the very process of participating in the communicative encounter triggers the process of critical thinking, reflecting about self, others, space, media. For Habermas, communication is central in establishing the public sphere, a “social space generated in communicative action” (Habermas, 1996: 360). If we read the act of participating in the works, e.g. making a phone call or sending a text message, as a communicative act, this would generate a social space. The messages that establish these works do not stay in the realm of private communication, as they would do in everyday mobile phone conversations, they are broadcast in some form, and reach a wider audience, and possibly also enable dialogue. The case studies enable more than just a two-way communication. In Habermas’ work, the public is constituted to a particular end, i.e. to hold the executive to account. In the art projects discussed here, the content is less relevant than the process, I would argue.

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14. Conclusion The examples have illustrated that artistic interventions do not need to be “eyeopening”, they can also be ear-opening (Habermas, 1985). Sound art breaks with the dominant textual culture and the visual paradigm of art. The presented examples feature a use of sound in public that is not commercialised (e.g. Muzak) and individualised (e.g. iPod). Instead the use of sound in these examples enables some sort of collaboration, a form of communication, where the process of communicating is the work of art. I argue that the art is in the process of communication, in the opening up of the private communication to a public exchange. At first sight these examples might appear not to be very political, not to facilitate a 'proper' debate. I argue that their strength lies not in the content people contribute, in the messages themselves being broadcast. They are not Habermas' ideal rational arguments, exchanged to foster a consensus. The projects rather illustrate the different potential of mobile media. While in everyday life and in their commercial applications they are used for communication between two individuals most of the time, this is not an inherent limitation of the technology. I argue that these art projects can open up our mind, they challenge our preconceptions of what mobile media can do. They make noise in public, they show how we could well use our mobile devices to participate in political debates, to exchange arguments, to reach an understanding. The focus on the artist being a facilitator of communication, of providing a platform for public debate, all these ideas strongly resonate with Habermas’ concept of the public sphere of always being in the making, and being established via communicative action. I argue that sound art in public could take on similar functions as oral discourse, the 'Speakers’ Corner', noisy demonstrations or protests. To explore how mobile technology and art might be able to constitute public spheres is especially relevant with regards to reaching a younger audience that can use the familiar and intimate technology of their mobile phones to interact with contemporary public art. This surely is a slightly hopeful argument, hopeful that despite the ever more commercialised public space and (mobile) media, artists, projects, people find ways to open up a space, a process, a conversation. And the value is exactly in this process of opening up a space and time for exchange, the works come into being by the very process of communicating. No objects, no performance to look at, but sounds to contribute. 15. References Bain, M. (2005): ‘Psychosonics and the Modulation of Public Space. On Subversive Sonic Techniques.’ In: Open. Cahier on Art and the Public Domain, 9: 94-108. Baker, C. (2006): Report on the ISEA2006 Interactive City Summit. Downloaded from http://www.eu.socialtext.net/isea2006/index.cgi?report_on_the_isea2006_interactive_city_su mmit. Behrendt, F. (2004): Handymusik: Klangkunst und Mobile Devices. Osnabrück: Epos. Bull, M. & Back, L. (eds.) (2003): The Auditory Culture Reader. Oxford: Berg. Dahlgren, P. (2005): ‘The Internet, Public Spheres, and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation.’ In: Political Communication, 22: 147-162.

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Downey, J. & Fenton, N. (2003): ‘New Media, Counter Publicity and the Public Sphere.’ In: New Media and Society, 5(2): 185-202. Debatty, R. (2006): Troika at We Love technology. Downloaded from http://www.we-make-moneynot-art.com/archives/008765.php. Föllmer, G. (1999): ‘Klangorganisation im öffentlichen Raum’. In: Motte-Haber, H. d. l. (ed.): Klangkunst: tönende Objekte und klingende Räume. Laaber: Laaber Verlag, pp. 191–227. Fraser, N. (1992): ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actual Existing Democracy’. In: Calhoun, C. J. (ed.): Habermas and the public sphere. London: MIT Press, pp. 109-142. Fuller, M. (2003): Behind the Blip: Essays on the Culture of Software. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia. Fuller, M. (2005): Media Ecologies: Materialist Energies in Art and Technoculture. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press. Fuller, M. & Harwood, G. (2004): ‘TextFm, an account.’ In: TCM (Transcultural Mapping) Online Reader. Downloaded from http://www.locative.net/tcmreader/index.php?practice;fullerharwood. Gaye, L., Holmquist, L. E., Behrendt, F. & Tanaka, A. (2006): Mobile Music Technology: Report on Emerging Community. In Proceedings of the 2006 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME-06). Paris: 22-25. Gordon, J. (2007): ‘The Mobile Phone and the Public Sphere.’ In: Convergence, 13(3): 307-319. Grosswiler, P. (2001): ‘Jürgen Habermas: Media Ecologist?’ Paper presented at the conference ‘Media Ecology Association. Second Annual Convention’, New York University. Habermas, J. (1985): ‘Questions and Counterquestions.’ In: Berstein, J. R. (ed.): Habermas and Modernity. Cambridge: MIT Press. As quoted in Sitton, J. F. (2003): Habermas and contemporary society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Habermas, J. (1989): The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: an Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: Polity. Habermas, J. (1996): Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge: Polity. Habermas, J. (2006): ‘Political Communication in Media Society - Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research.’ Paper presented at the ICA Annual Convention, Dresden. Kasprzak, M. (2002): ‘TEXT FM: Open Broadcasting System. An interview with Graham Harwood and Matt Fuller.’ In: YEAR ZERO ONE FORUM, Spring 2002(10). Kester, G. H. (2004): Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modern Art. Berkley: University of California Press. Kirisits, N., Behrendt, F., Gaye, L. & Tanaka, A. (eds.) (2008): Creative Interactions - The Mobile Music Workshops 2004-2008. Vienna: University of Applied Arts. LaBelle, Brandon (2006): Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art. New York: Continuum. Lacy, S. (ed.) (1995): Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art. Seattle: Bay Press. Luhmann, N. (1994): Soziale Systeme: Grundriss einer allgemeinen Theorie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. Maksymowicz, V. (1992): ‘Through the back door: alternative approaches to public art.’ In: W. Mitchell, J. T. (ed.): Art and the Public Sphere. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 147-57. Mitchell, W. J. T. (ed.) (1992): Art and the public sphere. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Mandl, D. (2002): Harwood interview: TextFm. Downloaded from http://rhizome.org/thread. rhiz?thread=2545&page=1#4538 Matzner, F. (ed.): Public Art. A Reader. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz. McGuigan, J. (2005): ‘The Cultural Public Sphere.’ In: The European Journal of Cultural Studies, 8(4): 427-443. McQuire, S. (2006): ‘The Politics of Public Space in the Media City.’ In: First Monday, 4. Nyíri, K. (ed.) (2003). Mobile Democracy: Essays on Society, Self and Politics. Wien: Passagen Verlag. Oliver, M. (2004): ‘The Day the Earth Screamed.’ In: Guardian Unlimited.

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Rheingold, H. (2003): Smart Mobs: the Next Social Revolution. Cambridge: Perseus. Schneider, J. (2002): ‘Publics on Parade.’ In: metamute, 23(June 2002): 56-57. Seijdel, J. & Melis, L. (eds.) (2005): ‘Sound. The Importance of the Auditory in Art and the Public Domain.’ In: Open. Cahier on Art and the Public Domain, 9. Rotterdam: NAi. Sitton, J. F. (2003): Habermas and Contemporary Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Swenne, M. (2003): eens zien. Downloaded from http://www.dpvs.nl/plaatjes/tentoon.pdf. Troika (2005): Tool for Armchair Activists. Downloaded from http://www.troika.uk.com/ armchair_activists.htm.

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Mobile ‘Media’?

Mobile Messaging and the Crisis in Participation Television Gerard Goggin & Christina Spurgeon

1. Introduction In this chapter we approach the theme of what comes ‘after the mobile phone’ through a consideration of mobile text messaging. Text messaging has been pivotal to the development of our notions of what is the mobile phone, and also to the development during the latter half of the 1990s of what is mobile phone culture (Goggin, 2006). There remains considerable interest among the public, industry, and scholars in text messaging. In a sense, then, text messaging can be seen as a hinge between the classic period of the mobile phone, and its establishment or even black-boxing as a technology (to follow the traditions of social studies of science and technology), and what follows ‘after’ the mobile. One of the interesting things about text messaging is that it relatively early on provided a bridge between the mobile phone and other media and communications. Specifically text messaging has become incorporated into television, and has actually become quite important to contemporary developments in that medium. This has been most salient in the premium rate telecommunications services that have become incorporated into the reshaping of program formats internationally. Good examples are the use of mobile messaging for voting, downloads, ringtones, video and images, and audience interactivity as they developed in programmes such as Big Brother, Idol, and their cognates. There is also the phenomenon of quiz television, or programmes, often in late-night viewing slots, that offer quiz questions to which viewers provide answers via phone or SMS. Premium rate mobile and telecommunications services have built upon the earlier structures of the premium rate industry (established in the 1980s) to become a lucrative market in their own right. Revenue streams from mobile messaging’s role in television have become significant for broadcasters and programme makers, as well as new content and service providers, and interactive multimedia marketing agencies. These have been described by John Hartley as the new intermediaries of the ‘plebiscitary’ industries (Hartley, 2007). As polling and audience research industries digitise, these industries are able to convert ‘the mechanical act of choice into a “plebiscite”’. They also support the incorporation of acts of mobile-mediated choice into televisual displays.

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This area of convergent television structured upon and featuring mobile and telecommunicative-based interactivity is referred to here as ‘participation’ television. It is recognized as in important area or genre in its own right. Because a commercial transaction is at its core (for example payment to register a vote, acquire a ringtone, or enter a competition) participation television can be understood as an important development in direct selling (Nightingale & Dwyer, 2006). Importantly, participation television also breaks the closed circuit of broadcast media. It indicates a shift in the culture, politics, and social relations of television from those of representation to direct participation (Hartley, 2007). John Hartley argues that the commercial success of the new television forms enabled by the plebiscitary industries reflects ‘a widespread popular desire for participation in a direct open network rather than control by closed expert systems.’ He further argues they are transitional forms through which the plebiscitary industries are conducting R&D, ‘to see how far they can maintain the scale of modern ‘behavioural’ or ‘mass’ communication while accommodating new demand for personal choice and direct participation in large-scale communicative interaction’ (Hartley, 2007). We have discussed these relationships between mobile messaging and television in an earlier series of papers (Spurgeon & Goggin, 2007; Goggin & Spurgeon, 2007; Goggin & Spurgeon, 2005). What we have sought to show is that premium rate text messaging has been an important way in which mobiles have become part of contemporary television - and so have moved centre-stage in transformations in media cultures (May & Hearn, 2005; Wilson, 2006). In this paper, we wish to build upon this earlier work, and offer an analysis of the conjuncture in which mobile messaging featured as the cause of a major crisis in broadcasting in Britain, and the implications of the ethical shortcomings of participation television for co-regulatory approaches to mobiles and media. Deceptive practice by various broadcasters and providers in Britain in 2006-2007, including the touchstone institution of the BBC, was exposed, revealing major incidents of the public being misled in quizzes, contests, and other features of the new participation television form. Not only did this send shockwaves through the mobiles and television industry in Britain, leading to tough re-regulation, it also resonated worldwide - as the development of new policy in Europe shows. These developments not only pose challenges and questions for the future of broadcasting. They also provide fascinating insights and provocations regarding the futures of mobiles, and their role in media. Accordingly in this paper we hope to make sense of what these practices, and the crisis in which they culminated, mean for understanding mobiles and messaging, and their now uneasy place in television and media generally. The paper falls in four parts. Firstly, we review the development of mobile television and participation television. Secondly, we look at how the British crisis developed. Thirdly, we look at the responses by industry, regulators, and publics in Britain, Europe and elsewhere. Fourthly, we discuss the implications of this crisis for co-regulation. The need for industry to embed development of ethical solutions to operational failures into innovation processes is identified as an important 56

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matter for co-regulatory oversight of mobiles and media. This requires a regulatory approach that is grounded in an understanding of the new conversational architectures of media in which mobiles are key. 2. The Development of Mobiles in Participation Television There has been much discussion about mobile television in recent times, yet this new form has been relatively slow to develop (Goggin, 2007). By contrast, where mobiles have featured in television has been more widely canvassed in terms of what is now called ‘participation television’. Much of this work has debated whether, how, and the extent to which participation television effects a democratisation of mass media (for example Roscoe, 2005; Nightingale & Dwyer, 2006; Hartley 2007). In our earlier work we have drawn attention to the historical development of premium rate services (PRS) over the past two decades, and the public and regulatory concerns these value added telecommunications services have raised, particularly as they have converged with other media services. Here, telephone lines and billing services provided by telephone companies have been used by third parties to offer a range of information and entertainment services, whether offering recorded or ‘live’ services. Such services are offered at a premium rate – that is, at a price over and above the usual price a subscriber would pay for a telephone call. These premium rate services rely heavily on commercial media in order to advertise their existence. They came to prominence around the world in the 1980s, especially because of their association with adult entertainment. Fax services became part of the larger premium rate telecommunications market, and such services were used by a range of government, charity, not-for-profit and non-government organisations, and educational institutions to offer information, whether to cover costs, make information more easily available, or to raise funds. From the early 1990s, premium rate services became used in television programmes as a means for audience interaction, as did other ‘enhanced’ participation options such as interactive television on cable or pay television (Nightingale & Dwyer, 2006), especially with the rise of ‘reality’ television programme formats. Here premium rate services became an integral part of Big Brother, Idol, and many other programmes around the world. Rapid consumer adoption of mobile telephones in this period also significantly boosted usage of premium rate services associated with these formats, and encouraged the development of new generations of mobile premium rate services, many of which were tightly integrated into television services. The development of text messaging on mobiles, and the user acceptance, indeed fascination with text messaging, saw premium rate services used in further, innovative ways. Not only could messages be sent to interact with a programme, as in the example of voting. Messages could be displayed on screen, or collected for printing. The mobile could also act as a media device in its own right. With the multimedia and imaging capabilities of second generation (2G) handsets, interfaces, applications and networks (and also the extensions to these with 2.5 and 2.75 G networks, with enhanced data capabilities), images, video, and music could be © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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downloaded to phones – or viewer-captured and generated-content uploaded back (though television networks were not so interested in this option, hence the runaway success of the YouTube platform, and social networking software). With mobile messaging an increasingly important part of television innovation and networks, and television facing multiple pressures from rising costs, fragmenting and declining audiences, and competition from new media channels, participation television emerged with its own dedicated formats and channels. Especially favoured here was the quiz, with a new genre of quiz shows emerging inane, lengthy and ubiquitous, and featuring mobile and telephone interactivity. This trend was most evident in Britain, where the market-based development of digital television platforms was most advanced. Not only were whole programmes devised that turned principally, if not solely, on notions of interaction premised on the mobile, but entire channels were devoted to participation television. For example, in November 2003, a dedicated participation television channel, Nation 217, was launched on the satellite platform BSkyB, with premium rate voice and SMS and interactive television for interaction and payment mechanisms (Forward Look, 2005). Another leading instance was the creation of ITV Play, a whole channel dedicated to quiz television by leading British commercial broadcaster ITV (BBC, 2007). The intersection between evolving mobile phone culture and renovated television culture was a heady mix, with significant revenues and market potential. In mid-2005 a report commissioned by then UK premium rate telecommunications regulator ICSTIS emphasized the buoyant outlook: The provision of participation television services in the UK is continuing at a high level, in specific programmes on terrestrial and multi-channel television, and in dedicated participation television channels … The UK’s major commercial broadcasters are pursuing premium rate revenues aggressively. Both ITV and Channel 8 have managers dedicated to the commercial exploitation of premium rate services. In 2004, ITV doubled its revenues from premium rate telephony. Consequently, a significant number of programmes in broadcasters’ schedules include participation television calls to action for premium rate telephony services. (Fathom, 2005: 13)

Of the areas considered, the report nominated the mobile, as ‘experiencing the greatest growth and change’: … the mobile phone is now near-ubiquitous … and spurred on by the launch of 3G networks, is increasingly capable of delivering advanced services beyond voice and text communications … the level of convergence and complexity is very high … (Fathom, 2005: 16)

The report notes that the ‘typical mobile handset’ fulfils four main roles at once: voice telephone; web browser; content consumption device; and payment mechanism (Fathom, 2005: 16). Ominously the Fathom/ICSTIS report underlined that the great potential of mobile and other premium rate services for increasing the richness, duration, engagement, and profitability of media consumers’ interactions with television and other consumers also deepened consumer protection concerns: ‘The increasing exposure to participation television potentially amplifies current consumer protection issues’ (Fathom, 2005: 14). This proved to be a prophetic warning. In the event, the danger did not come so much from the 58

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increased availability of participation television around the clock, or the ease and delight in use through mobiles. Rather, the crisis came from long-cherished values of truth and trust, the calling into question of which not only got premium rate services off television channels - but also fed into a national scandal about the nature of broadcasting itself. 3. The British Participation Television Crisis The momentum of premium rate mobile services in broadcasting was brought to a sudden and spectacular halt in Britain. It was progressively revealed that a number of programmes offered by the public sector broadcasters (BBC and Channel 4) as well as commercial broadcasters (such as ITV) had misled their audiences about how quizzes, competitions, and other aspects of participation television were conducted. Programme makers, service providers, and staff of broadcasters had variously allowed grave flaws, misrepresentation, or deception regarding competition, voting, and participation. At stake were the reputations of much-loved British programmes (for instance the children’s program, Blue Peter, and the longrunning show Richard and Judy), as well as the peerless reputation of the BBC itself. The scandal broke in mid-February 2006, when the Mail on Sunday reported emails from the producer of Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan’s quiz programme You Say, We Pay revealing that viewers were still encouraged to enter the quiz, even though contestants had already been picked: Gran Lilly Cooper, 60, claimed yesterday that after she was picked to play Richard and Judy’s You Say We Pay in November 2002, the TV couple continued to urge people to enter on a £1 premium phone line. (Miller & Methven, 2007; see also Holmwood, 2007a)

Implicated in the furore were Cactus, production company Eckoh, the phoneline operator, and Channel 4 itself (celebrating its 25th anniversary that year). As the scandal metastasised, claims arose that viewers complained about the improper conduct of the quiz programme at least two years beforehand (Townsend, 2007). The response of the hosts was outraged denial: ‘As the scandal mounted, Richard Madeley declared: “I’m f***ing furious and so is Judy. We’re livid.”’ (Miller & Methven, 2007). The attention of journalists, fuelled by viewer complaints, widened to scrutinize other programmes. Quickly the BBC was implicated. Questions were raised about its Saturday Kitchen show, where the presenter asked viewers to call a premium rate number if they wished to put questions to the chef even though the show was pre-recorded (Holmwood, 2007b). This programme was also produced by the Cactus and Eckoh team. For its part, the Daily Mirror conducted some research in which a ‘reporter sat in front of a TV for 18 hours and participated in as many premium-rate phone quizzes and competitions as possible’ (Gibson, 2007): 5.05AM: Back on ITV PLAY it’s BUZZWORDS. We text in 63 words and win the game, and are entered for a £2,000 jackpot. But none of our numbers come up. TEXTS SENT: 63 TOTAL £53.55 9.30AM: After a break, more BUZZWORDS. We send texts but win nothing. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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10.00AM: Next up is Izit?, where we guess catchphrases. A flurry of texts, no prize. Back to the quiz. The only winner is a caller chasing the £2,000 jackpot who scoops £50. TEXTS SENT: 105 COST: £89.25. (Chaytor & Methven, 2007)

Broadcasters quickly ran for cover. ITV immediately decided to refund monies to contestants, and give any leftover funds to charity; Richard and Judy axed their You Say We Pay quiz; Eckoh axed Cactus; and within the month ITV suspended all its premium rate phone-ins. In many ways the Richard and Judy call TV scandal paled in comparison to the allegations that arose the next month about the much-loved children’s television programme Blue Peter: Blue Peter has become the latest television programme to become embroiled in the premium-rate-phone-line scandal after it emerged the show faked the winner of a viewer competition after the phone lines failed. The BBC1 children’s show ran a phone-in competition to raise money for its Blue Peter Appeal in aid of Unicef. But a technical failure meant the production team was unable to access viewer calls, and a member of staff asked a child visiting the studio to phone the programme and give the answer on air. She was then awarded the prize. (Plunkett, 2007a)

The BBC reacted strongly and swiftly to review all its children’s programmes. The premium-rate scandal in BBC programmes was linked to the furore over other forms of ‘fakery’, such as the misleading editing of a promotional video for a programme about the Royal Family, which wrongly suggested that the Queen had stormed out from a session by the renowned photographer Annie Lebovitz. A number of other participation television programmes and channels were also suspected of breaching appropriate standards in their use of premium-rate services. As a result the entire area of premium rate culture (Goggin & Spurgeon, 2007) was put into question. Perhaps more surprising was that the crisis in this area of convergent and mobile media fuelled a general crisis about broadcasting. 4. Public and Policy Responses The public response to the participation television scandal was fast and furious, but also multi-layered. Firstly, there was outrage about the lack of transparency of premium-rate services, and the breaching of what were felt to be well-established protocols and standards for the conduct of competitions, quizzes, and even other new forms of interaction. This could be gauged not only by the vigorous expression of upset in various public forums and media, but also in the high volumes of complaints to the appropriate bodies. Secondly, there was much expostulation and decrying of the untrammelled pursuit by broadcasters of the commercial opportunities and pressures that premium-rate services had brought them. There were revelations, for instance, such as that by Channel 4’s Paul O’Grady host of an eponymous daytime chat show: Paul O’Grady later spilled the beans to us on how he was strongly encouraged to “crank up” moneyspinning phone-in competitions on his show. He said: “The pressure I was put under to do phone-in competitions

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was unbelievable. It was all about making money. I refused to do it and there was a big boo hoo.” (Fricker and Maclean, 2007; see also Fitzsimmons, 2007)

In the wake of the scandal, revenues from premium rate participation television services dropped dramatically, spawning declarations that this oncebooming market was now without real prospects - and that its business model was defunct. Here is a leading parliamentarian opening on ITV’s decision to suspend services: Media select committee MP Nigel Evans said: “This decision will cost the channel dearly. If the quizzes were axed permanently then ITV would lose at least £35million, possibly even as much as £50million. But despite that, the reaction of most viewers will be three cheers. These quizzes have become the scourge of television. Perhaps now ITV can go back to making decent TV rather than wasting their output on this rubbish.” (Fricker and Maclean, 2007)

And here is a view from one of the industry’s luminaries, Aat Schouwenaar, the chairman and chief executive officer of Endemol: “The business model is under pressure in the UK and the Netherlands but there are other countries like Russia and the US and in South America where we still have more than enough opportunities to exploit callTV,” he said, at the European Media Leaders Summit in London today. “We don’t see huge growth opportunities today coming back to the UK or Netherlands, where call-TV is almost forbidden by the government.” … “It is about discipline, you need to do this well. If you don’t do this well, the business model will be killed,” he said … “It is not a business model on which I would build the future of Endemol.” (Holmwood, 2007c)

Here Schouwenaar is not so such much declaring the end of an era, but certainly is bruiting the need to shop around for laxer jurisdictions (a long theme in premium rate services; Goggin & Spurgeon, 2005). Thirdly, concerns were raised and critique intensified the character of the new popular culture of mobiles and television, and what it signifies for society in general. Fourthly, this pessimism about such forms of participatory media, not to mention mobiles, was all the more profound because it was felt to revolve around core values of truth, fairness, and accuracy. These are the values that ‘quality’ media in particular are felt to embody. All the more so in the case of the public sector broadcasters, notably the BBC, which were felt to have betrayed the trust of their viewers, and to have vitiated both the traditional contract between citizen and broadcaster, and the new contract between the mobile-wielding citizen-consumer and participation television broadcaster and providers. Not surprisingly, there was debate about the very direction of television and media in general (Fincham, 2007; Plunkett, 2007). In particular, though, the issue of trust was widely discussed during 2007 and into 2008, in key meetings such as the conference of the Royal Television Society, as well as notable speeches by the Culture Secretary, and leading broadcaster Jeremy Paxman at the Edinburgh Festival of Television (Paxman, 2007). For its part, the BBC responded with broad strategy to regain public trust (Gibson, 2008). © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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We will return to the public debate later in the chapter, but for the present we would like to briefly summarize the policy response to the participation television scandal. First, the broadcasters themselves - ITV, BBC, and Channel 4 - swiftly initiated their own inquiries, modified or dumped programmes, and sought to publicly mollify, placate, and reassure the public. For instance, ITV commissioned Deloitte to report on the allegations, the findings and summary of which was then publicly released (ITV, 2007) - and widely criticized for its limited scope. Second in line for an immediate response as the scandal broke in February 2007, and complaints mounted also, was the industry regulatory agency ICSTIS. ICSTIS is a co-regulatory body, with its own board and staff, and code of practice, but ultimately with its powers underpinned by the Communications Act, and subject to monitoring by the regulator Ofcom. Initially the industry and doubtless ICSTIS also hoped to deal with these issues through the established regulatory framework and by the exercise of ICSTIS’s powers, authority and leadership (see, for example, ICTIS 2007a & 2007b). After all, the premium rate services industry has hardly been a stranger to scams, frauds, sharp practice, and sailing too close to the breeze of consumer protection regimes. However, the adequacy and strength of ICSTIS and its framework were also brought into question. Third, there was considerable parliamentary interest and activity already in premium rate services that was deepened and extended. In 2006, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee had held an inquiry into Call TV quiz shows (House of Commons CMS Committee 2007a). The Select Committee renewed its interest after the February and March 2007 revelations (House of Commons CMS Committee, 2007b). Fourth, the government itself became very concerned about the scandal, and sought to act. A central policy problem in the scandal was the lack of a unified regulatory framework, with at least four possible regulators playing a role. Hence advice and action on the regulatory framework was deemed desirable, and eventually this emerged with government leadership, working in conjunction with the regulator Ofcom. Fifth, Ofcom undertook an inquiry into premium rate services in television programming, led by Richard Ayre (Ayre, 2007; Ofcom, 2007c). Ayre found ‘systemic failure by broadcasters’: • Compliance failures were systemic; • Revenue generation was a major driver in the growth of PRS; • Some broadcasters appeared to be in denial about their responsibilities to ensure programmes delivered on the transactions they offered to viewers; • There was an apparent lack of transparency through the supply chain between telecoms operators, producers and broadcasters - resulting in a lack of clarity about responsibilities; and • Broadcasters are concerned that there is a lack of clarity between the regulators, Ofcom and ICSTIS. (Ofcom, 2007a) 62

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In March 2007, Ofcom also initiated a consultation on the future regulation of participation television (Ofcom, 2007b). For this consultation as well as inviting submissions, it also commissioned a number of very useful reports on the state of the industry (Mediatique, 2007), the nature of the programmes themselves (Communications Research Group, 2007) and viewer responses (Essential, 2007). This had the side benefit of putting valuable, and much-needed information in the public domain about this little-understood area of convergent media. The result was a set of decisions to rename and reposition ICSTIS as ‘PhonepayPlus’. These also helped to significantly reshaped the new PhonepayPlus’s governance arrangements, to put the body much more closely under the supervision and control of Ofcom: • Closer arrangements for agreeing objectives and strategies, and clearer reporting of policy issues and market trends; • A senior Ofcom official to become the sponsor for the relationship with PhonepayPlus; • Ofcom to have the ability to give PhonepayPlus direction on issues which it considers of particular importance or where clarity of responsibility needs to be explicit; and • All appointments and re-appointments on the PhonepayPlus Board and the Chief Executive to be subject to Ofcom approval. (Ofcom, 2007a) From this necessarily brief discussion of the policy response and public debate, we now wish to turn to a consideration of the implications of the participation television scandal. 5. Implications for Co-regulation of Mobiles and Media The British participation television scandals focused on the failure of premium rate services to deliver to audiences what they wanted and what they had paid for. The regulatory response was interesting and important for two related reasons. First, it was not the thorny issue of adult content that provoked the scandal and subsequent policy response. Certainly the operational failure of participation television to respect and protect the interests of vulnerable groups such as children was a theme of the Blue Peter scandal in particular. However these questions of ethical integrity were raised in a qualitatively different register to that occupied by earlier censorship and classification debates in which premium rate services had been embroiled. At stake were questions of trust and fairness in the operation of participation television, with the impact of mobile premium rate services on a democratic media being the crucial point of contention. Second, even though the scandal occurred against the background of continuing media panic and public anxiety about the capacity of a purportedly democratic class of media services to produce ‘unworthy’ winners (Hartley, 2007), the policy response came to focus on how the terms and conditions of popular participation in television are established and monitored, and the role of © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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government in these processes. This, also, is not new in the patterns of national policy responses to premium rate services. Neither is the fact that the policy response contributed to the curtailment of many instances of participation television. However, to the extent that it was expressly directed at clarifying and systematising regulatory norms for participation television, the policy response took a new turn. Although industry retains leadership responsibility for developing consumer protection arrangements for premium rate services, this is exercised under increased government supervision. Whether this altered arrangement is more effective in representing the interests of participation television audiences in the regulation of premium rate services - or whether it has the effect of stifling the genre altogether - remains to be seen. There is an interesting historical parallel to be drawn between the British participation television scandals of the early noughties and the quiz show scandals that rocked American network television in the 1950s. In the 1950s quiz shows were an important television genre with nearly two dozen of them featuring in broadcast schedules. Importantly, these were not only paid for by advertisers but actually created by them. (This practice had originated in commercial radio and then transferred to commercial television.) Rumours about rigging began to circulate in 1958 and were publicly confirmed in the following year when contestants began to reveal that sponsors had fed them answers, unbeknown to programme and network producers in order to ensure control of the game outcomes (Turner, 2004). In the regulatory and television industry response to the public furore that followed, single-sponsored programming was quickly curtailed. Within the decade this type of programming all but disappeared from network schedules and the television business model based on sales of advertising spots became entrenched. The failure to meet expectations of fairness in the conduct of quiz shows contributed to the conditions in which the participation possibilities for advertiser-producers in the broadcast television medium could be narrowed. In the contemporary British scandal mobile marketers’ opportunities for direct participation in the benefits television are also at risk of being diminished for strikingly similar reasons. The opportunity to put advertisers at arm’s length was grasped in the 1950s by a new media industry that was in its ascendance. Now, television needs to explore collaborative possibilities if it is to maintain viability in an increasingly competitive media and entertainment marketplace. Participation television has emerged as a particularly promising form for two reasons. First, there is strong audience interest in it. Second, it is potentially capable of sustaining much greater operational transparency than other re-emerging collaborative practices such as product placement and branded content, which actively seek to obscure the social relations of production (for example, Dunn, 2003). It is important to the future of both television and mobile premium rate service industries that the successes of participation television in this respect are also considered, not just the failings. There is at least one instance in which the failure of premium rate voting was publicly acknowledged by a premium rate mobile intermediary. In the 2004 Australian series of Big Brother votes for one eviction were mis-counted, but the 64

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error was not discovered until after the incorrect housemate had been evicted. With the support of the programme’s producer and broadcast partner, the mobile premium service intermediary sought and found an ethical solution. The unfairly evicted housemate was re-instated. This solution was widely reported and commented upon in the popular media (including web media). Although traumatic for the housemates involved, a general consensus emerged that the partners had acted appropriately in respecting and delivering upon the popular choice of the audience. Indeed, according to David Burden, Chief Executive of the premium rate intermediary Legion Interactive at the time, the ethical solution proved also to be a good business decision: How’s it affected us? Well it affected the team greatly. Outside of that we did our best to handle it with confidence and integrity and apart from it generating a wad of paper about two inches (thick) of media it really hasn’t hurt us. We have lost no business over it. In fact we have actually gained some business out of it believe it or not because people said, ‘we want to work with a company that has integrity and honesty, therefore we are going to work with you guys’ ... So it was absolutely fine and two days after that we signed the agreement to do Idol. (David Burden, personal interview, 16 August 2004)

Assuming this solution was also fed back into the global Big Brother innovation system (Cunningham, 2002) it provides an interesting and important instance of how this aspect of the ethical integrity of participation television can also be addressed in market-based innovation. 6. Conclusion Participation television illustrates the way in which the mobile involvements of audiences increase the complexity of media production. When regarded as a source of added value, and not just the end-point of consumption, audience participation can be understood as one of a number of new inputs - along with mobile premium rate services - that constitute participation television. The inputs of audiences also help to transform the value chain of television production from a linear to a more networked model. Though not yet as elaborate as those supported by the web, these involvements of audiences in the production process add new layers of complexity to the practical challenges of producing and regulating television. Regulatory responses to participation television are nonetheless bounded by the pre-existing norms of media and communications law and policy. The prevailing discourses of media regulation address the politics, practices and limits of representing and informing citizens, just as discourses in and of the conditions of connectivity and participation in the benefits of networks have been for communications. In the convergent space opened up by participation television, a variation is identified here. Certainly the power exercised by organised capital in the case of participation television is far greater than that of disorganised consumer-citizens, and there is a clear role for governments in ensuring that conflicts of interest in participation media are managed fairly and transparently. An approach to managing coregulation grounded in an understanding of audiences as collaborators in the participation television production process, not just as vulnerable subjects that need © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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to be protected from it, can help to strike this balance, and so support the ongoing development of fair participation television forms and practices. Indeed this insight has potential application to many media and communication services which continue to proliferate. For discussion and debates about the future of the mobile phone, and its implication in the contemporary media and communications landscape, what the British participation television case reveals is also instructive. The existing practices and rhetorics shaping mobiles’ incorporation in television had given some notional centrality to the role of active, networked audiences. After all, this kind of television had even been declared to be a species of ‘participation’. However, the understanding of audiences was ironically still very narrow - and its grasp of the exact nature of co-creation and collaboration here in these new formats and cultural forms was quite imprecise. The dominant understandings that so quickly arose neither did justice to the nature of mobile use, nor to the continuing themes and investments by citizens, consumers, and users in media (even in its new modes). Here surely is an object lesson for understanding the aftermath of the mobile - the complex, volatile, and still emergent scene of the mobile as media. 7. References Ayre, R. (2007): ‘Report of an inquiry into television broadcasters’ use of premium rate telephone services in programmes’, Ofcom, London. Downloaded on 18 July 2007 from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/prsinquiry/ayrereport/. BBC (2007): ‘R.I.P. ITV Play’, BBC News. Downloaded on 14 March 2007 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6449213.stm. Chaytor, R. & Methven, N. (2007): ‘Richard & Judy’s Four Year Con’, Mirror.co.uk. Downloaded on 22 February 2007 from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/ 02/22/richard-judy-s-four-year-con-89520-18657061/. Communications Research Group (2007): ‘An independent report on Participation TV — quizzes, adult chat and psychic readings’, Programme Content Analysis Summary produced for Ofcom. Downloaded from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/participationtv /contentanalysis/. Cunningham, S. (2002): ‘Culture, Services, Knowledge or Is Content King or are We Just Drama Queens?’ Paper presented at ‘Communications Research Forum’, October 2002, Canberra. Downloaded on 3 September 2005 from http://www.crf.dcita.gov.au/papers02/ cunningham.pdf. Dunn, A. (2003): ‘Ethics Impossible? Advertising and the infomercial’. In Lumby, C. & Probyn, E. (eds.): Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics. Victoria: Cambridge University Press. Essential (2007): ‘An independent report on Participation TV – quizzes, adult chat and psychic readings’, Viewer research summary. Downloaded from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/ condocs/participationtv/research/. Fathom Partners (2005): ‘Review of Market Developments, ICSTIS – Forward Look Group’, London. Downloaded on 17 May 2005 from www.phonepayplus.org.uk/pdfs_research/ research_prfuture.pdf. Fincham, P. (2007): ‘What is television for?’, The Guardian. Downloaded on 26 November 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/26/mondaymediasection.television. Fitzsimmons, C. (2007): ‘O’Grady: I’d quit over phone scandal’, The Guardian, Downloaded on 25 October 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/oct/25/television.channel4.

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Fricker, M. & Maclean, S. (2007): ‘Game’s up for ITV phone-ins’, Mirror.co.uk. Downloaded on 6 March 2007 from http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/latest/2007/03/06/game-s-up-foritv-phone-ins-89520-18711645/. Gibson, O. (2008): ‘BBC launches action to rebuild trust’, The Guardian. Downloaded on 15 January 2008 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/12/politicsandthemedia .politics. Goggin, G. (2006): Cell Phone Culture: Mobile Technology in Everyday Life, Routledge, London. Goggin, G. & Spurgeon, C. (2005): ‘Mobile Message Services and Communications Policy’. In: Prometheus: Journal of Issues in Technological Change, Innovation, Information Economics, Communication and Science Policy. 23: 181-93. Goggin, G. & Spurgeon, C. (2007): ‘Premium Rate Culture: The New Business of Mobile Interactivity’. In: New Media & Society 9: 753-770. Hartley, J. (2007): ‘“Reality” and the Plebescite’. In: Riegert, K. (ed.): Politicotainment: Television’s Take on the Real. New York: Peter lang. Holmwood, L. (2007a): ‘Richard and Judy “shocked” by quiz scandal’, Media Guardian. Downloaded on 19 February 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/feb/ 19/channel4.broadcasting1. Holmwood, L. (2007b): ‘Premium-rate phoneline scandal reaches BBC’, Guardian Unlimited. Downloaded on 26 February 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/feb/ 26/channel4.broadcasting. Holmwood, L. (2007c): ‘Call-TV “under pressure”, says Endemol boss’, Guardian.co.uk. Downloaded on 27 November 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/ nov/27/tvfakery.independentproductioncompanies. House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2007a): ‘Call TV Quiz Shows’, Third report of session 2006, HC 72. Downloaded on 17 January 2007 from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmcumeds/cmcumeds.htm. House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2007b): ‘Call TV quiz shows: Joint response from Ofcom and ICSTIS to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2006–07’, HC 428. Downloaded on 29 March 2007 from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ cm200607/cmselect/cmcumeds/cmcumeds.htm ICSTIS (2007a): ‘Call TV Quiz Services Review’. Downloaded on 29 January 2007 from http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/pdfs_consult/Calltvquiz_review.pdf. ICSTIS (2007b): ‘Introducing Prior Permission for Premium Rate Services used in Television ind Radio Programmes’, public consultation. Downloaded on 15 May 2007 from http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/pdfs_consult/permission_prsbroadcast.pdf. ITV (2007): ‘Use of Premium Rate Interactive Services in ITV Programming: Findings of Deloitte Review and ITV Investigation’. Downloaded on 18 October 2007 from http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2007/10/18/DeloitteFindings 181007.pdf. May, H. & Hearn, G. (2005): ‘The Mobile Phone as Media’. In: International Journal of Cultural Studies, 8: 195-211. Mediatique (2007): ‘Participation TV: Market Overview, an independent report for Ofcom’. Downloaded from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/participationtv/market overview.pdf. Miller, E. & Methven, N. (2007): ‘Richard and Judy’s fury at phone scam’, Mirror.co.uk. Downloaded from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/02/23/richard-and-judys-fury-at-phone-scam-89520-18664169/. Nightingale, V. & Dwyer, T. (2006): ‘The Audience Politics of “Enhanced” TV Formats’. In: International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 2: 25-42. Ofcom (2007a): ‘A new framework for premium rate services regulation’, media release. Downloaded on 5 December 2007 from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2007/ 12/nr20071205. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Ofcom (2007b): ‘Ayre inquiry reveals systemic failure by broadcasters’, media release. Downloaded on 18 July 2007 from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2007/ 07/nr_20070718. Ofcom (2007c): ‘Participation TV: protecting viewers and consumers, and keeping advertising separate from editorial: A consultation paper examining how Participation TV should be regulated’, Ofcom, London. Downloaded from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/ participationtv/. Ofcom (2007d): ‘Ofcom response to the report of the inquiry into broadcasters’ use of PRS in programmes’, Ofcom, London. Downloaded on 18 July 2007 from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/prsinquiry/ofcomresponse/. Paxman, J. (2007): ‘What’s wrong with TV?’, The Guardian. Downloaded on 25 August 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/aug/25/television.media. Plunkett, J. (2007a): ‘Phone-in trouble for Blue Peter’, MediaGuardian. Downloaded on 14 March 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/mar/14/broadcastingethics. broadcasting3. Plunkett, J. (2007b): ‘Purnell “optimistic” on TV’s future’, MediaGuardian. Downloaded on 12 September 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/12/politicsandthemedia. politics. Spurgeon, C. (2007): Advertising and New Media. Routledge: London. Spurgeon, C. & Goggin, G. (2007): ‘Mobiles into Media: Premium Rate SMS and the Adaptation of Television to Interactive communication cultures’. In: Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 21(2): 317-329. Roscoe, J. (2005): ‘Performing the Real’. In: Hartley, J. (ed.): Creative Industries. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell. Townsend, M. (2007): ‘Richard and Judy scandal grows’, The Observer. Downloaded on 25 February 2007 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/feb/25/channel4.broadcasting. Turner, K. (2004): ‘Insinuating the Product into the Message: An Historical Context for Product Placement’. In: Galician, M.-L. (ed.): Handbook of Product Placement in the Mass Media. New strategies in marketing theory, practice, trends, and ethics. Binghamton, NY: Best Business Books. Wilson, J. (2006): ‘3G to Web 2.0? Can mobile telephony become an architecture of participation?’ In:Convergence 12(2): 229-242.

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The Fourth Screen and the Liquid Medium: Notes for a Characterization of the Media Cultures Implicit in Mobile Entertainment Contents Juan Miguel Aguado & Inmaculada J. Martínez

1. Introduction As a result of its technological transition into a pocket computing device, the mobile phone is increasingly becoming a relevant medium for cultural consumption (Aguado & Martinez, 2007). The specific nature of mobile devices in the media field seems to situate content consumption in a mobile-promised land characterised by ubiquity, connectivity and convenience. In that landscape standard cultural consumption seems to have no contextual limitations (anything you want, when you want, where you want) and to offer a high convenience potential (adaptation to consumer situation). That alone would explain the interest in mobile media applications that institutional actors from the media and advertising sectors are currently showing, and consequently, the growth of strategic partnerships with mobile actors (operators, handheld producers, technology developers). Accordingly, there is a general agreement on the relevant role mobile digital devices are to play in the convergence process that characterizes the media field (WAN, 2004; Klinenberg, 2005; WAN, 2007). However, several questions arise with regard to the institutional construction of the mobile medium and its viability in users’ everyday life (we call it its ‘appropriate-ability’). What is the place of mobile media in the current media ecosystem? How (and where) do mobile media fit in with the overall convergence process? Are they just another digital platform through which to access standardized cultural contents in addition to TV, Internet, game consoles or iPods? Which media culture1 can be found that is behind these mobile business models, technology standards and regulatory initiatives? How does this ‘media culture’ influence current and future trends in the mobile sector? 1

Media culture refers to the implicit conception of media functions and their role in consumption habits and social processes. The concept recalls the idea of ‘organizational culture’ developed in corporate communication studies (Hofstede, 1991), however attached to both the social construction and the social practice of media presupposed in business models, content formats, interfaces, symbolic standards and implicit consumption patterns (Stevenson, 1995). A media culture is the result of the overlapping of the discourse and practices of institutional actors and of social appropriation of technologies and symbolic patterns. For instance, YouTube and broadcasting television constitute embodiments of radically different media cultures. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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These are some of the questions that guide the research project on ‘The Social Impact of Mobile Communications in Spain: Mediatization, Identity Management and Consumption Rituals’ supported by the Spanish Seneca Foundation (20062008). The present paper focuses on defining the role of mobile media in the media ecosystem and the role mobile TV plays in reinforcing a content-centric media culture. Conceptual delimitations of content design strategies, kinds of entertainment mobile contents and services and associated mobile cultural consumption aspects are outlined below. The basis for that are the findings derived from a structural analysis of the current supply on mobile handhelds and mobile services and a series of sixteen in-depth interviews with relevant actors in mobile and media companies as well as regulators and policy makers. The structural analysis involved the whole B2C supply and communication campaigns from December 2006 to December 2007 in Spain, i.e. the year when mobile operators started the launch of mobile TV and started paying attention to Mobile 2.0 applications. In-depth interviews involved experts belonging to handheld producers (Nokia), operators (Vodafone, Movistar), television (Cuatro, Telecinco, Antena 3), newspapers (El País), advertising agencies (Mobile Dreams Factory, Universal McCann), regulation and control actors (Spanish Telecommunication Market Commission -CMT-), content aggregators (Jet Multimedia, Buongiorno) and content producers and publishers (Globomedia, Jet Multimedia, Buongiorno). Interviews were conducted throughout 2007, as a continuation of the discussions started with an expert panel carried out in November 2006. Despite focused in the Spanish case, the conceptual implications of the research may prove valid in other contexts as far as company strategies and mobile content shaping responds to variables and conditions common at least to Europe. Additionally, an extensive account for actualized prospective reports is referred to as a coherence factor that allows building a general picture of the mobile media and entertainment mobile content landscape. 2. Mobile media in a landscape of digital convergence Mobile communication devices (mobile phones, smart phones, pocket PCs, PDAs, etc.) aggregate the characteristics of an integrated portable meta-device (a single handset that includes different devices and functionalities, such as camera, organizer, pay card, TV, MP3/MP4 player, game console, etc. in a sort of “digital Swiss Army knife”), an identity related cultural object (attached to the owner’s body and personality) and a medium for producing, distributing and consuming cultural contents (Fortunati & Pozzobon, 2006; 2005; Aguado & Martinez, 2006). This hybrid nature that merges the individualized and the standardized, the private and the public, the context and the content, points to a specific horizon of mobile cultural consumption where the link between device and owner’s identity, functional interoperability with other media (TV, Internet, console…) and ubiquitous connectivity with others play a relevant role (Aguado & Martinez, 2008). Accordingly, professionals and experts in the mobile media business show a significant agreement about the increasingly privileged position of mobile media in the media ecosystem, especially in a context where convergence becomes a 70

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dominant trend (Feldmann, 2005; Feijoo & Maghiros, 2008). However, considering convergence as a systemic trend means much more than developing some crosscontent strategies, or a mere exploitation of synergies in the media’s human resources. Following Domingo et al. (2007), four aspects of digital convergence are to be taken into account: media strategies, technology resources, professional skills and content consumption habits. Convergence in media strategies is meant to exploit economic and organizational synergies (as, for instance, in the development of integrated newsrooms for printed and online newspapers or for TV and online media). Convergence in technology resources is taking place to take advantage of multi- platform cross-content and crosspromotion strategies (as, for instance, in the coordination of headlines alerts, short news, in-depth stories and video footage around a given event in different content platforms such as mobile phone, newspaper, website and DTTV). This involves open standards convergence (collaborative environments for applications design) as well as convergence in content formats, addressed to connect contents not only through different platforms, but especially on different levels of intensity (time consumption) and thematic relevance (as, for instance in video games, mobile games, personalization contents, series, spin-offs and sequels connected through thematic or aesthetic coherence). Convergence in professional skills leads to the transversal redistribution of professional capabilities so that a given content creator becomes able to use different content formats in different content platforms. Convergence in content consumption is marked by the well-known transition from content consumer to content prosumer (a consumer that collaborates in the production and dissemination of contents), and characterized by the involvement of interactivity, participation and implication as increasingly important added values for contents and services in the mediasphere. While there is a general consensus amongst the interviewed experts on the relevant role that mobile devices play in these four convergence lines, there is no clear picture of what that role may finally consist of. The mobile medium is certainly in too early a phase of development to play a role as an institutional actor in the convergence of media strategies. Conversely, its technological and usagerelated characteristics are highly appreciated in the other three lines of media convergence. Ubiquity, always-on connectivity and context sensitivity make mobile devices a valuable platform in cross-content and cross-promotion strategies. Moreover, its semantic and even affective connection to user’s identity in everyday life makes the mobile device a powerful tool to produce added value for standard media products and brand image (Feldmann, 2005). Simultaneously, the increasing functional coherence between mobile contents and Internet contents marks the horizon of mobile media with regard to content format convergence: minimization, fragmentation, on-convenience accessibility, interrelation and user involvement seem to be common aspects of the Internet and the mobile semantic structure of contents (Aguado & Martinez, 2007). The same can be said with regard to professional skills and consumption habits: at this point, ubiquity, connectivity and convenience are strongly © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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contributing to blur the borders between content production and content consumption. This is especially the case in terms of journalism and marketing. In the first case, networked contents – as in web 2.0 – upgrade their journalistic relevance when adding the instant connection and uploading capacities of mobile devices. Moreover, as far as the recording capacities of mobile devices are not restricted to media professionals, mobile media are involved in what one of the respondents called ‘the universalization of witnessing’. When such universalization and ubiquity apply to production and dissemination capacities, the translation of web 2.0 to the mobile context becomes a viable horizon. In the second case, user involvement in branded contents and services (as in contests, communities and added value offers) is posed as a valuable strategy to prevent considering mobile marketing and advertising as an invasive form of communication. Despite all this – and thereby further clarifying the common use of the very term ‘mobile media’ – mobile devices are predominantly taken as platforms rather than as fully operative, functionally and semantically differentiated media in the landscape of media convergence. Elsewhere (Aguado & Martinez, 2006; 2007) we have referred to that point considering mobile media as a ‘limited medium’, at least as long as the specific nature of mobile contents and their appropriation by communities of practice are not clearly defined. Furthermore, two different kinds of convergence can be pointed to, according to the implicit conception of the mobile medium: on the one hand, we find a conventional media driven convergence, characterized by the assimilation of mobile media dynamics to content consumption standards. On the other hand, we see an Internet driven convergence, characterized by the adoption (and the enhancement) of web 2.0 standards. In this sense, the constitution of mobile sections in conventional media (newspapers, TV, online portals, content producers and advertising agencies) shows a prevalent exploratory nature and it involves taking the mobile medium as either a communication platform or a content consumption platform in most cases. Those sections in conventional media devoted to mobiles are having serious difficulties in making the two dimensions of the mobile medium (as a communication platform and as a content consumption platform) compatible. A significant divergence can be observed in strategies, addressed either to develop communication applications (as in files exchange and participative routines) or to implement mobile repurposed contents for cultural consumption (as in mobile TV or in mobile newspapers). Such divergence is accompanied by diverse business models (Feldmann, 2005; CMT, 2006), often following two opposite schemes: open standards and collaborative design in the case of communication platform, and walled garden models in the case of content consumption platform (Jaokar & Fish, 2006). The current efforts of communication campaigns and the incipient changes in product design strategies addressed to merge communication (social relations) and cultural consumption aspects in the brand and technology identity – as in the case of Nokia’s 2007 N-series campaigns – provide evidence for this problem. Both conceptions – mobile devices as communication and as content consumption platforms – constitute different media cultures (the ‘new’ and the ‘old’) related to 72

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different user cultures (with different technology conceptions, different expectations and different usage habits) and associated with different convergence trends, according to some of our respondents. For the purpose of this paper we will further focus our scope on entertainment contents as a main driving force in the mobile mediatization process (France Telecom, 2006; Telefonica, 2007; Aguado & Martinez, 2007). Their centrality in the integration of mobile devices in the media ecosystem – and hence their role in digital convergence – is, however, accompanied by relevant questions regarding media culture and the convergence models implicit in mobile entertainment development. Although certainly a simplification, we nonetheless claim that the question about mobile TV is, in the end, the question about the future condition of mobile media overall. 3. Mobile Entertainment: from personalization contents to mobile TV Despite the fact that predictions vary according to different reports, both marketing campaigns and interviewed experts agree in at least two relevant points with regard to the future of the mobile: (1) voice-based business is reaching saturation point and (2) market growth is to be determined by the ability to implement competitive data-based business models, in which leisure oriented mobile content plays a leading role (France Telecom, 2006; Gaptel, 2006). The question is now whether the evolution of market (supply) and of user expectations (demand) accompanies the development in technologies with regard to mobile content business. The technological conditions are good enough. The amount of multimedia mobile devices in Europe is already twice the amount of mobile phones without multimedia functionalities (Olswang, 2007). A 2006 DNX general survey on mobile technological resources in Spain (DNX, 2007) showed that up to 41% of mobile phones were video enabled, 40% of them with GPRS access and up to 56% included UMTS technology (mobile broadband). In the case of Zed Digital research (2007), focused on the mobile use of Internet users, the average technological resources are higher than in the case of general users and show a clear functional orientation to inter-media coordination, showing a strong emphasis in connectivity (UMTS, Bluetooth, WiFi, Infrared and USB). The use of multimedia mobile device capacities is widely devoted to entertainment activities (be it in the shape of social networking or in content consumption), especially in the case of the younger users (age 15-24) (DNX, 2007). Despite the fact that the presence of mobile TV in mobile consumption habits was still mostly symbolic in 2006, the emerging picture prefigures a favourable ground, built upon a relatively actualized device technology and a widely extended leisure related conception of the mobile content consumption with two relevant contexts: social relations (networked leisure) and waiting times (private nomadic leisure) (DNX, 2007; Zed Digital, 2007; Aguado & Martinez, 2007). That very distinction in consumption contexts marks the already mentioned divorce between two media cultures in mobile content design and services. And that divergence seems to be also reflected in the mobile device endowment, putting the stress on content © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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reproduction functionalities (photo, video and audio applications) and on connectivity. The category of entertainment contents is, however, as comprehensive as in the case of the Internet contents. It includes all those kinds of mobile contents and services consumed in terms of leisure activities. For the purposes of our research, following the data from the structural analysis of the mobile supply and the business clusters considered by interviewed experts, the entertainment contents category refers to value added services, communication services and mobile video/mobile TV. Value added services (VAS) include interactive contents (mobile videogames) and personalization contents (music, ring tones, logos, wallpapers, etc.), and constitute the first step in the process of mobile phone mediatization. As such, VAS play a significant role in the transition from voice-based business models to data-based ones. Since VAS become a fruitful field for branding campaigns (as, for instance, in branded content based promotions), they may be considered a key factor in the intersection of three relevant areas defining mobile media: personal identity, brand identity and standardized cultural contents. Their connection to mobile marketing and mobile advertising contents will thus presumably increase in the coming years. In addition, many of the small networked open applications (widgets), which characterize mobile 2.0, contribute to the redefinition of the reach of interactive contents (customized micro-games) and to the extension of personalization trends to the very configuration of applications. Communication contents refer to those entertainment and leisure contents that are related to users’ social networks and/or to users’ participation in media dynamics (such as contests, polls, opinion, etc.). Because of their dialogic nature, media oriented communication contents typically constitute cross-media strategies, allowing, for instance, the co-ordination of the functionalities of websites, SMS, TV and printed media, as in TV contests, debate programmes, etc. While conventional media related communication contents are considered to be less relevant, social network communication contents are strongly attracting the attention of mobile business developers and marketing planners. In this sense, communication contents constitute the base for mobile 2.0 and involve any kind of ‘sharing practice’ of userproduced or user-involving content. In this category of mobile entertainment contents the borderline between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ media cultures (one focused on contents, the other focusing on users) can be clearly observed. According to one of the interviewed experts, “with the old media the point was what contents do with people [in terms of influence, brand awareness, attention demand, loyalty creation, etc.], but in the new media, the important thing is what people do with contents”. A wide variety of software applications addressed to facilitate the exchange of user-made contents (such as personalized VAS for instance) is now being developed (starting from Nokia’s Lifeblog in 2005). In spite of it all, many of the expectations of the mobile content business future lie on the shoulders of mobile TV, and yet available predictions are not only diverse, but in many cases radically opposed to each other. For instance, a 2007 report by Infonetics Research predicts a “phenomenal five-year growth for mobile 74

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TV revenues”, with an increase in DVB-H subscribers up to 11.7 million by 2010 (Infonetics, 2007). The 2007 Telecom Trends International Report on Mobile TV predicts two billion-plus mobile TV viewers in 2013 (Telecom Trends, 2007), prefiguring mobile TV as a killer application in the market of mobile contents. On the opposite side, M:Metrics’ research presented at the MIPCOM Audiovisual Content Conference in 2007 reminded the colleagues that barely 1% of mobile subscribers are currently watching mobile TV in the U.S.A. and in the United Kingdom (Reiter, 2007). According to various reports, figures of users willing to watch mobile TV in Europe also barely exceed 5% (Olswang, 2007; Ernest & Young, 2007; Reuters, 2007). Additionally, advertising and commercialization strategies on mobile video services have introduced some confusion with regard to mobile TV in the past, often contributing to increased expectations beyond the reach of mobile technologies at any given stage. From 2004 to 2006, services such as WAP portal based video downloading or video streaming subscriptions were presented under the label of ‘mobile TV’. In the case of Spain, the three dominant mobile operators (Movistar, Vodafone and Amena/Orange) launched video downloading and streaming access portals as ‘mobile TV’ services in 2005. Through them, users could download or stream episodes of TV series, music video clips and, in most cases, value added contents such as trailers, personalization contents, games, etc. The problem is that UMTS based streaming technologies are able to work with a constant demand of data flow (networked data flow), but they are not broadcasting technologies in the strict sense of the term (as it happens with Internet broadband), and hence they easily have problems in facing a massive demand of content (Rümmler et al., 2005). The result of that experience has been paradoxical: on the one side, an increasing perception of ‘mobile TV’ as an inefficient and expensive service emerged; on the other side, the consolidation of micro-video as a mobile content format took place (Berman et al., 2006). Once technology standards make real mobile TV possible (receiving a real time TV signal), marketing planners now have to face the very same barrier they have contributed to build. In Spain, first experiences with mobile TV started in 2006. A pilot programme with Vodafone, Abertis Telecom and Nokia, involving private and public television channels (Antena 3, Telecinco, Canal Sur, RTVE, Canal Nou) and cable TV operators (Sogecable, Veo TV, Net TV) as content producers was carried out with 300 users. On the basis of DVB-H technology, participants had access to fourteen TV channels. The results were quite promising: 72% of the participants considered the service as very interesting, and 80% of them would recommend subscription (DNX, 2007). Subsequently, 2007 has been the year of the commercial launch of mobile TV in Spain, and thereby became the moment for consolidating strategic partnerships between media content producers and mobile operators. Vodafone, together with the cable TV operator Sogecable, Movistar with Antena 3 TV and Orange offer a wide variety of mobile TV channels including news, sports, movies, humour, travel, music, realities and adult contents. Tariffication models are as diverse as channel supply: Vodafone offers mobile TV at a reasonable flat rate, while Orange continues the old pay-per-view model © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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that characterizes streaming services and cable TV. Movistar has adopted a hybrid model of a flatrated basic pack with several pay-per-view premium options. Tariffication models and coherence with current existing TV content supply are the tools mobile operators can use to fight users’ reluctance to subscribe mobile TV services. The experience in Japan and Korea shows that a common flatrate for wide packs of content services (mobile TV, Internet access, file downloading/uploading, location services and VAS) is to be the dominant tariffication model for medium and high subscription rates (Berman et al., 2006). The problem then is how to reach the number of subscribers that makes the model functional in terms of a cost-profit balance. This is especially relevant if we take into account that one of the most important barriers for mobile TV consumption development is the users’ high sensitivity to subscription costs. In a secondary place, much lower than the costsissue, users tend to show doubts about the real usefulness of mobile TV (Olswang, 2007). The most enthusiastic segment of users in Spain - early adopters and trendsetters, age 25-34, gadget lovers, middle-upper class, educated, working, welltravelled and media hungry (DNX, 2007; Feijoo & Maghiros, 2008) - keeps the average monthly mobile services bill between 30 and 60€ (DNX, 2007). The global picture of users’ attitudes towards mobile TV and video contents in Spain looks, however, slightly more optimistic. Business developers are aware of the inverse proportion between interest and expenditure control: teenagers and young users (14-24) consider mobile TV and video as interesting as well as expensive, and systematically develop alternative practices to access video contents at a lower cost (as, for instance, sideloading video contents from their PC, or exchanging files via Bluetooth and infrared). Younger professionals (25-34) constitute the key target for mobile TV’s social adoption, while in the category of older qualified professionals (40-something), where the sensitivity to subscription cost is low, there is a practical absence of interest in mobile leisure (Zed Digital, 2007). Despite the fact that the broad picture shows a low subscription rate and a high expenditure control, a transfer of young users’ high interest in mobile leisure to the older age group categories is expected. Consequently, mobile TV developers foresee an increase of the subscriptions to mobile video and TV services on the basis of a progressive instilment of a mobile leisure culture in those age groups with higher expenditure capability. That trend can be reinforced by two important drivers: an open legislation with regard to DVB-H chipset inclusion in mobile devices (that would allow mobile TV business models to escape the walled-garden schema that characterizes conventional media business models) and a simultaneous diversification of services supply and technology development in order to keep subscription costs within reasonable limits (Gaptel, 2006; Berman et al., 2006). The early stage of mobile leisure consumption culture as to video and mobile TV contents is not only portrayed by that average user’s profile, which shows an inverse proportion of interest and cost limitation. It comes out as well when we look into the kind of contents involved (DNX, 2007; Zed Digital, 2007). The most valued mobile video contents and services are (in this order) traffic information, news, music video clips, movies, TV series, trailers, humour, sports, home made 76

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videos and adult contents. While older qualified professionals significantly prefer news, traffic information and sports; younger users’ preferences clearly point to leisure oriented contents (music video clips, movies, TV series, etc.), keeping news and sports (especially in the case of men) as transversal categories. Within the general discussion with experts about mobile dominant media culture, this point brought about an interesting paradox: younger users seem to be highly attracted by standardized leisure oriented cultural contents (like movies or TV series) that are attached to the classic content-centric media culture, while at the same time they are more connected to new media user-oriented culture. This point deserves in our view a more in-depth study. Already now, it seems to open up a promising horizon for the development of specific mobile 2.0 applications. To sum up, mobile TV constitutes the typical mobile repurposed content, and as such it tends to reproduce the schemes of its original medium (television) regarding content formats, business models and perceived value projections. Mobile TV development reinforces the conception of mobile devices as conventional cultural consumption media, according to a content-centric model that, however, demands a specific adaptation of technology and its relation to users (Feijoo and Maghiros, 2008). Mobile TV has still to face important barriers and uncertainties. Some of the most relevant pending matters in the horizon of mobile TV development raised by interviewed experts concern the role of advertising in mobile TV services, the development of competitive content enabling platforms that allow implementing the specificity of mobile TV, an adequate planning of spectrum management and the development of efficient software and interfaces. In addition, some of the coming challenges for mobile TV regard the role definition of content production vs. content licensing, the final decision whether mobile TV service is to be SIM-based or device-based and, consequently, the balancing of the role of two of the core mobile TV agents: operators as drivers for pay-per-view mobile TV and device manufacturers as drivers for free-to-air mobile TV. The specific nature of mobile content formats, even in the case of repurposed contents, constitutes another field for challenges awaiting mobile TV conception: fragmentation and miniaturization (as in mobisodes or in user made video clips) involve mobile video consumption (and production) in a long-tail effect that may be difficult for conventional media models to keep up with. Finally, despite the hopes of business developers, which seem to lie in the evolution of the younger users’ segment, they should take into account that it is precisely in that segment where conventional media are increasingly losing the battle with new media. The growing use among young mobile users of alternative forms of access to mobile contents (sideloading from computers, downloading through WiFi or Bluetooth) points to quite a different media culture within the mobile environment. 4. Beyond the fourth screen: Mobile 2.0 and the liquid medium The idea that adapting television to the mobile environment will result in a consolidation of the mobile medium is in the origin of the term ‘fourth screen’ and, as such, it constituted a reference term in our interviews to designate the © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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conception of the mobile media as a platform for cultural content consumption. The term ‘fourth screen’ was coined in 2003 by Dario Betti, Senior Analyst at Ovum (a global telecom and software consulting firm), in reference to the increasing relevance of mobile video and multimedia after the social appropriation of cinema (first screen), television (second) and personal computer (the third screen) (Jaokar & Fish, 2007). In 2007 Nokia launched a video commercial addressed to adapt the meaning of the term ‘fourth screen’ to their campaign on the lifestyle implications of present and future mobile devices. In that video, Nokia presents the fourth screen as a social network tool, closer to the mobile 2.0 standards than to a conventional media conception. Beyond Nokia’s efforts, the term is also widely used in the debate on the future of mobile TV, i.e. the fourth cultural consumption platform through which to access standardized contents. The explicit connection of the term with classic media (or ‘screens’), makes it especially suitable for designating the kind of media culture behind mobile TV. Despite all the hype around interactivity, ubiquity and users’ choice, the ‘fourth screen media culture’ emerging from the current mobile entertainment content supply and discussions with experts is broadly characterized by the following points: • Institutionally grounded: The institutional dimension of conventional media and telecommunication operators heavily influences the conception of mobile media as content consumption platforms, what results in a slow-down of technology innovation processes and a bi-directional (instead of multidirectional) conception of mobile content consumption. • Concentrated control over production and distribution is the result of the generalized walled-garden model for content commercialization. Such conception emphasizes a central role of operators as data-pipelines and it hinders both software development and the adaptation of content formats to mobile specific capabilities. • Content-centric: Content is the nucleus of the mobile TV business, what amounts to a concentration of the whole process in production and distribution, leaving aside users and squandering the high potential of mobile communications with regard to social networks, context sensitivity and user identity. • Strongly legislated: As a result of their institutional dependency from conventional media and telecommunication operators, mobile TV business models are heavily biased by centralized regulatory initiatives which, in their turn, tend to organize actors and processes in a similar way they do with conventional media. • Dominance of closed/proprietary technology standards: The walled-garden scheme favours the adoption of closed and proprietary platforms, clips the wings of collaborative design and hinders the development of socially networked mobile specific contents. • Lack of innovation in usage habits and content formats: Mobile TV constitutes a 78

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main platform for mobile repurposed contents, which basically reproduce the standards of TV contents conveniently adapted to mobile devices (screen size, timing, battery autonomy, etc.). The question remaining is whether mobile TV is just a miniaturized TV set or another kind of television, capable, for instance, to integrate TV formats and mobile’s sensitivity to context. • Passive conception of users: According to the general adoption of conventional media patterns, users are relegated to the role of ‘content consumers’ and the very meaning of interactivity and customization is restricted to certain choice options. While experts coming from conventional media interpret the ‘fourth screen culture’ as a natural (though ‘revolutionary’) development of the current media landscape, technology developers, handheld producers and operators have appeared to be more sensitive to the possibilities of socially networked contents and the need to design and implement specific mobile contents. The latter pointed at the increase of alternative practices of access to contents (WiFi, Bluetooth, sideloading, etc.) and the impact of socially networked contents in mobile entertainment as relevant trends to take into account. However, for media related experts these were marginal phenomena characteristic of the early stage of mobile TV social adoption and business development and they were approached to as value-adding items for conventional contents and products.

Figure 1: Mobile Content Space (Source: Feijoo & Maghiros, 2008)

On the basis of Feijoo and Maghiros (2008), we outline a picture of the mobile content landscape (see figure 1) in order to illustrate the place of mobile TV and mobile entertainment contents in the constitution of a mobile specific media © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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culture. According to these authors, the axes that mark the mobile content space are constituted by two opposing pairs of characteristics: information processing / creativity, on one side, and adaptation to mobile environment / implementation of mobile specificity, on the other side. Content coordination with other media (including the role of the mobile web) and standard ready-to-consume entertainment contents characterize the space of the ‘fourth screen media culture’. The mobile specific contents, however, are being developed in the sphere of location based applications, which allow enhancing standard media applications (as, for instance, in marketing and advertising or in context-sensitive information) and Mobile 2.0. But what is Mobile 2.0 and what is its contribution in terms of media culture? The concept of Mobile 2.0 starts from - and goes beyond - bringing web 2.0 to the mobile device (De Waele, 2006). The term was first used in 2006 by Verizon Wireless and Orange in sponsoring workshops and conferences devoted to the adaptation of web 2.0 applications to the mobile environment. Socio-technical conditions for the emergence of the Mobile 2.0 include the rapid penetration of wireless broadband access, the increasing relevance of Internet standards with the web as a main platform for telecommunication networks and the increasing presence of dual mode (WiFi and phone) mobile devices (De Waele, 2006). Certainly the first step has been the entrance of web 2.0 killer applications to the mobile world: Yahoo with Flickr, Google with YouTube and Google Maps, Skype with MySpace, etc. Paradoxically, the year of consolidation of mobile TV in Europe and North America - 2007 - was also the year of the Mobile 2.0 take-off. Three milestones can be pointed at with regard to that: first, the launch of the Skype Phone, making possible mobile VoIP (voice over IP), the implications of which for conventional carriers have not been fully evaluated yet. Second, the launch of Blyk as the first advertising-funded free pan-European mobile operator. Blyk was founded in 2006 as a mobile network for young users (16-24) to exchange VAS related contents and to channel mobile advertising. It was redefined in 2007 as an advertising based mobile operator (offering free text and minutes in exchange for ads from selected brands), constituting an innovative formula to integrate marketing and advertising in the mobile content business. Third, the launch of Android, the open mobile platform by Google, which widens the space for collaborative design of applications. Throughout 2007 a growing number of mobile services and applications addressed to blogging (Jaiku), free calling (Gizmo, Skype), locating (Loopt, Plazes), messaging (Funambol), ordering and ticketing (Mobo), file exchange (Mystrands), media sharing (JuiceCaster) and information search (Plusmo) are contributing to redefine the very idea of mobile content: from data based content to contextadapted data-plus-software based content (De Waele, 2006). In addition to Google’s Android, other open platforms - such as Ajax - are being developed. And mobile operators and handheld manufacturers do not want to stay out of the game: besides its N-series, Nokia has developed Widsets, an open platform for the mobile access to Web 2.0 widgets (RSS feed, Wikipedia, blogs, etc.) and Mosh, a file 80

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exchange platform. Apple’s iPhone is presented as the first Mobile 2.0 enabled mobile device, and Vodafone and Orange include Mobile Web and mobile adapted web 2.0 applications as a core value in their mobile internet offer. Mobile 2.0 does not only mean the adaptation of web 2.0 applications to the mobile environment, but inversely, it also implies the development of mobile specific applications that are being adapted to the web (Jaokar & Fish, 2007). The development of a “.mobi” domain that identifies Internet mobile enabled contents and applications is another driving initiative that illustrates the potential reach of Mobile 2.0 within the web landscape. In general terms, the Mobile 2.0 environment is characterized by openness (free-to-use platforms and software available for collaborative design), networking (both in terms of design – involving diverse companies and users – and usage – involving user social networks in the implementation of applications and in the development of contents), context sensitivity and user empowerment (Jaokar & Fish, 2007). Thus, regardless of the early stage of Mobile 2.0 development, it undoubtedly implements completely different business logics and usage rituals and it refers to a radically different media culture (see Table 1). Location based services (LBS), ubiquituous accessibility to social networks and user-situated behaviour are to play determining roles in the definition of the very communication processes that build the basis of the conception of the medium. The relevance of these mobile specific issues is such that they are contributing to redefine some entertainment contents in a process of ‘socialization’ of standard cultural contents. The formats and usage value of VAS (especially mobile games, information search and small entertainment applications) and mobile micro-video are being rapidly adapted to personalization and exchange networks, in a similar way it already happened with web 2.0 (for instance, in free net-gaming or in mobile videoblogging with the support of the mobile versions of Flickr and Youtube). In fact, the very category of personalization is being pushed out of the content sphere and it is increasingly becoming a matter of functional personalization of devices. Another relevant point regarding Mobile 2.0 implications is the blurring of inter-media boundaries. This underpins the transition from device-based functionality (typical for the ‘fourth screen approach’) to cross-media applicationbased functionality (Olswang, 2007). On the basis of that dissolution of the intermedia boundaries and quoting Bauman’s well-known concept of the ‘liquid society’ (Bauman, 2000), we have coined the term ‘liquid medium’ for the kind of role Mobile 2.0 prefigures for mobile communications in the coming media landscape. In fact, hybridization, fragmentation, context dependency, ubiquity, accelerated evolution and fluid social networks are not only defining terms for the role of mobile devices in the media ecosystem: they are some of the core characteristics of Bauman’s ‘liquid society’. Certainly the paradox faced by mobile content and software developers has not yet been solved: Mobile 2.0 involves the conception of “mobile devices as personal communication and information tools”. Thus, the divide between the content platform conception and the communication platform view remains. Table 1 summarizes the issues characterizing both media cultures behind these two © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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conceptions. The question, however, is whether, in light of the contradictory forecasts for the future of mobile TV and of the somewhat chaotic development of Mobile 2.0, these are opposite models within the context of mobile media development or if they will coexist (and might even be required to co-operate). MOBILE TV IMPLICIT MEDIA CULTURE Institutionally grounded Concentrated control over production and distribution Content-centric Strongly legislated Closed/proprietary technology standards Lack of innovation in usage habits and content formats Passive conception of users

MOBILE 2.0 IMPLICIT MEDIA CULTURE Multi-Network based Distributed control over production (developers) and distribution (users) User-centric Standard legal frames Open technology standards

Strongly innovative in usage habits and content formats Active conception of users Cross-media application-based Device based functionality functionality MOBILE MEDIA IMPLICIT CONCEPTION: Content consumption platform Communication platform Information platform KIND OF CONVERGENCE INVOLVED: Media/content oriented Usage oriented Table 1: Opposite issues in mobile TV and Mobile 2.0 media cultures

The role mobile media may play in convergence process seems to depend to a significant extent on the eventual cooperation of the two media conceptions in the mobile content market. If this is so, mobile media may be a relevant factor in conciliating content-driven convergence and user-driven convergence. However, positions among interviewed experts differ according to the role and potential influence the different players attribute to the two mobile media cultures involved. While mobile operators (Vodafone and Orange, for instance) are trying to adopt a balanced position in order to keep their role as ‘viable ground’ for the development of both media conceptions, media related players (especially TV channels and content producers) naturally tend to reproduce in the mobile context the media culture in which they are used to operate, building on repurposed contents as the future of mobile media cultural consumption. Finally, regulators and policy makers pay attention to the growing cross-media usage (Olswang, 2007; Aguado & Martinez, 2008) and show themselves interested in the unexplored possibilities of the ‘liquid medium’ culture, understanding it may exploit the specific characteristics of the mobile medium in a more effective way. The uncertain side of the mobile media horizon concerns the way these two implicit media cultures may influence each other. Two main items summarize it: the 82

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question of how the reciprocal influence may result in changes in content formats and usage patterns (as it is already happening with Mobile 2.0 affecting the nature and reach of VAS related contents and even transforming the very meaning of device personalization) and the question of how the development of Mobile 2.0 may affect the integration of mobile advertising into the mobile content market (for instance through tagging, usage patterns and geotagging, as it already happens in Web 2.0). 5. References Aguado, J. M. & Martínez, I. J. (2007): ‘From Mobile Phones to Mobile Media: Current Developments in Mobile Phone-Based Cultural Consumption’. In: Goggin, G. & Hjorth, L. (eds.): Mobile Media 2007. University of New South Wales, Australia, pp. 47-57. Aguado, J. M. & Martínez, I. J. (2008): ‘Massmediatizing Mobile Phones: Contents Development, Professional Convergence and Consumption Practice’. In: Caspi, D. & Azran, T. (eds.): New Media and Innovative Technologies: Industry and Society. Ben Gurion University, Israel. pp. 211-239. Aguado, J. M. & Martínez, I. J. (2006): ‘La mediatización de la telefonía móvil: de la interacción al consumo cultural’. In ZER, Revista de Estudios de Comunicación, (11) 20: 319-343. Bauman, Z. (2000): Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. Berman, S. et al. (2006): ‘The end of television as we know it: A future industry perspective’. IBM Institute for Business Value. Downloaded on 16 January 2008 from http://www05.ibm.com/e-business/uk/innovation/channel/html/revitalize/trends/pdf/ge510-6248end-of-tv-full.pdf. CMT (2006) Informe Anual 2006. Madrid: Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones. De Waele, R. (2006): ’Understanding Mobile 2.0’. Downloaded on 14 December 2007 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/understanding_mobile_2.php. DNX Report (2007): Mobile TV: Tendencias en España. Downloaded on 15 December 2007 from http://www.dnxgroup.com/ideas/index_dnxTrends.html. Ernest & Young (2007): Mediabarometer 2007. Downloaded on 21 January 2008 from http://www.ey.nl/?pag=956& nieuws_id=3058. Domingo, D. et al. (2007): ‘Four Dimensions of Journalistic Convergence: A Preliminary Approach to Current Media Trends in Spain’, research paper presented at the ‘International Symposium on Online Journalism’, March 2007, University of Austin, Texas. Feijoo, C. & Maghiros, I. (2008): ‘Mobile content. On the verge of an explosion’. In: JRC Scientific Reports, EC. IPTS forthcoming. Feldmann, V. (2005): Leveraging Mobile Media. Cross-Media Strategy and Innovation Policy for Mobile Media Communication. Heidelberg, New York: Physica Verlag. Fortunati, L. & Pozzobon, F. (2006): ‘Media Mobiles: When Interpersonal Media become Mass Media’. Paper presented at ‘2006 ICA Pre-Conference “After the Mobile Phone?”’, June 2006, University of Erfurt, Germany. GAPTEL (2006): Contenidos Digitales: Nuevos modelos de distribución online. Grupo de Análisis y Prospectiva del Sector de las Telecomunicaciones. Red.es, Madrid. Hofstede, G. (1991): Culture and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill. Infonetics Research (2007): ‘Mobile Video Phones, Services and Subscribers’. Downloaded on 12 November 2007 from http://www.infonetics.com. Jaokar, A. & Fish, A. (2006): Mobile Web 2.0. Oxford: Futuretext Publications. Klinenberg, E. (2005): ‘Convergence: News production in a digital age’. In: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 57(1): 48-64. Olswang (2007): ‘Olswang Convergence Consumer Survey 2007’. Downloaded on 14 November 2007 from www.olswang.com/convergence07/convergence2007.zip. Reiter, A. (2007): ‘MIPCOM conference presenters discuss the lack of mobile TV viewers and advertisers’. Downloaded on 14 November 2007 from: www.mobiletelevisionreport.com. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Reuters (2007): ‘TV on cellphone screens? No thanks, say Europeans’. Downloaded on 14 November 2007 from http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKL24365457200709 24. Rümmler, R., Yun Won Chung & Hamid, A. (2005): ‘Modeling and analysis of an efficient multicast mechanism for UMTS’. In: IEEE transactions on vehicular technology, 54(1): 350-365. Stevenson, N. (1995): Understanding media cultures. London. Sage. Telecom Trends International (2007): ‘Mobile TV: Executing the Vision’. Research Report. Telefonica (2007): Informe sobre la Sociedad de la Información en España (SIE-2007). Madrid, 2007. WAN (2004): Shaping the Future of the Newspaper. The Mobile Opportunity. World Association of Newspapers. (WAN) World Association of Newspapers (2007): World Digital Media Trends. World Association of Newspapers. Zed Digital (2007): ‘Móviles y Publicidad: Percepciones y Tendencias.’ Zed Digital. Zenith Optimedia Group. Downloaded on 11 October 2007 from: www.zeddigital.es/ presentacion_publicidad_y_moviles_ 12dic06.pdf.

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Journalistic Content and the World Cup 2006: Multimedia Services on Mobile Devices Sonja Kretzschmar

1. Introduction Germany and the World Cup: it was a special time for Germany and the world, a time of enthusiasm, special for all Germans and German media users. It was often called a “Sommermärchen,” a summer fairy tale. The highly emotional event was reflected in the media in various ways (Anschlag, 2006). All global media events – the death of pope John Paul II, the Iraq War, 9/11, or media events much longer ago – make the audience live the life of an addict for a short while: they do not want to miss any important information, television becomes crucial (Dayan & Katz, 1996). At these times, viewing figures are record-breaking, and – as the history of information technology shows – leaps in information technology uptake often take place during these world media events. Usually these new information technologies also stay with the media market after the event has ended (Eurich, 1991). Within the general media offer at play here, mobile media are a very dynamic – and increasingly important – segment. 2. Theoretical Classification Communication Science in its core is dealing with mass communication, which means public communication, mediated via mass media. Although mobile communication has already become a field of communication research, most topics that have been discussed until now concern the personal use, i.e. one-to-one communication (Höflich & Gebhardt, 2005) and its consequences or changes for society (Agar, 2004; Glotz et al., 2006; Harper, 2003; Höflich & Hartmann, 2006; Ling, 2004; Meyrowitz, 2003; Nyíri, 2003a; Nyíri, 2003b). Sociological aspects (Castells et al., 2004) are discussed as well as aspects of computer sciences (Brewster & Dunlop, 2004). With technical progress in the field of mobile communication that makes high transfer rates of data possible, the one-to-many communication is expanding, moving from text messages to mobile TV. Communication via a mobile phone broadens and becomes a mass medium: mobile communication is shifting into the core of communication science (Grigorova, 2005; Hepp, 2006; Hartmann, 2006; Krotz & Schulz, 2006). Several questions arise from this development, the most important one being: How can mobile mass communication be integrated and classified with the help of © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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common models, terms and theories of communication science? Combining private and mass mediated communication, the mobile phone is a hybrid medium, showing the convergence of different media as a consequence of technical progress in information technologies. The new journalistic services offered to mobile phone users are related on the one hand to research in the field of technical convergence (Latzer, 1997; Latzer, 2000), on the other hand to convergence processes in journalistic work environments and the consequences of new production methods on journalistic content (Brüggemann, 2002; Loosen, 2001b; Mast, 1984; Weischenberg, 1981; Weischenberg, 1982; Weischenberg, 1995). As the connection between journalism and mobile communication is only just emerging, the topic is covered from the journalistic point of view (Kretzschmar, 2006a; Kretzschmar, 2007), but only little research in communication science has been done yet (Hohlfeld, 2007; Hohlfeld & Wolf, 2008 Kretzschmar, 2008). Only in the field of futurology in communication science, an increase of journalistic content for mobile devices has been forecasted (Glotz & Meyer-Lucht, 2004). For nevertheless creating an analysis of the current international situation in this article, various sources have been analysed: internet publications, which can be found in specialised databases, specialised news services on the internet, as well as newspaper and journal articles. As a result the outline of a world-wide development concerning content for mobile devices will be given below. Crucial to the field of research remains the question of the technological transfer standard. In the following, I will give an overview about the international as well as the German situation. 3. Mobile TV 3.1 Mobile TV internationally: Technical aspects and geographical distribution. An overview The situation of mobile media today is marked by two industries which meet on the same market and which both target the mobile media consumer. One industry consists of the traditional content providers, the media companies. The other industry consists of relatively new players, the mobile network operators (MNOs). Crucial for the discussion are technological standards, which affect the situation to a high degree. Therefore I would like a give an overview over the international situation concerning technical standards, distribution, advantages and disadvantages of the way of transmission in the next part. World-wide, the situation for the distribution of mobile content is manifold. On the technical level, four systems for broadcasting data to portable devices were competing in the summer of 2006: UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting: Handhelds) and MediaFLO (Forward Links Only). As mentioned before, UMTS allows the transmission of TV and video to mobile phones due to its technical possibility of high data transfer. It is not a form of broadcasting, like DMB or DVB-H, but a kind of individual data download, as it takes place on the Internet. Only a small part of mobile phone users use UMTS, 86

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but numbers are growing. Compared to 1,5 billion mobile GSM phones, only 32 million UMTS phones were sold by August 2005, but the number increased to 47 million phones sold until April 2006. The majority of UMTS phones were used in Japan (47 per cent), followed by Italy (19 per cent), United Kingdom (10 per cent) and Germany (5 per cent). Together with France (3 per cent), these five countries made up 84 per cent of all UMTS users. Market forecasts estimated that one hundred million UMTS phones would be sold by the end of 2006 (BITKOM, 2006). DMB is a digital data and TV transfer system for mobile devices which works via satellite (S-DMB) or terrestrial (T-DMB). On a technical level, DMB enhances the audio standard DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) for audio-visual content. The data transfer rate is sufficient for up to four TV-channels as well as radio channels and data services. DMB is already used in South Korea, where commercial S-DMB started at the end of 2005. In the area of Seoul, T-DMB, the terrestrial form, is used. In May 2006, T-DMB was launched in Beijing and Shanghai, China (NN, 2006b). China is one of the most interesting markets with regard to the mobile phone business: China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile phone company with 350 million subscribers (NN, 2006e). Experts expect a T-DMB mobile phone market of two million consumers in 2007 (NN, 2006b). In general, China’s DMB phone market is expected to expand rapidly with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (Tae-gyu, 2006).

UMTS DMB

DVB-T

Way of transAdvantages Disadvantages mission Two-way Used in several countries Not designed as a mass medium; can (mostly Europe and Asia) be very expensive when it comes to high data rate One-way On the market in Asia and Can only offer a limited number of Europe, e.g. Italy, Austria, TV programmes, bad reception in Switzerland, Germany buildings One-way

Easy to implement:

Accident-sensitive, especially in

infrastructure exists already

transport

DVB-H

One-way

High capacity of programmes On the market in Asia, Africa and (20-30 TV programmes) Europe (e.g. Italy, Norway) and some Asian countries: New standard for the European Union (2008)

Media FLO

One-way

MediaFLO could be cheaper to On the market in the USA since implement, because it is using 2007, tests in the UK less antennas; it is said to have a better transfer quality of TV signal than the other competitors

Table 1: Mobile TV standards in the year 2008. Source: Breunig, 2006a, and own research

DVB-H is a transfer standard that can be used for receiving digital broadcast services on mobile devices. DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial), digital © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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TV via antenna, is already used in Germany. Especially for the European Football Championship 2008, mobile phones sets which could use DVB-T were brought to the market by a mobile phone producer. With the help of DVB-H, multimedia services, especially television for mobile phones, can be used. DVB-H is an extension of DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial). By the time before the World Cup, DVB-H was not used regularly anywhere, but it was tested in approximately 30 test networks around the world. Regular operation started in several countries in 2006, e.g. nationwide in Italy and Finland for the World Cup. Completion of DVB-H technology was planned in the USA for 2007, but this goal was not achieved. MediaFLO is also a transfer technology. The FLO, which stands for “Forward Link Only”, means that data transmission path is one-way, from the transmitter to the device. A network for the transmission of mobile TV, based on the MediaFLO technology, has been built in the USA since 2007 (NN, 2006f). In Europe, British TV Broadcaster BSkyB will be the first European company to put the wireless technology MediaFLO to trial. During the summer of 2006, ten channels of BSkyB content were provided on non-commercial devices (Kartes, 2006). The situation is summed up in the Table 1. New developments from 2006 to 2008 are also mentioned. 3.2 Economic situation and technical standards in Germany In Germany, six UMTS licences were auctioned in the year 2000 for approximately € 8 billion each and the bidding companies got the permission to use the licences from 2003 onwards. When two companies were not able to fulfil the necessary requirements, their licences expired. Today, there are four companies that use the UMTS standard: T-Mobile, subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone (former Mannesmann mobile radio), o2 (former Viag Interkom) and E-Plus. Despite of high investments in future technology, the start of UMTS in Germany is lagging behind. Although figures are kept secret by mobile net operators, an analysis by the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Centre (IEK) estimates that until the end of 2005 (and therefore at the time of the World Cup) only around 500,000 UMTS mobile phones were sold in Germany by all mobile network operators together (NN, 2005). The level of attraction of content, which is offered via the new standard, is seen to be crucial for the success of UMTS. One lesson from the implementation of earlier “new” media, like e.g. satellite TV, was that users are not interested in transfer technology, but in content. As the pressure for refinancing is high, mobile radio companies are highly interested to find possibilities for a commercial utilisation. This was the situation in June 2006, when the World Cup took place in Germany. At this moment, different standards are competing at the same time, and it is still an open discussion which standard will be adopted by a mass audience. 3.2.1 DMB In Germany, DMB had been licensed nationwide in spring 2006. MFD (Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland: Mobile TV Germany) started broadcasting a programme 88

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for mobile phones at the end of May 2006, which included several TV and radio channels (Bücken, 2006; NN, 2006a; Schneiders & Waldenmaier, 2006). In June 2006 the programme could be received in five German cities, service provider debitel sold contracts in combination with a mobile phone and a TV subscription package. The channels (MTV, a mixture of German commercial TV-channel SAT.1 and German commercial TV-channel ProSieben, German commercial newschannel N24, and German Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) ZDF were broadcast 1:1 to the mobile screen. The radio channel, FMRadio2see, was an adaptation for mobile phones, “visual radio”, without any words but accompanied by (video) clips. The network was said to expand in the coming years, in 2010 a nationwide coverage with DMB should be achieved in Germany. In parallel, a showcase was tested by the BLM (Bayerische Landesmedienzentrale; Bavarian Central Media Institution) in Munich during the time of World Cup, using mainly the programme of Deutsche Welle (the internationally broadcast German TV channel) and regional Bavarian broadcasters, to expand DMB in a European test project (BLM, 2007). 3.2.2 DVB-H In Germany, a showcase started in four big German cities in the summer of 2006 with the World Cup. The complete TV programme of commercial and public service broadcasters could be seen 1:1, in addition with two radio programmes. The showcase ran until the end of August, several pilot projects were following. Controlled operation of DVB-H in Germany was not expected to start before the end of 2007 at the earliest, when all technical problems, questions of channel assignment, and pricing models were to be clarified (NN, 2006d). 4. Media Companies as Content Providers The second industry that targeted the mobile consumer, comprised of the traditional media companies, electronic as well as print media. The commercial and public service organisations had different motivations for sustaining their positions on the media market. Commercial media companies, being dependent on advertisements, could not afford to lose the new market for mobile advertisements. Although still in its infancy, advertisement is already starting on mobile phones, and new formats were tested at the time of the World Cup. Although advertisement does also contribute to the income of public service broadcaster, they are mostly interested in not losing their public, when they are not present in new media markets. Parallels to online journalism are obvious: although in the majority not profitable until now, neither commercial nor public service broadcasters could afford not being present in this new media market. Concerning print media companies, mistakes that were made by responding too late to new media possibilities and losing the local advertisement market to the internet, could be repeated with the mobile media market. Besides the parallels to the development of online journalism, differences exist as well. One of the most important ones is the different philosophy, separating both media forms. When internet users expect the content to be accessible for free, and paid content could so far not be implemented online (at least not up to a © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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relevant amount), the situation within the mobile market is different. Mobile phone users are used to paying for their services; the market for ringtones is already highly profitable, and the paid download of music, sport, comedy, film, TV and erotic video clips is also progressing rapidly (Baumeister, 2005). Besides, the editing of content for the internet is more labour-intensive, because content on the internet is a market with nearly unlimited possibilities in terms of space: hyperlinks, chatforums etc. Editing content on mobile phones is at the moment mostly a reduction of content: adapting news and clips to small screens. Apart from electronic media, mobile communication is also interesting for print media, even within its main field, the regional level. Location based services, for example, can point the user towards the next restaurant in an unknown city. Therefore not only commercial and public service broadcasters are interested in not losing the advertisement clients to mobile radio companies, but also regional newspaper houses are afraid of losing their advertisement clients if they cannot offer advertisements connected to a new media product on new media devices. In 2006 and at the time of publishing, 2008, it remains an open question if market penetration with suitable mobile phones will be completed in the near future, and how long this development will take. 5. The World Cup on mobile phones in Germany 5.1 Central research questions In the focus of the here presented project is the institutionalisation of the new medium, seen from the journalistic perspective: • Which formats are developing? • How is the offer of mobile content organised, concerning the production of journalistic content in newsrooms? • Is a new type of journalism emerging? Is there an emerging “mobile phone journalism”, taking into account the special characteristics of the medium (e.g. small screen, limited space, mobile user situation, short time slots for using)? Or is content for mobile phones just a by-product of a multimedia journalism, which is increasingly diversifying its offers? To answer these questions, the choice of a key event is useful, as different factors coincide at the same time: high demand for information and new media services, which are offered to the media user. 5.2 The World Cup as a key event Sport and sport coverage are a central part of research in the field of communication science (Roters et al., 2001) and journalism research (Hackforth, 1994). Since the 1960s, this relationship developed a special dynamic (Digel & Burk, 2001), which provided the reason for further research projects (Gleich, 2001; Loosen, 2001a). The connection between major sport events, media offer and 90

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technical development is especially interesting in this context. Major sport events and the thereby stimulated demand for new media offers and media technologies have been used frequently in the past for the marketing of media innovations. The coverage of sport events can serve as a tool to raise the demand for an innovation as well as to demonstrate the efficiency of this innovation. It is a field where new media can be tried out. The World Cup 1954 already led to a booming demand for TV sets. Sport events have many advantages: the programme can be scheduled in the long run, a high level of interest is guaranteed, and the disposition for the purchase of a new device is high. Especially media with moving pictures are high on demand, as they transport emotions directly. The increasing desire for new media offers could also be seen at the second to last World Cup in 2002, as the demand for information from the World Wide Web was surprisingly high, and even the demand for game reports via SMS or WAP surprised the mobile network operators. T-Mobile e.g. sent two million text messages with news from the World Cup to mobile phones, which amounted to more than twice as many sport-related news items than in normal months. MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) was also started in 2002 and the first few thousand clients were won during the same time period (Forster & Rothfuß, 2002). In the run-up to the World Cup 2006 in Germany it was therefore debated whether this would be such a key event. The concept of a key event in general is explained by Kepplinger and Hartung (1995); an adaptation for the field of online journalism can be found in Hespelein (1999), Neuberger (2001b) and Geyer (2004). The term “key event” is in this case not used in its original meaning, where it was stated that a change of a topic structure within the media takes place. In this new context, the term is transferred to a meta level: during the process of the institutionalisation of new media, key events can generate a demand for the new media and at the same time structure the use of the new media. Can new media, e.g. mobile TV, be an answer for an increasingly mobile society, and can it be a competitor for “fixed” or “settled” TV? Although “Riepl’s law” (Riepl, 1972: 5) is quoted frequently in communication science, it has to be taken into account that the empirical content of Riepl’s law is relatively little, so that it can hardly be disproved (Neuberger, 2001a: 66-67). It is reasonable to observe a relationship between technical media by taking into account that a complementary relationship is also possible as a competitive relationship. It is not only the technical potential, but also the exploitation of this potential, the social use, which is decisive for the future development of the new media (Neuberger, 2001b: 67). To observe this development, a key event such as the World Cup is convenient, as the demand for textual and visual news will be increasing (Buchwald et al., 2005) and competitors will respond to this demand. Media economic experts did also expect a breakthrough in terms of economic revenue at the time of the World Cup. Market research estimated that in 2006 a turnover of € 300 million could be achieved with offers of mobile TV. Some hundred jobs were already established (NN, 2006c). German politics also wanted mobile TV in Germany to take on a leading position within Europe. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Actually, the World Cup was not only a key event for mobile TV in Germany or Europe, but world-wide. While in 2002 only two licences for new media were sold to Japan and South-Korea, in 2006 new media licences were, for the first time, brought to market separately from other rights. The new media licences were sold by Infront, who are holding the media rights of the World Cup, to almost 100 countries world-wide. Most of the countries bought the “Standard New Media Package”. In this package, a summary of up to four minutes of each game is put together at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Munich, and is sent as a “near-live” signal to mobile network operators world-wide, from Latin America to India, Africa and China (Flohr, 2006). It is necessary to look closely at the programme offer of the MNOs, taking into account the results from the expert interviews, to answer the research questions which were raised above. 5.3

The Research Project: Structure

5.3.1 OVERVIEW The programme offer during the World Cup looked as follows: Organiser T-Mobile

Technical system

Content Football Channel (provided by Pay-TV Channel Premiere), 20 games live Vodafone UMTS Daily programme „Freistoß“; no rights for football games o2 UMTS Four minutes football summaries (new media package), own daily show BLM DMB (Showcase), available in TV programme of PSB ARD, Munich only DW, BR, commercial radio adaptations MFD/debitel DMB TV programme of ZDF (all games) and commercial channels German PSB, DVB-H (Showcase), available All PSB, all commercial channels, commercial channel, only in four German cities all rights all German MNOs UMTS

Table 2: General Offer of Mobile TV during the World Cup. Source: Own research

5.3.2 METHODS To answer the research questions, several research methods were used, while a special focus were qualitative methods. In two steps, different empirical methods were used. Two steps were made: first of all, guided interviews with experts and secondly, qualitative content analyses. 5.3.3 GUIDED INTERVIEWS WITH EXPERTS Two industries were operating in the field of mobile communication: the traditional media companies and the MNOs. Concerning the World Cup, the traditional media 92

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did not have any rights to send moving pictures on/to mobile phones. Apart from the normal SMS (text message) and news services, the traditional media did not have an active part in the coverage of the World Cup on mobile phones. Apart from showcases for testing new transfer technologies, the only actors offering a product on the market during the World Cup were the mobile service network operators, and a licensee group using DMB, the MFD (Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland: Mobile TV Germany). Although four MNOs are present on the German market, only two of them, T-Mobile and o2, bought the rights for offering football video clips on mobile phones. The third MNO, E-plus, was neither in possession of rights nor offered a special programme for the World Cup. The fourth MNO, Vodafone, was not in possession of any rights either, but offered a special mobile TV offer for the World Cup. The regular football programme “Freistoß” was continued during the World Cup, reporting about the World Cup, but without moving pictures, which mostly meant expert discussions. Due to the fact that Vodafone as a main actor on the market in Germany did not have any possibilities to cover the World Cup adequately, no expert interviews were given on the topic of the World Cup.1 Therefore, guided interviews were conducted with experts from: • Network operator T-Mobile • Network operator o2 • Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting (Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien) • Producer of journalistic content for o2, Sport 1 • Mobile TV Germany (Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland, MFD) Questions within the guided interviews covered four different fields: • General questions about the offer of mobile TV, news and the World Cup • Technology: advantages of different systems, company strategy • Marketing: perspectives for mobile paid content • Content: specific content for mobile phones? The results of the interviews can be summed up briefly. The market for mobile telephony, with a total coverage of more than 100 percent in Germany is said to be exhausted. UMTS as a technology is in general seen critically, and it is doubted that investments into licences will ever be profitable. Nevertheless, a market for mobile TV has been opened up and the competitors are taking up their positions. The experiences within online journalism seem to be repeated, i.e. there is a 1:1 take-over from a traditional medium to a new medium (as online journalism was in its beginning a 1:1 take-over from newspaper to online-news, a similar development can be seen concerning mobile media). A 1:1 take-over from TV to 1

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mobile TV is widespread, although most of the experts admitted that this will not be a way to success. Quality programmes are demanded but rarely realised. Even the experts seem to be unsure into which direction the development will go; the reactions differ from creative ideas of their own to the cheapest solutions. Although MNOs seem to offer journalistic content themselves, journalistic work in general is outsourced. Interesting developments can be seen where media professionals (and not mobile communication experts) develop new formats for MNOs. 5.3.4 CONTENT ANALYSIS A content analysis (Rössler, 2005) was made for the special World Cup programme offered by mobile network operators. The programme looked as follows: Organiser T-Mobile o2 Vodafone MFD/ debitel

Technical transmission and utilisation “Live” coverage 20 games; no “Live” stream (delay to real live ca. 12 presentation, comment is taken over seconds) from pay-TV Premiere Daily show with own presenter; four- Stream; Loop, on demand minutes-summary (new media package) Daily programme “Freistoß”; clips Stream; Loop, on demand without moving pictures from World Cup Live, complete ZDF programme (due Broadcast; “Live” to participation of rights with ARD: only half of the complete German TV programme on World Cup) Format

Table 3: Detailed Programme for Mobile TV during the World Cup. Source: Own research

As profound research results were lacking in 2006, only presumptions could be made for the kind of utilisation. It seemed reasonable that the advantage of the medium, the mobility, indicates the kind of utilisation, e.g. first and fast information when being mobile, which means during travel (in trains, buses, on the way to work) or amusement during waiting periods of all kinds where the programme offer is used as a time killer (on train stations, during breaks, in waiting rooms, queues etc.). It seemed reasonable to ask whether the programme offer gave consideration to the presumed utilisation. Central questions for the content analysis were as follows: • Which differences did exist between the regular TV programme and the TV programme for mobile TV? • Did a special form of TV production emerge for small screens (e.g. camera adjustments, close-up views instead of wide angles)? Were news combined with pictures, adapted to small screen use? 94

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• Could mobile-specific programmes be identified? • Which differences could be seen between content offers of various MNOs? • Did the content offer change during the four weeks of the World Cup, due to the experiences made with the new medium? 5.3.5 METHODOLOGICAL QUESTIONS According to my knowledge, this project realised the first content analysis of Mobile TV. Therefore, special methodological questions arose, which are listed in the following: • How can mobile content be stored, as storage capacity on mobile phones is not sufficient? Although storage of video clips is possible on some mobile phones, the clips cannot be transferred to another storage medium (e.g. copied to a PC’s hard disk). • How can a user perspective be simulated? • As a complete survey is not manageable for a time slot of four weeks, what could be a reasonable sample? 5.3.6 METHODOLOGICAL ANSWERS The central question, how the user perspective can be simulated, was important to solve. Technically, it was not possible to store the content; it is possible to download some clips on a memory card, but the capacity is not sufficient and data cannot be transferred to another medium. Theoretically, the stored data could be copied from the server of the MNOs. In reality, this would be like making a content analysis of a newspaper by getting texts out of the content management system. The user perspective is different: it makes a difference if articles are on top or on the bottom, visibly layouted or secretly hidden in the corner. Besides, data could not be copied from servers to the researcher for legal reasons: FIFA contracts were very detailed and everything not explicitly included was forbidden, e.g. storage of data and handing them over even for research reasons. The only reasonable solution that can also conserve the user experience was to film the offered content from the mobile phone display and to analyse video clips: technical problems like greasing or freezing pictures can be documented as can be the disruption of data transfer. For analysing the differences during the time of the World Cup, three days were taken out of the sample for further analysis: one day at the beginning, one day in the middle and one day at the end of the World Cup. 5.3.7 ANSWERS TO RESEARCH QUESTIONS The research questions have to be answered separately for each MNO. Concerning T-Mobile, nearly no differences existed between their programme offer compared to the traditional broadcasters ARD, ZDF and Premiere. The most important twenty games were offered in a near live 1:1-version. Near live means that the time difference to the TV programme was some seconds delay due to technical reasons © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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– which can be quite long, taking into account that the mobile TV user hears a cheering crowd when a goal is scored and it takes him-/herself some seconds to find out who shot the goal. Apart from the 1:1 take-over of the games, material of the private channel Premiere was used (expert talk shows etc.) which was not adapted in a mobile-specific way. For Vodafone, having no rights for any pictures from the World Cup, not even for still images, the situation was difficult: making TV without pictures is not an easy task, neither for big nor for small screens. Solutions were found in several ways; on the one hand with TV-typical solutions, e.g. interviews with fans in front of the stadium. More interesting was another solution: the use of “visual radio”, a kind of mobile-specific coverage. Still images were used with spoken comments about the games. Although the production was very unprofessional from a journalistic point of view (the programme was only available several hours after the games ended, archive pictures were used due to the lack of rights from the real games, the audio comments were not even meeting radio standards), it can be seen as an approach to develop a hybrid form of a mobile-specific journalistic format, consisting of audio and visual information. O2 had the most elaborated programme concept. In general, two formats existed. As one format, the four-minute-clips produced especially for small mobile displays were offered shortly after the game had ended, together with the ondemand archive, where all the clips were stored during the World Cup. The second format was a moderated show of about 15 minutes length, produced especially for small screens. Both formats were adapted to a presumed short duration of usage as well as to the small size of the mobile screen. With an archive built up during the time of the World Cup, consisting of the four-minute-clips of all games, the special on-demand-options, which could not be offered by fixed TV using a linear programme structure, were a clear, mobile-specific advantage in the composition of programmes. Although a detailed quantitative analysis of camera angles of the sample material has not yet been finished, impressions of a mobile-specific camera work in the clips and magazines were confirmed in interviews made after the World Cup with experts of the production companies (Plazamedia and SportEins). The MFD programme offer, using DMB as a way of transmission, can be summed up briefly. As they had only ZDF as a partner, but not ARD, and both German PSB were sharing the rights during the World Cup, users of DMB-enabled mobile phones were only able to watch half of the games. The format was identical with the “normal” TV programme. Whereas there were no major changes in the programme offer of Vodafone and o2 during the duration of the World Cup, T-Mobile’s programme offer became more professional over time. The paperboards, which were used in the first game during halftime and after the final whistle, disappeared eventually and gave room to advertisement clips or expert discussions that were taken over from the Premiere TV-programme. In the course of the four weeks, the four-minutes-clips produced by the central media centre in Munich were also used in the football-channel of TMobile, which was made up by Premiere material.

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5.3.8 THE WORLD CUP: A KEY EVENT? From different points of views, several answers can be given. Concerning the economic point of view, the World Cup was a clear disappointment. A market for users of mobile TV could not be developed. Viewing figures have not been published, but were said to be very small. Thanks to the technical problems connected with the transfer of mobile TV during the time of the World Cup, which made the programme offers very difficult to use – breakdowns of connections or frozen images were quite common – this is not surprising. From a journalistic point of view, the World Cup can be seen as a key event, as first mobile-specific journalistic formats, adapted to a mobile-specific media usage, were developed and produced for a regular programme offer for the first time. The combination of audio and visual information as it was used by “visual radio,” the production of clips adapted to small screen usage and the on-demandarchive, which could not be offered by traditional TV-channels show the way of a specific kind of journalistic format development. Mobile-specific programme offers are characterised by interactivity, a hybridisation of different journalistic creation elements, and work with camera angles adapted to small screen usage. The duration of programme elements is adapted to a short time of usage, which varies from some minutes to approximately 15 minutes. The programme is not offered in a linear way, but uses programme loops, following the concept of specialised TVchannels. .

6. Conclusion and Outlook: The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship (EFC) As utilisation of mobile TV was still at the beginning in 2006, certain research results did not yet exist. Two years later, some progress has been made (ARD/ZDF-Projektgruppe Mobiles Fernsehen, 2007; Breunig, 2006b). On the users’ side, assumptions about a relatively short usage time were verified, as well as a preference for news and sport concerning the programmes on offer. Besides the MNOs, media companies discovered mobile phones as one possible way to reach the media user. Print and electronic media developed mobile news formats for mobile phones only in 2007 and 2008 (Kretzschmar, 2008). Concerning the technology, the attempt to establish DMB as a technical standard for mobile TV failed. The DMB standard was not implemented successfully in Germany. As a new standard, DVB-H was licensed nationwide at the end of, 2007 in Germany with the consortium of Mobile 3.0 (NN, 2008b). The European Union pushes DVB-H as a new standard for the whole of Europe, to establish European technology worldwide and to put an end to competition of different standards for mobile TV that has slowed down the development since, 2006 (NN, 2008a). Due to various reasons, Mobile 3.0 did not succeed to offer a programme broadcast via DVB-H in Germany for the European Football Championship. In contrast, telecommunication providers started a programme broadcast via DVB-H in the hosting country of the European Football championship, Austria. Therefore a study that examines the media coverage of the 2008 UEFA EFC on mobile phones is planned for June 2008. In comparison with © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Mast, C. (1984): Der Redakteur am Bildschirm. Auswirkungen moderner Technik auf Arbeit und Berufsbild der Journalisten., Konstanz: UVK. Meyrowitz, J. (2003): ‘Global Nomads in the Digital Veldt’. In: Nyíri, K. (ed.) Mobile Democracy. Wien: Passagen Verlag, pp. 91-102. Neuberger, C. (2001a): Journalismus im Internet. Theoriekontext und empirische Exploration. Eichstätt: Unveröffentlichte Habilitationsschrift. Neuberger, C. (2001b): ‘Key events in online journalism’. Lecture at Erfurt University. Unpublished manuscript, Erfurt. NN (2005): ‘Analyse: 100 Millionen verkaufte UMTS-Handys im Jahre 2006’. Downloaded on 15 May 2006 from http://www.dsl-news.de/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1521. NN (2006a): ‘Das echte mobile Fernsehen startet. Presseportal.’ Downloaded on 15 may 2006 from http://www.presseportal.de/print.htx?nr=830191. NN (2006b): ‘Mainland media firms get head start on 3G with Mobile TV’. In: South China Morning Post, 9. May 2006. NN (2006c): ‘Mobiles Fernsehen erreicht Deutschland: Wachstum durch Kundenorientierung, Netz- und Technologieunabhängigkeit.’ Downloaded on 8 May 2006 from http://www.presseportal.de/print.htx?nr=831152. NN (2006d): ‘Mobiles Fernsehen: RTL goes DVB-H. TV-Sender und Mobilfunkanbieter starten Showcase zur Fußball WM. Presseportal.’ Downloaded on 18 May 2006 from http://www.presseportal.de/print.htx?nr=829039. NN (2006e): ‘ROK gets £665m call to bring mobile TV to China.’ In: Independent on Sunday, 30. April 2006. NN (2006f): ‘Wettlauf um mobiles TV-Netz in den USA.’ In: Computerwoche, 10. January 2006. NN (2008a): ‘EU-Kommission legt DVB-H als Standard für Mobil-TV fest’. Downloaded on 21. March 2008 from http://www.faz.net/d/invest/meldung.aspx?id=71644735. NN (2008b): ‘Handy-TV startet doch pünktlich zur Fußball-EM. Landesmedienanstalten gaben grünes Licht für Mobile 3.0.’ Downloaded on 21. March 2008 from http://www.golem.de /0801/57045.html. Nyíri, K. (ed.) (2003a): Mobile Democracy. Wien: Passagen Verlag. Nyíri, K. V. (ed.) (2003b): Mobile Communication. Vienna: Passagen Verlag. Riepl, W. (1972): Das Nachrichtenwesen des Altertums. Mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die Römer. Hildesheim/New York: Georg Olms Verlag. Rössler, P. (2005): Inhaltsanalyse. Konstanz: UVK. Roters, G., Klingler, W., Gerhards, M. & Sportrezeption (eds.) (2001): Sportrezeption. BadenBaden: Nomos. Schneiders, S. & Waldenmaier, S. (2006): ‘Fernsehen auf dem Handy.’ In: Funkschau Handel (8): 10-12. Tae-gyu, K. (2006): ‘Samsung exports T-DMB Phones to China.’ Downloaded on 15 May 2007 from http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200601/kt2006010820122311780.htm . Weischenberg, S. (1981): ‘Zwischen Taylorisierung und professioneller Orientierung. Perspektiven künftigen Kommunikatorhandelns.’ In: Rundfunk und Fernsehen (2-3): 151-167. Weischenberg, S. (1982): Journalismus in der Computergesellschaft. Informatisierung, Medientechnik und die Rolle der Berufskommunikatoren. München: Saur. Weischenberg, S. (1995): Journalistik. Medienkommunikation: Theorie und Praxis. Band 2: Medientechnik, Medienfunktionen, Medienakteure. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.

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Mobile Video: Between Personal, Community and Mass Media Virpi Oksman

1. Introduction The opportunity to use moving image in mobile communication has brought important additional information to communication and turns the mobile phone into a real multimedia device. The possibility to share and publish user created mobile videos has expanded the role of the mobile phone beyond simple personal communications. On the Internet, the enormous success of services like YouTube and Flickr has shown that there is public interest in video and image contents created by amateur users. User-generated contents multiply media content supply, and users have countless channels to access the content that meets their preferences. On public transportation mobile TV services can provide a feeling of being up-to-date all the time. For the user, mobile television contents are interesting due to their availability regardless of time and location. The most central problems concerning user experiences (as perceived by users) are the small screen and problems in the quality of the picture and reception (Cui et al., 2007; Oksman et al., 2007). Thus with the development of services and equipment, the possibilities for mobile video have expanded greatly. Improvement in picture and video quality makes the use of different services increasingly user-friendly. In this article I primarily examine two mobile video solutions that have the potential to become integrated into the daily lives of users: the use of video call in the communication between family and friends and the use of mobile TV services via the mobile phone. These services have been available for consumers for some time in several countries (such as Japan, South Korea, UK, Italy and Finland). However, market predictions concerning the adoption of new mobile technologies and services are sometimes based on over-optimistic expectations. Thus it is important that future visions regarding ICT take also the actual behaviour of users in their specific contexts into account (Bouwman & Van Der Duin, 2007: 380-381). The article aims to locate the meanings that mobile moving image and the video phone features may have in the daily lives of people. What attitudes are expressed towards mobile video image among the respondents’ friend and family contexts? What kind of leisure communication and interpersonal interaction does the video call generate between friends and family members? How is mobile video perceived as a medium for mass communication such as news delivery? What kind of mobile TV content do people choose to use in different situations? © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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2. Mediatization of the mobile phone Communication technologies are typically multi-purpose tools that can change their major functions over time. Originally, i.e. in the 1880s, the landline telephone was used as a broadcasting medium. Back then it was not intended as medium of bilateral communication. The broadcast use of the telephone progressively declined before the invention of the radio. However, the public found new uses for the telephone, mainly as an instrument of conversation and sociability for women. One important lesson from the history of the phone is that the users will often determine how communication technologies are used, and often marginally considered users may find successful uses, such as women and sociability, teenagers and SMS (Lasen, 2002: 7). The mobile phone has been profiled especially as a unique communication device between friends and family and, the mobile phone is the absolute medium of relationships of all electronic media (Höflich, 2006: 3). Recent media convergence has enriched the mobile phone with various media functions, forms, channels and delivery methods. There is hardly any other single device, which has converged so many different technologies and functions (Gordon, 2002: 16). This development provides an interesting case of ‘mediamorphosis’, the transformation of communication media (Fidler, 1997). To be more specific, the mediatization process of the mobile phone can be defined as "the impact of the classic mass media on the fixed and mobile net" (Fortunati, 2005: 27). Especially the transition of GSM to 3G has been seen as signaling the evolution of the mediatization of the mobile phone, the culmination of which is the ability to follow TV broadcasts on the mobile (Fortunati, 2005: 33). Moreover, the mobile phone has some special characters of its own as a medium, as it is strongly connected to user generated content production. Text and image messaging and video phone features have generated new kinds of interpersonal communication forms and cultures in the daily lives of people. For instance mobile images and videos taken by citizens have contributed to the illustration of many news events. Many news media, including Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, nowadays offer their readers the opportunity to send in pictures taken on their camera phones to their news website. The opportunities of mobile video and TV have been studied in Finland and in many other countries through several field tests and pilot studies. For instance, Repo et al. (2002: 18-19) have explored the situations in which the possibility of viewing video through the mobile phone could be the most convenient. The content of the tested mobile services consisted of news, cartoons and karaoke videos. An interesting notion was that viewing in public transport was labelled as unsuitable. People did not use earpieces in the test and the use of a loud multimedia device in buses, for instance, was construed as disturbing others and too conspicuous. The videos were used to fill up empty slots when waiting for something: queuing at the cashier while shopping or while having a break from homework. The users talked about the novelty wearing off: a few news broadcasts and cartoons were not experienced as inspiring enough as content in the long run. 102

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Kasesniemi et al. (2003) studied the usage of mobile video in family and peer group contexts. According to the study, mobile video has possibilities for seamless and versatile fusion with the mobile communication and life management of the users. Users generally perceived the video as a good medium for communicating feelings and events containing a lot of movement. The use of the video function varied from documenting personal memories to directing small humorous clips. An interesting feature in mobile video was its utilisation as both personal and community media. Some of the captures were forwarded to other user communities and discussed later, while others were intended for individual use alone and stored either in the mobile terminal or on a desktop computer. Regarding community media, the potentials of the camera phones for local journalism and citizen communication have also been explored in Finland. It turned out that the camera phone can be a useful device in the communication of local communities. The pictures worked well to open public discussion, and the residents became eager to take their stand to the issues of region (Sirkkunen, 2004: 5). The use of mobile TV contents has been studied in many recent use pilots (Dowell, 2006; Mason, 2006; see also Kretzschmar in this volume). Quite typically, mobile TV services are used in public space, for example, while waiting or commuting. They are used to kill time and to keep their users entertained or up-todate. Whereas public space is going to remain an important area for mobile TV usage, some studies have shown that mobile TV services are also used in the private sphere. Typically, mobile TV was used late at night, in bed, just before falling asleep (Dowell, 2006). Södergård et al. found out that – against expectations – the test users clearly considered the mobile TV service to be a television, not a wireless multimedia service. The programmes were selected by familiar channel, not by topic. The most liked feature was the possibility to watch programmes from the archive whenever possible (Södergård et al., 2002). The findings of a number of studies made on mobile TV confirm that the most popular mobile TV content is news (Södergård, 2002; Mäki, 2005; Oksman et al., 2007). Other popular mobile TV content types are: music videos, sports, cartoons, movies, soap operas and sitcoms (Knoche & McCarthy, 2005). News is well suited to mobile phones, because the duration of a mobile TV session often lasts less than 10 minutes1. The limited time of mobile TV use has ramifications for both the type of content and the way that people consume it (Södergård, 2002; Knoche & McCarthy, 2004; Knoche, 2005). Most likely, customized services that address specific interests of the individual user will become more important in the future (Grobel, 2006). Based on the above studies, we can assume that mobile video can be used for a variety of different purposes; from personal to mass communication and from entertainment content to news. A core question regarding the development of mobile video services lies in user appropriation: how do the users experience 1

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mobile video and TV and how do they want to use it in different situations as part of their daily life? Moreover, the extent to which end-users will value the functional blending of mobile telephony, which people seem to experience more or less as a personal form of communication, and mass media broadcasting is not yet clear. Equally unknown is and how valuable the mobile TV service would be for users (Picard, 2005: 20). 3. The projects and materials The data used in this article underlines the appropriation and significance of mobile video in daily life use contexts. The empirical research projects included field tests on mobile visual services, especially on mobile video calls and mobile TV services in Finland in 2005-2007. The project entitled ‘Mobile Visuality’ was conducted at the University of Tampere in 2005. The research aimed to locate the meanings that mobile moving image and the video phone feature may have in the daily lives of people. What kind of leisure communication and interpersonal interaction is generated among people of different ages? The object of the study was visual mobile communication within family and peer group communities. The respondents were young adults living on their own and families with children and their grandparents or other family members with whom they maintain active contact. The emphasis was on personal, experience- and free-time-oriented mobile communication; the need for visual mobile communication was studied also in relation to the communication needs emerging from the combination of work and family life. All in all, 70 persons were interviewed for the study during 2005. The age of the interviewees ranged from 10 to 75 years. All of them used camera phones. For a period of 6 weeks, 10 people tested the video call. Personal backgrounds of the informants were varied: more than half worked full time, the rest consisted of school-goers and students, pensioners, parents on child-care leave and selfemployed people working from home. A subsequent project called ‘Podracing’ started at VTT Information Technology in 2006. The purpose of the project was to find out what kinds of mobile media forms (video, audio or text) people use in different situations. Parallel distribution of video, audio, and text over WLAN, 3G, and DVB-H for mobile devices was being tested. The focus of the research was on developing mobile TV technologies and services and enhancing knowledge of mobile TV content consumption, usage situations and user experiences. The aims of the study emerged from the integration of different media formats and delivery technologies. The first phase of the study concentrated on different media formats: video, audio and text as on-demand services. The second and third phases concentrated on different delivery methods: content download and broadcasting. The primary question was: “If a user had the possibility to watch the latest television news on a mobile phone, or listen to the news on the radio or read text news on the mobile, which option would he or she choose?” Three field tests were conducted during the project. In each test, the same ten test users used different mobile TV services with 3G phones for a period of one to 104

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three months. Before the test periods, the users were interviewed and they received information concerning the test. Demographic data was gathered from the users and media user profiles were made. The ages of the users ranged from 23 to 56. All of them worked at least part time. During the test period, the trial participants reported their user experiences in a test diary. After the test, the users were asked to fill in the service evaluation form and they were interviewed again. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The evaluation form covered questions such as navigation and ease with which the different mobile TV functions could be utilized. The test users were also asked to assess how enjoyable they found watching the news and other media on the screen of the mobile phone. The log data of the use the services was collected and analyzed statistically. The test groups consisted of persons who have been using mobile services actively during the last few years. They were keen news and media followers, but they had different kinds of media-user profiles. Some of them were very loyal newspaper readers, while others regarded the Internet or TV as the best news or entertainment source. The test users had different kinds of hobbies, lifestyles and interests. During the tests, they carried the test phone as their primary mobile, using it for both professional and personal communication. The tested mobile TV services consisted of a wide range of different kinds of content: from all the main TV channels to sports and news channels, and from fashion TV to user-generated content. The reliability of the 3G and DVB-H networks and the quality of the video, audio and text content were also examined. 4. Mobile video and telepresence The people interviewed for the ‘Mobile Visuality’-project were asked about the significance of mobile video in the friends and family context. When compared to more traditional means of photography, mobile images and videos are often seen as disposable and situation-specific in nature (see also Koskinen, 2000: 113). Mobile videos are used quite often to share common experiences, thus strengthening the sense of family and friends communities. For example an older couple told about their travel with friends. Later, the friends received a mobile video by which to remember a shared karaoke performance on their common holiday. Many users of camera phones perceived the video as more expressive than still images: it transmits more of the information, emotion, sound and atmosphere. The situation and movement are captured more accurately. This is seen as particularly important when shooting the activities of children. The parents of 2-year-old Otto were using mobile video to communicate with each other and their relatives during the day. - I: Do you yourself prefer receiving video or still image? - R: With our Otto’s (the 2 year old son) speaking as such a new thing, if my husband sends me a video with Otto saying mum, so I absolutely love having the sound in it. Although I suppose you could get sound for the still pictures, too. - R2: There are situations where you can’t explain what’s going on with a still picture without attaching text to it. For instance Otto dancing with the bunny, if you had just taken a picture, you would have thought, oh, he’s carrying a bunny, what’s so special about that. But when you could see the dance steps and

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a bit of commotion going on there, you could get the context in a different way and it was funny. That wouldn’t have worked at all as a still image, really. (Woman, 32; Man, 32)

New technology, MMS communication, videos and web cams have assumed a powerful role as the enablers of a new kind of ‘telepresence’, or new intimacy to share experiences and feel as if the absent friends and family were there to witness the occasion (Kindberg et al., 2005: 46). With many young families, grandparents live in different localities and the distances can be long. Thanks to new visual communication, such as mobile imaging, Messenger and Skype, the grandparents are able to follow the daily life of the family and the child’s development on an almost real-time basis. In British and Japanese studies, too, absent friends or family members are often the ones receiving MMS messages (see Kindberg et al., 2005; Okabe, 2004). 5. Video calls: friends and family During 2005 ten informants were testing video calls. Video calls were seen as a very positive and fun form of communication. They were experienced as more private and more personal than a phone call or SMS. A video call was seen as suitable for communication with close friends and family members. It was estimated as a very effective form of communication, having a high value on documentation. The first calls were more experimental in nature: talking to the camera took some getting used to. The calls only lasted for a couple of minutes. I showed my DVDs on the shelves to Laura, options for her to lend from there. You can do stuff that is more concrete. And you rather make the video calls in your private space than in public as you can’t really make them as unnoticeably as regular phone calls. (Man, 20)

Late, the use became less affected, enabling ‘normal’ conversations and the calls became longer, lasting up to 10 to 15 minutes. The informants saw video calls perfect for family purposes: as the calls got longer, the speakers wanted to involve all the family members2. I loved talking to my 2-year-old goddaughter. First we were both a little shy, but after a little while she was laughing and screaming at me as I was showing her familiar things. (Woman, 36)

According to the testers, video call is a more engaging activity than voice call, partly because it does not allow so much for simultaneous ‘parallel activities’ (activities such as walking, driving, browsing magazines and watching TV are common during a voice call). The testers estimated video calls to be a perfect product also for relationship communication.

Also in Japan, video calls have been marketed for family use, as a technologically easy solution suited for communication between grandparents and children. 2

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1. Picture: Video call was seen as suitable especially for communication between grandparents and grandchildren living in different locations

6. Mobile news According to the mobile news service log data gathered in the ‘Podracing’- study, the service was used daily during the research period. Out of the various media formats on offer, television was the most widely used, and in the realm of news, the categories sports news and foreign and domestic news attracted the most interest. The service use spread relatively evenly for the whole day (see chart 1), although use was more frequent in the morning and after six in the evening. Situations where the user is unattainable by regular media were considered as best suited for the use of the mobile news service. For example, while spending a holiday at a location where no fresh newspaper was available, an assiduous news follower began to crave for an additional link to the outside world. According to test diaries and interviews, the service was used in different everyday contexts: in the bus on the way to work, on a train, on vacations abroad, coffee breaks at work and at home before bed. One of the peak times was actually at eleven o’clock at night. One test user talked about watching news on the mobile as the last thing he does at night. I have this habit that just before bed I tend to fiddle with my mobile phone. It kind of settles you down. (Man, 23)

Compared to earlier studies, the use of earpieces with the mobile phone has become increasingly common and makes it possible to follow media contents, for instance, in public transport without disturbing others. With the increased use of iPods and MP3 players, using earpieces on in public places has become a common occurrence and the use of mobile services no longer occasions surprised looks in passers-by. The mobile news service was considered relatively fast in comparison with other media. The service was expected to be updated continuously. It is supposed to offer the latest news and not broadcasts, which had already been received in other media forms. The speed of the service concerning both content and function © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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was important. The news service was found most reliable when it offered the latest news without there being too much effort involved in using it. The testers compared and assessed the reliability of different media through a variety of viewpoints. Some considered that despite its reliability the newspaper may be unable to compete in speed with electronic media – occasionally printed news may already be dated as it comes out. Some continued to value the reliability of newspapers despite their slowness: they assumed that electronic media may publish anything without verification. The image of newspapers is reliable but it is incredibly dated. It’s pretty slow compared to the Internet in that the situation can have changed by the time the paper comes out. (Woman, 26) These days it is possible for anyone to produce electronic media. If we talk about reliable media, that for me is print media, national newspapers (such as Helsingin Sanomat) or the major TV channels. If you get it through some other channel, you start thinking is this a joke or something somebody’s made up. (Man, 42)

Video was deemed the most interesting form of media in the mobile phone. The huge information value in the video image was also considered important: the opportunity to condense things and explain them in an understandable way in a short time. Text was generally considered to be the most reliable form of media. It is suited for many different situations and accessible in situations where other forms of media are not, for instance due to network problems. Some perceived the small screen of a mobile as convenient and surprisingly well suited for the use of media contents; some thought that the small screen hindered media use. TV was the most interesting to me. The thing I used the most was TV news during coffee break at work. That way I came to show my friends that I had a TV in my mobile. Some thought, well, you always have to have the most recent gadget. Others said, ok, that’s interesting, but the screen is very small. You could make out what it is, but the size of the screen caused a little doubt, whether or not it’s worth it. (Man, 56)

Chart 1: The prime time of a mobile news service

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The ability to select the media form suited to the situation at hand was considered important. Audio was perceived as being suitable for situations where the user was mobile, e.g. while walking, cycling or roller-skating. For situations when the user was sitting or standing still, the media format selected was more likely to be illustrated news, text or video. The media format (text, video or audio) has more significance when it is associated with situations you find yourself in. If you need to know the general contents of a specific item of news, then I’d opt for a moving image, kind of like news broadcasts on TV, that’s condensed information. If you want a more in-depth view, you read from the paper or an electronic service. That is a different viewpoint. When there is an interesting item of news and you want to find out more about it, then a text media like that is just what you want. (Man, 42)

The use of the mobile media service raised a discussion in the immediate circle of the test users. The general view was that its use was best suited to situations where other media were not available or where people found themselves with time on their hands. They could use the service while waiting for someone, during their break from work, or while travelling on public transport. Users described it as a nice way of passing the time. At work and where I study I would be with others, at home and in the bus I would use it on my own. It generated a lot of discussion about how it would work, what you could use it for and how nice it would be. For us mature students coming from different parts of Finland this would be really good as we tend to travel a lot from place to place. For when you’re sitting on a train or in a bus or for lonely nights in student housing when you don’t feel like going out. (Woman, 34)

According to log data, the average viewing time for mobile video is relatively short, about 5 minutes on average. Mobile video is thus best suited for quick updates and the viewing of trailers or advertisements for upcoming TV shows: not many people would be interested in watching a whole episode of a TV show or a movie on the screen of a mobile at this stage. A movie would be too long to watch on this, but I suppose you could have some trailers that you could have a peek at when you’re deciding on a film you want to see. I could imagine that ten minutes is the maximum you could maintain an interest in something like that. (Man, 56)

When the users had the opportunity to choose to receive news in different media forms in their mobiles, text format was the option selected most often. Typically, users perceived the text news format as being the most convenient for various kinds of situations and especially suitable for quick news headlines updates “on the go”. The text-based news format was also seen to be less susceptible to the functional problems of the 3G network. However, regarding the total amount of time, the video news format was used the longest. It seems that video news viewing is actually done more rarely than opening text news, but as soon as the reception is good, people like to watch the news broadcasts for a bit longer than just a glance. Although audio was seen as an easy-to-use media format, it was quite rarely perceived as interesting and fresh. The number of sessions of listening to audio news was relatively low, but the average duration of the sessions was of the same magnitude as in watching video. The mobile phone in use (Nokia N70) had radio © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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implemented in the phone, and the users preferred listening to it in real time instead of selecting news articles from the service. Regarding the entertainment contents, mostly the same contents as on regular TV were watched, but also special channels were popular, e.g. a channel focusing on local cultural events. Thus familiarity was the most used criteria in choosing the TV channel. The test users mentioned the major Finish channels (MTV3, Nelonen and YLE) as the channels they watched most often. Moreover, the mobile TV changed their watching routines by offering the possibility to follow their favourite programs regardless of their location. The viewing duration was shorter than usual, and they watched only the most essential or interesting parts of the programs. I could not watch the movies until the end, but watched them for about 15 to 20 minutes. I think I watched news more than usual. (Woman, 29)

Also, certain reality TV series that the users want to keep up with in real time were mentioned as interesting contents. During the test period an obvious example of this was the reality TV show Big Brother, which in addition to television, was followed also through other media. The most avid follower was a 27-year-old female student, who explained that it was essential to follow the daily events at the house from mobile TV while she was away from home. The expectations towards mobile TV changed after the first testing periods. The test users expected mobile TV to offer additional services to conventional TV and media. There was a demand for extra services, especially for more real-time and specially tailored content for mobile TV. The users stated that a mobile television service should be able to give a feeling that the user actually knows more than others. Producing that kind of a real-time service is challenging, especially in the present media environment where everything is online within ten minutes. 7. Mobile media – media on the move Although the studies were constructed around testing services in their relatively early usage stages with small test groups, they yielded certain interesting results on the uses of mobile video in different contexts of people’s daily lives. The empirical research shows that a device optimised for voice and text communication can offer users an interesting visual experience such as video calls and mobile TV news. The mobile phone as media is suited for many different situations in everyday life As personal communication devices are turning into multimedia communication devices delivering news and other mass media contents, new questions about user experience challenges will emerge. Contents designed for different media can rarely be directly utilized in new distribution channels and usage situations. For instance, usability issues regarding the small screen user interfaces will be particularly central. In the long run, it will also be important to discover what kind of existing and new media formats and distribution channels will best suit mobile media.

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8. References Bouwman, H. & Van Der Duin, P. (2007): ‘Futures Research, Communication and Communication Technology in Households in 2010: a Reassessment.’ In: New Media & Society, Vol.9 (3): 379-399. London: Sage, pp. 379-399. Cui, Y., Chipchase, J. & Jung, Y. (2007): ‘Personal TV: A Qualitative Study of Mobile TV Users.’ In: Caesar, P., Chronianopoulos, K. & Jensen, J. F. (eds.) Interactive TV: A Shared Experience. 5th European Conference, EuroITV Proceedings. Amsterdam: The Netherlands, pp. 195-204. Dowell, B. (2006): Viewing habits shift into the bedroom. Downloaded from http://technology. guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329451221-117802,00.htm. Fidler, R. (1997): Mediamorphosis. Thousand Oaks (Calif.): Pine Forge Press. Gordon, J. (2002): ‘The Mobile Phone: An Artefact of Popular Culture and a tool for Public Sphere’. In: Convergence, 8(15): 16-26. Grobel, J (2006): ‘Mobile mass media: A new age for consumers, business, and society?’ In: Groebel, J., Noel, E. & Feldmann, V. (eds.): Mobile media. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers. Höflich J. (2006): ‘The Duality of the Effect - The Mobile Phone and Relationships’. In: Receiver Magazine, 15. Downloaded in 2006 from http://www.receiver.vodafone.com/15/ articles/index06.html Feldmann, V. (2005): Leveraging Mobile Media: Cross-media Strategy and Innovation Policy for Mobile Media Communication. New York: Physica - Verlag. Fidler, R. (1997): Mediamorphosis: Understanding New Media. Thousand Oaks (Calif.): Pine Forge Press. Fortunati, L. (2005): ‘The Medialization of the Net and Internetization of the Mass Media.’ In: International Communication Gazette, 67(27) (2005): 7. Downloaded from http.//gaz.sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/67/1/27. Kasesniemi, E-L. et al. (2003): Elävän mobiilikuvan ensi tallenteet. Käyttäjien kokemuksia videoviestinnästä (The First Captures of Living Mobile Image: Users’ Experiences of Video Communication). Espoo: VTT Tiedotteita. Knoche, H. & McCarthy, J. D. (2005): ‘Good News for Mobile TV’. Proceedings of WWRF14, 7-8 July 2005, San Diego, CA, USA. Knoche, H. & McCarthy, J. D (2004): Mobile Users' Needs and Expectations of Future Multimedia Services. Proceedings of WWRF12, 10-12. Knoche, H. (2005): ‘User-centred mobile television consumption paradigm.’ Proceedings of Human Centred Technology Workshop, 28-29 June, Brighton, UK. Kindberg, T. et al. (2005): I Saw This and Thought of You: Some Social Uses of Camera Phones. External Report. Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Koskinen, I., Kurvinen, E. & Lehtonen, T.-K. (2000): Mobiili kuva (Mobile Image). IT press. Helsinki: Edita. Lasen, A. (2002): The Social Shaping of Fixed and Mobile Networks: A Historical Comparison. DWRC, University of Surrey. Downloaded from http://www.dwrc.surrey.ac.uk/Portals/0/ HistComp.pdf. Mason, S. (2006): Mobile TV- results from the DVB-H trial in Oxford. Ebu Technical Review. Mäki, J. (2005): Finnish Mobile TV Pilot, Results. Downloaded from http://www.finnishmobiletv. com/press/Final_RI_Press_300805_english.pdf Okabe, D. (2004): Emergent Social Practices, Situations and Relations through Everyday Camera Phone Use. Paper presented at Mobile Communication and Social Change, the International Conference on Mobile Communication in Seoul, Korea, October 18-19. Oksman, V., Noppari, E., Tammela, A., Mäkinen, M. & Ollikainen, V. (2007): ‘Mobile TV in Everyday Life Contexts - Individual Entertainment or Shared Experiences?’ In: Caesar, P. Chronianopoulos, K., Jensen, J. F. (Eds.) Interactive TV: A Shared Experience. 5th European Conference, EuroITV Proceedings. Amsterdam: The Netherlands, pp.195-204. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Picard, R.G. (2005): ‘Mobile Telephony and Broadcasting: Are They Compatible for Consumers.’ In: International Journal of Mobile Communications, 3(1). Repo, P., Hyvönen, K., Pantzar, M. & Timonen, P. (2003): Mobiili video (Mobile video). Helsinki: Kuluttajatutkimuskeskus, julkaisuja. Sirkkunen, E. (2004): ‘Introduction: Towards Civic Oriented Information Networks.’ In: Sirkkunen, E. & Kotilainen, S. (eds.): Towards Active Citizenship on the Net. Possibilities for Citizen Oriented Communication: Case Studies from Finland. Journalism Research and Development Centre. Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. Södergård, C. (ed.) (2002): Mobile Television – Technology and User Experiences. Report on the Mobile-TV Project. VTT. Helsinki: Edita Prima Oy.

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(Mobile) Social Networking

Mobile Devices and Social Networking1 Lee Humphreys

Mobile telephony most often connects people who know each other, but new mobile applications are envisioned as applications that can be used to create and develop new social ties. Social applications made for mobile devices allow users to connect with all kinds of people in different kinds of public spaces. While television, telephone, and internet research have shown the importance of media to build new social connections (e.g. Wirth, 1948; Fischer, 1992; Wellman, 1999), there has been relatively little research exploring how mobile technology may also serve this function. The rapid diffusion and technological development of mobile devices provides an opportunity to explore these applications as they are initially adopted and used. While mobile phones have enjoyed popularity since the mid 1990s, social applications (analogous to social networking sites on the internet such as Friendster, Facebook and MySpace) have become available for mobile devices in the past few years. It is in these early years of adoption that particular social norms of usage are negotiated (Pinch, Bijker & Hughes, 1987; Marvin, 1988; Tarde, 1969; Rogers, 1995). This study therefore aims to capture some of these negotiated and emerging norms of use through in-depth interviews and participant observation. Emerging social norms reveal social and cultural trends. This paper examines the use of three distinct mobile social networking applications (Dodgeball, BEDD and SMS.ac) as social and cultural practice, focusing on the intersection of public space, mobile technological affordances, and social norms. 1. Overview of Research on Social Uses of Mobile Phones Considerable research has explored how mobile phone communication supplements previously established relationships. Mobile phones are often used to help friends congregate in public spaces (Ito & Okabe, 2005; Ling, 2004; Ling & Haddon, 2003; Ling & Yttri, 2002). Mobile phones allow friends to coordinate meeting times and places, notify others if they are running late, and find each other in a crowded urban environment. Critics, however, have argued that mobile phones may lead to the atomization and privatization among users by discouraging face-toface communication in urban environments (Bull, 2004; Puro, 2002). Counter 1

The author is grateful to the Annenberg School for Communication, the Project for Global Communication Studies, and the Urban Communication Foundation for funding this study. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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arguments have suggested that new technologies – similar to the mobile phone – can indirectly lead to friendly interactions between people in public (see Katz in Brown, 2006; Gupta, 2004). Furthermore, new mobile social software has been created to explicitly facilitate and encourage the introduction of mobile social software users. The majority of the research examining uses of mobile social software has been experimental (eg. Eagle & Pentland, 2004; Paulos & Goodman, 2004; Weilenmann, 2001). In these projects, devices were developed and then given to study participants to use. While these projects have shown us what users can do with such technology, a lack of generalizability to the real world suggests that much work has yet to be done to understand how such software is used in the course of everyday lives. This project explores how people use mobile social software in their everyday lives to negotiate social relationships and meet new people in public space. Drawing from Couldry and McCarthy’s (2004) concept of mediaspace, three overarching questions guide this project. First, how might mobile social software applications help to bring people together in public spaces? Second, what is the nature of interactions that develop around mobile social software (i.e. who is using it and what kinds of information are exchanged through this software)? Third, how might these interactions change the way users experience urban public spaces? 2. Theoretical framework Simmel (1964) suggests that relationships in public space can be delineated along two dimensions: inner and outer space. Inner space refers to the degree of social intimacy or social distance between people. In other words, inner space concerns proximity in social and emotional terms. Inner space is described on a continuum from intimate (very close socially and emotionally) to unknown (socially and emotionally disconnected). Outer space refers to the physical distance between people in public space. Simmel describes outer space as a continuum from disparate (physically distant) to co-located (in the same physical location). Simmel’s description of the social and physical aspects of public space provides a theoretical framework that is particularly apt to characterize a variety of mobile social software applications available. Some mobile social software applications are designed to facilitate interaction among members of intimate social networks (intimate inner space), who are physically distant (disparate outer space), while others attempt to connect unknown others (unknown inner space) in close physical proximity (co-located outer space). Use of mobile social software may differ dramatically depending on its targeted characteristics of inner and outer space. As a result, it is instructive to address the study research questions towards social mobile software applications that combine unique dimensions of inner and outer space.

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3. Method I chose to study three distinct mobile social software applications as case studies: Dodgeball, BEDD and SMS.ac (described below). Each application uses space differently and is targeted at different kinds of relationships. These three applications can be mapped on Simmel’s model based on the interactions these services facilitate (see figure 1) and fall into different sections of the inner and outer space model. BEDD connects people who are physically co-located within 30 feet of one another, while Dodgeball connects people who are in the same city (or, in some cases, neighbourhood within a city). SMS.ac connects people who are maybe in the came city but usually are in different regions or even countries. In terms of the inner space between individuals, both BEDD and SMS.ac try to facilitate social interaction between people who are typically unknown to each other. Dodgeball, however, generally (but not always) caters to people who are known to each other (those who have previously met face to face).

Figure 1: Case Studies Mapped on Simmel’s Model of Public Urban Interactions.

While Simmel’s (1964) model provides helpful dimensions for comparing software applications, the specific placement of each application within the model is entirely dependent on how people use the systems. The initial categorization (depicted in Figure 1) is based on how the producers of the systems describe the applications. In some cases, however, the categorizations were different from how members described their use of Dodgeball, BEDD and SMS.ac. Before I explain user behaviours, however, I begin with brief descriptions of each application. These descriptions are based on each service’s website and interviews with service founders and CEOs. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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3.1 Case Study I: Dodgeball Dodgeball is an American-based mobile phone service that allows users to let personal networks of friends know when they are at their local bars and restaurants. This service requires its members to join a social networking system via the internet and is currently free to use. Members set up a Dodgeball social network by inviting people to be their friends. In this way, members are connected to friends, and can also see their friends’ friends (using a social networking system similar to Facebook and Friendster). Rather than separately calling or text messaging each individual in one’s social network, Dodgeball users can send one message to everyone in their Dodgeball network alerting them where they are and that they are interested in meeting up. In this way, Dodgeball can facilitate the surveillance and meeting of people within one’s immediate social network with whom one is already familiar. Dodgeball members can also alert (and be alerted of) friends of friends whom they have not met before, but who are within a certain geographic proximity to them (e.g. a friend of a friend has checked in with the Dodgeball network from the same bar or elsewhere in the neighborhood). With cameraphones, people can even receive an image of the person before they decide to strike up a face-to-face conversation. In this way, Dodgeball can also facilitate the surveillance and meeting of people outside of one’s immediate social network with whom one is unfamiliar. In other words, the technology can also bring people together who do not know each other, but who know similar people and are part of a larger social network. 3.2 Case Study II: SMS.ac The second case study focuses on SMS.ac, an online and mobile international community site. The name of this service refers to a short messaging system and “.ac” stands for “always connected”. SMS.ac offers its members the ability to meet and flirt with new people, join a chat room on a particular topic, get information about sports or news, play interactive games, and download media content through mobile telephones. Much of what SMS.ac offers its members is available through the Internet, but the service allows individuals to share social connections and other information on a mobile device. Like Dodgeball, SMS.ac is free to join and is done so via the web. Unlike Dodgeball, however, SMS.ac charges its members to send and receive messages (or any information) through its mobile system. Unlike Dodgeball, SMS.ac is conceptualized as a way to meet new people completely outside of one’s existing social network. In addition, SMS.ac users do not have to be geographically close (i.e. in the same city) to communicate with one another. SMS.ac has users from all over the world who are able to interact with each other online and through text messages. In fact, SMS.ac’s devotes considerable resources to the promotion of its large international user base. 3.3 Case Study III: BEDD The third case study, BEDD, also calls itself a mobile wireless community. BEDD is currently based in Singapore but has users throughout Southeast Asia and parts of Europe. When people join BEDD (either on their mobile phone or on the 118

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BEDD website), they fill out a profile describing what kind of person(s) they would like to meet for what type(s) of interactions. The BEDD website claims that BEDD brings people together for romance, friendship, and even business purposes. When the BEDD software is uploaded to mobile phones, members can be alerted when other BEDD members (specifically, those with whom they are most well “matched”) are within proximal distance (about 20-30 feet). BEDD uses Bluetooth technology to allow fellow users to interact within a common physical space, which is designed to work up to 30 feet. Both members are notified who their BEDD match is and profiles are automatically exchanged. Users can then send free text messages to each other via the BEDD system. Members must have their phones on and “open” to receive messages to interact via BEDD’s Bluetooth system. As such, members can send or retrieve profile information while walking down the street, at work, or any other location where other BEDD members are proximate. There is a chance that one user will fail to encounter another BEDD member in the course of their daily routine. As a means of ensuring that BEDD members have opportunities to meet, BEDD currently organizes a number of events to bring members physically together at a Starbucks so they can interact with other BEDD users. 3.4 Data Collection Procedures Glaser and Strauss (1967) recommend the use of open-ended methods to study social interactions and practices. In this vein, I have conducted in-depth and informal interviews with users and the producers (mostly CEOs and founders) of the mobile social software applications. I also conducted field observations, online user surveys, and participant observations to understand emerging mobile social networking practices. I have tried to triangulate and validate my observations with the data from the interviews and surveys so as to observe and interpret mobile social networking as a cultural practice. The data collection of the three cases studies began in November 2005 and concluded in November 2006. In total, I conducted 33 in-depth interviews with users, partners, and founders of Dodgeball, BEDD, and SMS.ac. I also conducted 30 open-ended online surveys and over 300 hours of observational fieldwork in New York City, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia. I also analyzed the profile information for 123 BEDD users and conducted a textual analysis of Dodgeball messages sent between Minneapolis informants in October of 2006. Because this project draws on grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), I used an iterative approach to data collection and analysis. This method suggests collecting and analyzing data continuously throughout the research process. Rather than linearly collecting data and then subsequently analyzing it, a grounded theory researcher will iteratively collect and analyze, collect and analyze until he or she reaches theoretical saturation. Saturation occurs when all newly collected data can be understood and accounted for through the categorization and theoretical framework established from previous data collection and analysis.

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One caveat to this paper is that the case studies are not entirely equal. I was able to conduct more research on Dodgeball and BEDD than I did on SMS.ac. While I had worked with the management of Dodgeball and BEDD to recruit informants, the management of SMS.ac was unwilling to work with me on this study. Therefore I tried to recruit informants on my own through the SMS.ac website. After seven months of recruiting SMS.ac users, I had left 409 recruitment messages, received five responses and had conducted three face-to-face interviews. I was able to conduct open-ended online surveys with seven other SMS.ac members (see Humphreys, 2007, for a more in-depth discussion of my recruitment strategies). A final note about my data collection concerns the multiple points of communication, interaction, and observation of users. The communication exchanges I had with informants about the mobile social networking systems were both direct and indirect. I was able to directly gather data about these systems through observing user behaviour (for example, what people put in their profiles or where I observed them using the systems). Most of the data about usage, however, was collected indirectly through people’s formal self-reports during interviews or on surveys. While I have little reason to believe informants lied to me about their usage, I cannot necessarily verify their responses. It is possible that informants may have said things about how they use these systems so as to try to impress me. Keenly aware that they were being interviewed, some informants may have performed a particular role of ‘mobile social networker’. This performance, however, is just as important to me. Even performances convey expectations, attitudes, and beliefs about how mobile social networks are supposed to work. In addition to formal self-report about usage, I was also able to gather data about mobile social networking systems from interacting with informants more informally. The conversations and exchanges that occurred before and after the formal interview or survey also provided information about these mobile social networking systems and how they work. These informal exchanges provide another way to learn how people use mobile social networks. The multiplicity of connections and interactions I had with informants mirror social aspects of mobile social networks more broadly. While my observations and interviews may be influenced by my presence, by immersing myself as a member and a researcher of these systems I was able to gather data both formally and informally, directly and indirectly. Altogether these combined methods have helped to provide a richer, fuller picture of how these mobile social systems work. 4. Results I will discuss the four themes that emerged from the mobile application data. Overall these themes relate to conceptions of the mobile social software and outer and inner spatial practices. 4.1 Theme 1: Great Expectations vs. Lived Experience All three of these networks have over a hundred thousand registered users. However, not all registered members use the services regularly and not all people 120

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who use the systems use them in the same way. Not only do people have different expectations about whom they will meet, but people can have differing expectations about what they are using the system to do (i.e. for what reasons are they using the system in the first place). As with all new technologies, there can be disconnects between what the companies say these technologies do and how the users experience the systems (Pinch, Bijker, & Hughes, 1987). Often the companies or producers of these systems represent an ideal version of the software, while the users represent the “real” versions of the systems, the software as lived or experienced. Dodgeball co-founder Dennis Crowley describes Dodgeball as “a nightlife management tool” and a “technology that facilitates serendipity”. And while many people do actually use it at night to coordinate their social calendars, people do not just use it to meet up. They also use it to show off or be funny. For example, several people mentioned that checking-in a cool concert or an exclusive restaurant does not mean people are looking to meet up. They’re showing off. Some Dodgeball members will also occasionally check in at an emotional state, rather than a venue, for example, “@ the brink of smoking.” In addition to the check-in function on Dodgeball, there’s also a shout function that allows people to broadcast house parties and other social gatherings which do not fall within Dodgeball’s venue database. However, people also use this shout function to wish someone a happy birthday or broadcast drunken messages. For example, an informant showed me a Dodgeball message she had received from someone in her network during my interview with her. The message read: “$50 if u can help me find my pants”. My informant turned to me and said, “Now what am I supposed to do with that? People send out funny drunken shouts all the time.” In addition, several people lamented when others in their network check in indiscriminately. This is a major reason for users blocking messages from people in the Dodgeball networks. For example, one woman said that she blocked another user because he checked in at work, at the dentist, and even while eating breakfast in the morning. “It just got to be too much.” An encouragement for indiscriminant use is that in each of the Dodgeball cities, the person who has the most number check-in messages for that month receives a free Dodgeball t-shirt. For some members the Dodgeball experience has been limited by the fact that in the past phones have needed to be able to send an email to the Dodgeball system (due to limitations of their phones). These members could only receive messages from their Dodgeball friends, but could not check in. In 2006 Dodgeball bought a short code that will allow users to send a text message to the Dodgeball system so this should alleviate this problem for less technically advanced users. Cofounder Crowley is also the biggest user of Dodgeball, sending out messages to over 200 people in his network, because in part he is trying to remind people to use Dodgeball. Another problem is that when people are out with their friends, they forget to check in. However, as Crowley notes, “You always see this domino effect. It can be silent on a Friday night until nine or ten o’clock and then once someone sends that first message everyone just follows. Whether it was no one was doing anything or no one had been thinking about. Whatever it happened to be, the first © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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time someone sends it out, it reminds people to use it.” Discussion of overuse and “misuse” of Dodgeball not only suggests a disconnect between an ideal and lived experience of Dodgeball, but it also points to the fact the norms of use are only just emerging. BEDD CEO, Steven Carlton, describes BEDD “like social networking sites, on-line chat and newspaper classifieds, only all inside your mobile phone.” The disconnect between this ideal and real experience of BEDD are both social and technological. Socially, BEDD is a network and its value is in connecting people (Benkler, 2006). Thus it does not have much value if there are no people to connect to. The more people sign up for BEDD, the more the value of being a member increases. I spent three weeks trying to meet people through BEDD. Only once in Jakarta did I cross paths with another BEDD user in my daily routine. I was walking to meet my guide for lunch and unfortunately never heard my phone beep because of all the traffic. It wasn’t until I returned to my hotel that I saw my phone had automatically exchanged information with another BEDD user’s phone. At first I thought it was a virus, but when I realized what it was, I was thrilled to read all the new information on my phone. Some of the reasons why the BEDD network is still relatively small are the technological barriers to adoption. First, BEDD only works on Symbian Series 60 mobile phones, which are relatively expensive. In addition the process of downloading the BEDD application from another person’s phone can be cumbersome and difficult. This relates in part to the issue of using Bluetooth technology. On one hand, the Bluetooth allows conversations between users that do not go through a centralized BEDD server. This allows for privacy. However, Bluetooth technology can be an unreliable connection, especially when there are several Bluetooth devices within range. Bluetooth technology also tends to run down a person’s phone battery, so people are less likely to just leave BEDD turned on as they walk through the city. Not only does leaving BEDD on run down the battery, but it also leaves the phone vulnerable to viruses. Despite BEDD’s antivirus software, the most common reply to my question, “what advice would you give a first time BEDD user?” was “beware of viruses”. The second most common reply was “keep using it” which suggests that the network value of BEDD may not be readily apparent to new members. Another disconnect with BEDD’s intended use is that it is frequently used as a free alternative to the mobile phone carriers to text friends and family. This particular difference between the way members use BEDD and way the BEDD producers had originally intended it to be used indicates the power of users to create alternate uses and meaning in technological artifacts. SMS.ac also exhibits differences between the language the company uses to describe it and how it seems to be actually used. SMS.ac calls itself the “world’s largest mobile community” with over a million members. It allows users to send text messages and create “mobile homepages”. It also allows members to “send free text messages*” (from www.sms.ac). One SMS.ac informant explicitly joined for this reason. However, there are several caveats to SMS.ac’s promotional tagline. First, SMS.ac allows members to send text messages from the SMS.ac website to a 122

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person’s phone, but not text from phone to phone. Second, users are limited to the number of messages that they can send each day (as of November 2006, that limit was 3 per day and not more than 6 per month). And third, members now can only send these free messages for the first thirty days of their membership. After 30 days, members are charged to send messages from the website to a mobile phone. Members are also charged $0.50 USD for every text message they send or receive on their mobile phone. Upon joining – which is free – the system automatically begins sending new members text messages. All of the informants I interviewed were unaware SMS.ac would cost them so much on their mobile phone bill and after a month or two cancelled their mobile SMS.ac service. One woman could not understand why her phone bill was so high and called to yell at her carrier for making a mistake. It was the carrier who had to explain to this woman that she had signed up for a service that was costing her hundreds of dollars. This woman and all of the other users I interviewed currently only use the free web component of SMS.ac, if they use it at all. For these users, SMS.ac is just another social networking website but with an international user base. Because all SMS.ac users that I have interviewed only use the website, I was unable to make observations about how members use the mobile component of the service. Of the 10 SMS.ac users I was able to interview, all of them said that they had used the mobile version of the system when they first signed up for SMS.ac, but had stopped when they received their first bill and had not used the mobile service from SMS.ac since. I believe that prohibitively high costs of SMS.ac’s mobile service, coupled with their opaque billing system, discourage active users of their mobile services (see Humphreys, 2007 for a more detailed description of their mobile services and billing). I will therefore focus the rest of the discussion on Dodgeball and BEDD. 4.2 Theme 2: Variety of Relationships When I originally chose to study each of the case studies, it was because they seemed to map on different quadrants of Simmel’s spatial dimensions of public space (see Figure 1). In particular, on the inner space continuum, BEDD seemed to work as a catalyst between users who were generally unfamiliar with one another, whereas Dodgeball was used between people who knew each other or were familiar with similar people. However, after interviewing users, it became apparent that both systems facilitated communication between those of varying degrees of social intimacy. There were examples of best friends, spouses, and parents using Dodgeball and BEDD to communicate with each other. Both systems facilitated communication between people who were certainly well known to one another. In addition, both systems facilitated interactions between people unfamiliar with one another. Despite this, both systems use language that suggests a certain level of intimacy between those communicating. By labeling people in one’s network as “friends” or buddies”, it suggests a certain level of intimacy or at least familiarity between people. In some instances, however, these “friends” had never met (online or offline), and had never even directly communicated besides sending a “friend

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request” through the system. Certainly not all friends are equal, but according to these social software systems, they are all “friends”. Dodgeball facilitates communication and interaction between people of varying levels of intimacy. Dodgeball members have networks as small as one friend or as large as several hundred friends. Some Dodgeball networks are made up of both intimate core friends, outer groups of friends, and acquaintances (former friends of friends). Dodgeball facilitates meeting new people in a variety of ways. Some find potential friends on the Dodgeball website and invite them to join their network. Another way to meet new people through Dodgeball is to receive a friend of a friend alert which the system will send if a friend of a friend is within a couple of blocks, but according to Crowley, these alerts represent less than 10 percent of all Dodgeball messages. Most frequently, however, Dodgeball members will meet new people when they use Dodgeball to meet up with their friends. According to several users, one frequently meets new people when meeting up via Dodgeball. Once they’ve met in person, users might add one another to their networks. In these ways, Dodgeball facilitates those relationships that are established outside of Dodgeball as well as through relationships that are established through Dodgeball. Like Dodgeball, BEDD is also used to support a variety of relationships. BEDD suggests that it is primarily used to meet new people; however, it is often used between parents and children and friends as well as strangers and acquaintances. Several BEDD members described meeting new people through BEDD. Sometimes these interactions turned into acquaintances and sometimes these interactions turned into friendships or dating. However, several BEDD members also reported they often use BEDD to communicate with their close friends. For example, one young man said that he often uses BEDD to communicate with his friends in class where his wireless signal might not work, but where the Bluetooth technology works well. In Indonesia where mobile phones are not only a status symbol, but a primary means of communication. BEDD is a free and hip way for teenagers to communicate with their friends. Like Dodgeball, BEDD also facilitates communication between people of varying intimacies whose relationships were established outside of BEDD as well as those which were established through BEDD. Dodgeball and BEDD members reported having great interactions with new people and dear friends. Members of both systems also reported having awkward interactions with strange acquaintances. Depending on the social context, each of the systems can support a variety of interactions and relationships. 4.3 Theme 3: Some Sense of Place Meyrowitz has argued that electronic media “create new types of social situations that transcend physically defined social settings,” (1985: 333). As a result of continued exposure to electronic media, Meyrowitz suggests that “people no longer seem to ‘know their place’” (ibid: 7), because a predictable set of behaviours is no longer directly associated with a particular physical location. While Meyrowitz wrote this in 1985, i.e. before the proliferation of the internet or mobile phones, his 124

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observation about the creation of new social situations through electronic media is very relevant today. However, his conclusion that such media use leads to “no sense of place” is certainly not supported by mobile social software use. Each of the three applications examined here has helped to create new types of social situations. However, rather than de-emphasizing the physically-defined setting, they appear to make such information salient to the users. In fact, Dodgeball, BEDD and SMS.ac all rely on information about physical setting to create these new social situations for people to interact. In this way, each application encourages a sense of place in its users. Dodgeball members send and receive information regarding physical location as a means of being able to meet up at a particular urban venue. There are several ways that Dodgeball increases users’ sense of physical setting. First, users have to decide at which settings they want to check into Dodgeball. Some users are more indiscriminating than others about where they check in. Several users suggested that one learns to check in only at places where you would want others to join you (such as a bar). Three Dodgeball informants mentioned that it can be awkward if a new user checks in at a restaurant where others cannot easily join them. Another way that Dodgeball increases people’s sense of place is that active members are constantly receiving messages on a busy night about where people in their network are hanging out. The Dodgeball website will also map people’s check-ins so that members can visually see where, i.e. in which neighborhoods, their friends are hanging out. A final way that Dodgeball increases members’ sense of place is that based on the location information of their networks, users may choose to meet up at a particular location. Depending on the timing, this may lead someone to be redirected through the city based on social location information. For example, one Dodgeball user said that she would walk a different path home if she knew friends were at a particular bar so that she could stop by to say hello. While social location information can be used to congregate with friends, it can also be used by people to navigate their way through a city so as to avoid particular places and people. Several Dodgeball users mentioned receiving a check-in from someone in their network whom they did not want to meet up with and then actively avoiding that location and thus avoiding that person. Dodgeball thus encourages a sense of place by not only cataloguing and distributing location information, but by encouraging members to make decisions based upon such information (see Townsend, 2000 for predictions about such behaviour). BEDD also increases its members’ senses of place in several ways. First, the BEDD system relies on physical proximity between users in order for the Bluetooth technology to work. Therefore in order for users to meet other people through BEDD their physical setting is quite salient. However, not all physical settings are the same. Based on interviews, BEDD seems to be used most often on the subway or bus in Singapore. Such spaces are geographically confined but highly transitory which allows the phones to communicate with many other phones over a relatively short period of time. Other locations such as classrooms or malls are also frequent locations for BEDD use. BEDD also increases users’ sense of place in that when one’s phone beeps that their phone has received BEDD information © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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from someone nearby, users become keenly aware of their physical setting and those around them. Several BEDD users described the excitement that follows communicating with someone through BEDD. Often users do not initially know with whom they are interacting. As a result users try to interpret nonverbal behaviours of those around them in order to ascertain the physical identity of their BEDD match. Until you can assign the BEDD identity to a nearby body, mobile interactions are fraught with anticipation and tension. When BEDD use is based on geographic proximity, members’ BEDD identities are inevitably physically defined. “Knowing who someone is” becomes a matter of identifying his or her body within a physical place. Thus BEDD members’ sense of place becomes heightened. In all mobile case studies, a sense of place is important due to the social information contained therein. Place is inexorably tied to people and people inexorably tied to place. Rather than decreasing the significance of physical setting, these electronic media are increasing its significance in a variety of ways to encourage social interaction. 4.4 Theme 4: Public to Parochial Urban sociologist, Lynn Lofland (1998) describes different kinds of American urban social spaces, arguing that there are three kinds of space: public, parochial, and private. Public spaces are territories characterized by strangers, while private spaces are territories characterized by ties of intimacy and personal networks. Lofland suggests that there is a third kind of urban space which is somewhere between the public and private spaces, namely, the parochial. Parochial spaces are territories characterized by “a sense of commonality among acquaintances and neighbors who are involved in interpersonal networks that are located within communities” (1998: 10). Neighborhoods are a good example of parochial spaces. It is important to note that there is nothing inherent in a space to make it parochial or public. Lofland argues that such characteristics are socially defined and uses the term realm rather than space to connote such social intrinsicalness. Both of the mobile social software help to turn public realms into parochial realms. Dodgeball helps to turn public realms into parochial realms by broadcasting information about friends and friend of friends in order to meet up. First, Dodgeball distributes information about and within networks of people in highly dense urban centers like New York City, which can offer hundreds of bars within a mile radius. The chances of running into your friends in the neighborhood bar is not as likely when there are ten neighborhood bars within a three block area, a scenario that characterizes the Lower East Side of New York. By knowing where people in one’s network are, one can know the social relations he/she will have if he/she goes to the bar where people have checked-in. One user mentioned that Dodgeball was great when she has a friend in from out of town. Using Dodgeball, she can choose a place to take him/her where she will know people, thus (a) making her seem very popular (especially if her out-of-town is not a Dodgeball user) and (b) ensuring a fun time with multitudes of new people for her friend to meet. Dodgeball also works to parochialize the public because it can be used when traveling with a group of people. For example, several New York informants 126

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mentioned using Dodgeball at South by Southwest, an annual music/film/hi-tech festival in Austin, Texas. A large group of colleagues and/or friends were there and used Dodgeball to ensure meeting up with familiar people in an unfamiliar city. BEDD also helps to parochialize the public realm. Rather than choosing locations based on social information, BEDD users can quickly learn a good deal of information about strangers in public spaces. For example, a BEDD member may be sitting in a café and read the following profile about another BEDD member near her: 1. Sex: Female, 2. Relationship status – Single, 3. Sexuality – Straight, 4. Looking for – Friendship, 5. Age – 20's, 6. Zodiac sign – Aries, 7. Life style – Sporty, 8. Food – Fusion food, 9. Fashion sense – Bohemian, 10. Fave haunt – Beach/park. Such information about other patrons instantly helps to create a sense of familiarity amongst BEDD members. BEDD parochializes the public by facilitating the exchange of information about someone so that they can more easily start a conversation. It also became apparent in fieldwork that so few people actually use BEDD that just being a member will facilitate communication. Several members of BEDD mentioned that even if there were no BEDD members at a location, asking if someone wants to download BEDD to their phone can also be a great conversation starter. In fact for a while BEDD actually paid users $5 Singaporean Dollars for every person they could get to download and register with BEDD. In this way, BEDD encourages a commonality between patrons which helps to turn a public realm into a parochial realm. In varying ways Dodgeball and BEDD can both be used to help change public realms into parochial realms. Since realms are socially defined, there is nothing inherent in the physical (or virtual) spaces that make them public or parochial. Thus these new software allow for the exchange of social information so as to change the way users perceive and experience these spaces, thus encouraging a shift from public to parochial realms by facilitating familiarity and commonality amongst users. 5. Discussion Despite the differences between the applications, there are several themes which run throughout Dodgeball and BEDD. Each of the systems provides examples of users going beyond what producers had originally intended to meet their own needs. The systems also support a variety of relationships. People in both intimate and non-intimate relationships use Dodgeball and BEDD to communicate for a variety of reasons. In addition, the mobile applications help to replace place as a salient factor in how and what we communicate through these technologies. These systems also help to build familiarity and commonality amongst their users. In doing so, Dodgeball and BEDD can each help to parochialize public spaces. There are several important limitations to this study. First and foremost, it is important to keep in mind that this is not a generalizeable study of mobile social networks. Dodgeball and BEDD may work very differently from other mobile social network systems and the norms of usage may be very different. Also, the informants whom I was able to interview or survey are not necessarily representative of other BEDD or Dodgeball users. What I have tried to do in this study is © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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describe how my informants use these systems and how they integrated them into their lives. While I was able to attain some level of geographic diversity among users, the findings presented in this chapter present a particular depth of study and not necessarily breadth. Nevertheless, I had some difficulty getting some informants to talk about and to reflect on how they used mobile social systems. In particular, I found it difficult when I was not able to conduct interviews with subjects, but had to rely on email or online survey methods due to language or geographic barriers. Other researchers may face similar challenges when trying to conduct comparative, in-depth research. In addition, access to mobile users is a difficult challenge for researchers. My inability to recruit any active mobile SMS.ac users inhibits some interesting comparisons across outer spatial characteristics. I was fortunate to get the cooperation from Dodgeball and BEDD management so as to be able to gain access to users. Social networks can be challenging enough to break into as a researcher, but the fact that these are mobile phone-based networks makes them particularly difficult to access. Moving forward, it is important to think about and explore methodological opportunities to identify and gain access to mobile users. It highlights the importance of conducting both field studies of everyday practice such as this as well as experimental studies (e.g. Eagle & Pentland, 2004; Paulos & Goodman, 2004; Wang & Canny, 2006; Weilenmann, 2001) to continue to grow and deepen our scholarship on mobile social networks. Despite these limitations, certain themes have emerged. Dodgeball and BEDD allow new kinds of information to flow into public spaces and as such rearrange inner and outer spatial practices. The applications highlight different ways in which spatial practices interact with behavioural norms to create new forms of mobile social networking. Each also offers a different relationship to the notion of space. Dodgeball overcomes the spatial constraints of urbanity through social coordination, while BEDD relies on the spatial constraints of urban living as a mechanism for engaging unknown people. 6. Theoretical Model Re-Evaluated I had originally drawn on Simmel’s (1964) concepts of inner space and outer space to differentiate the case studies based on whom each system connects. In terms of inner spatial connections, I categorized Dodgeball as facilitating closer social connections, whereas BEDD and SMS.ac were categorized as facilitating more disparate social connections. In practice, however, Dodgeball and BEDD facilitate connections between people who are socially close as well as those who are more socially disparate. When informants use BEDD and Dodgeball for both purposes, the technology is the same, but the context can be different. According to my original model, BEDD, Dodgeball, and SMS.ac were also categorized as connecting people of varying outer spatial characteristics. BEDD was categorized as connecting people who were physically close (within 20-30 feet); Dodgeball was categorized as connecting people physically further apart than BEDD users, but still within the same city; and SMS.ac was categorized as connecting people who were very physically disparate. Again, in practice Dodgeball 128

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and BEDD each facilitated social connections between users of varying physical proximity. Despite my comparative model not being as discrete as I had originally thought, inner and outer spatial characteristics are still important in concepts in the study of mobile social software. They help to describe the context in which informants use mobile social systems. These characteristics help to shape informant’s expectations for how the systems should work. Informants had different expectations and assumptions for using the systems to connect with close social relations versus looser social relations, as well as when connecting to those who were physically close versus disparate. In addition, the use of mobile social systems can change inner spatial characteristics of people in public space. An example of this is the process of parochialization where members of mobile social networks feel a sense of commonality with other members of these systems. In fact, mobile social networks can at times overcome outer spatial boundaries of communication to create a greater sense of commonality and closeness among members of these systems. As Indonesian BEDD members read others’ profiles while at home, their sense of inner space or closeness to other members can change despite not being simultaneously co-located with other BEDD members when reading the profiles. Such findings demonstrate the fluidity of inner and outer spatial characteristics and suggest they are important factors in mobile communication that should be taken into consideration in future research. 7. Conclusion In summary, the lived experiences of many of these services are constrained by technological factors (BEDD viruses, battery life, and cost of software-capable mobile phones), financial factors (SMS pricing structure), and social factors (Dodgeball and BEDD reaching mass of users). Despite these and other constraints, there is still great interest in the further development of mobile social software. Google bought Dodgeball in May 2005. Intel and Microsoft are developing many different kinds of mobile social software applications. MySpace and Facebook are also working to make many of their services available on mobile phones. This is the tip of the iceberg as more applications become available and adopted. People will use these services based on their lives and personal contexts. These applications will shape the way users experience inner and outer space. At the same time, spatial practices will also influence the way users experience these new mobile social networking services. This chapter begins to explore differences in the context of how mobile devices contribute to a lived experience of public space and social networking. 8. References Barnett, C. (2004): ‘Neither Poison Nor Cure: Space, scale and public life in media theory’. In: Couldry, N. & McCarthy, A. (eds.): MediaSpace: Place, Scale and Culture in a Media Age. London: Routledge, pp. 58-74. Benkler, H. (2006): The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Bijker, W. E., Hughes, T. P., & Pinch, T. J. (eds.). (1987): The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Direction in the Sociology and History of Technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Brown, J. (2006): ‘Apple's IPod a Technological, Cultural Phenomenon.’ In: The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. May 15th. Bull, M. (2004): ‘To Each Their Own Bubble: Mobile spaces of sound in the city’. In: Couldry, N. & McCarthy, A. (eds.): MediaSpace: Place, Scale and Culture in a Media Age. London: Routledge, pp. 275-293. Camp, J. & Chien, Y.T. (2000): ‘The Internet as Public Space: concepts, issues, and implications in public policy.’ In: ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society 30(3): 13-19. Couldry, N. & McCarthy, A. (2004): MediaSpace: Place, Scale and Culture in a Media Age. New York: Routledge. Gupta, N. (2004). ‘Grande Wi-Fi: Understanding What Wi-Fi Users Are Doing in Coffee-Shops.’ MIT Masters Thesis. September. Ito, M. & Okabe, D. (2005): ‘Technosocial Situations: Emergent Structuring of Mobile Email Use.’ In: Ito, M., Okabe, D. & Matsuda, M. (eds.): Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 257-273. Jones, S. G. (ed.) (1998): Cybersocieties 2.0: Revisiting Computer-Mediated Communication and Community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ling, R. & Yttri, B. (2002): ‘Hyper-coordination via mobile phones in Norway’. In: Katz, J. & Aakhus, M. (eds.): Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 139-169. Ling, R. & Haddon, L. (2003): ‘Mobile Telephony, Mobility, and the Coordination of Everyday Life’. In Katz, J. (ed.): Machines that Become Us: The Social Context of Personal communication technology. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, pp. 245-265. Ling, R. (2004): The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman. Lofland, L. H. (1998): The Public Realm: Exploring the City's Quintessential Social Territory. New York: Aldine De Gruyter. Marvin, C. (1988): When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century. New York: Oxford University Press. Meyrowitz, J. (1985): No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behaviour. New York: Oxford University Press. Rheingold, H. (2002): Smart Mobs: The next social revolution. Cambridge: Basic Books. Rogers, E. (1995): Diffusion of Innovations (4th Edition ed.). New York: The Free Press. Simmel, G. (1964): ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’. In Wolff, K. H. (ed.): The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: Free Press, pp. 409-424. Stromer-Galley, J. (2003): ‘Diversity of Political Conversation on the Internet: Users’ Perspectives.’ In.: Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 8(3). Tarde, G. (1969). On Communication and Social Influence, selected papers. Chicago: University of Chicago. Townsend, A M. (2000): ‘Life in the real-time city: mobile telephones and urban metabolism’. In: Journal of Urban Technology. 7(2): 85-104.

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Communicative Mobility after the Mobile Phone: The Appropriation of Media Technology in Diasporic Communities Andreas Hepp

1. Introduction In the course of the last seven years, much of the research that has been carried out on digital devices within communication and media studies has focused on the mobile phone. The mobile phone was initially conceived as a new medium of mobile interpersonal interaction and came to be viewed later on as a hybrid personal medium offering a wide range of communicative possibilities, including forms of mass communication. A high number of excellent empirical research studies have recently been undertaken in this specific area (see for example the chapters in Katz & Aakhus, 2002a; Nyiri, 2003; Nyiri, 2005). While these research studies are helpful in understanding the specificity of the mobile phone as a form of communication technology, they also re-create a problem which is familiar from earlier media studies research into television and audience reception, namely the separation of the technology itself from the broader social and cultural context in which it is used throughout the course of everyday life. All too often, the complex nature of the everyday appropriation of technology is overlooked. In order to conduct research that is epistemologically ‘after’ the mobile phone and its uses, we must avoid using the ‘mobile phone’ as an unquestioned, defining research unit and begin our investigation instead by examining the wider contexts of media use in everyday life together with social and cultural change. It is from this perspective that I intend to argue in the following chapter that communicative mobility has to be taken into consideration as one possibility of an appropriate research perspective ‘after the mobile phone’. In order to clarify this approach, I will present a three-step argument. Firstly, I will outline the research perspective of communicative mobility. By re-evaluating exemplary theoretical considerations and empirical research on mobile phones undertaken previously, I will explore the potential of a perspective on ‘communicative mobility’ for communication and media research ‘after the mobile phone’. Secondly, having taken these reflections as a starting point, I intend to substantiate the relevance of such an approach based on our own empirical

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research on digital media appropriation in diasporic communities.1 These migration communities are highly interesting for research into communicative mobility because different forms of such a mobility are deeply implicated in their biographical and situative local mobility. However, most of the aspects I will focus on in the following are typical for the everyday appropriation of media technologies in general. All of this provides the backbone for the third step of my argument, in which I aim to outline two aspects that I feel are highly relevant for future research into communicative mobility. It is my contention that we must consider the complexity of communicative mobility on the one hand without simultaneously dismissing the relativity of local mobility on the other. 2. Technological centrism, mobile privatisation and communicative mobility If one evaluates present research on the mobile phone, one can ascertain a tendency towards ‘technological centrism’. This phrase refers to the kind of approach whereby a specific form of media technology is taken as the starting point of research and constructed as something ‘new’ or ‘different’ which is investigated precisely because of its ‘newness’ or ‘difference’. One can understand this form of discourse as a ‘technological centrism’ because it constructs certain media technologies as being at the centre of ‘change’ within everyday life. Much of the research on mobile phones is marked by exactly such a theoretical tendency, sometimes explicitly and sometimes more implicitly. To make this point clear, I would like to discuss some recent examples of studies on mobile phones. The first study I want to take into consideration is Timo Kopomaa’s The City in Your Pocket. Birth of the Mobile Information Society. At first sight the title of the book implies a deep link between change in modern societies and the invention of the mobile phone as a “city in your pocket” the mobile phone is presented not merely as an object related to an information society but as an embodiment of a mobile information society. More specifically Kopomaa focuses on the “social meanings and effects of mobile phones on urban culture” (Kopomaa 2000: 12). In order to investigate this, Kopomaa conducted group interviews with 33 persons and 178 street observations in Helsinki (Kopomaa 2000: 135f.). While this approach already privileges the mobile phone unit as starting point of research, its centrality is even more apparent when Kopomaa summarises the research results of his study: “The mobile phone is an answer to the needs and hopes of the modern individual. It is an electronic communication device which has an adaptive effect on our way of life, introducing a new orientation towards mobile phone orientated companionship and telesociability. The use of mobile phones is linked with old mental and functional forms of interaction, however. The incorporation of mobile phones in our way of life is a two-way process:

1

This case study was undertaken within the context of preparing two research projects on the communicative connectivity of diasporas and their cultural integration/segregation, funded by the German Research Fundation (DFG) and the EU and realised by the IMKI, University of Bremen. For further information on this research see http://www.imki.uni-bremen.de and Hepp (2005).

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the device is not only adapted to the way of life, the way of life also changes as a consequence of the device.” (Kopomaa 2000: 121)

Certainly Kopomaa is right in declaring that the rise of the mobile phone has something to do with the change of contemporary cultures and societies. The interesting point for me is rather the way he constructs this relation – by placing the mobile phone and its technology in the centre. It is the “answer” to our needs, it has an “adaptive effect on our way of life” and the problem of this way of life seems to be that it is marked by “old mental and functional forms of interaction” which will be transformed by the mobile phone. Throughout the book, it is the mobile phone itself which is held up as a cell of social and cultural change. The mobile phone is understood “as a tool that modifies everyday life” and “replaces earlier social practices” (Kopomaa 2000: 22). In this approach, mobile phone technology assumes a central role in the construction of communicative and cultural change. Timo Kopomaa is not alone in the construction of such trajectories in approaches to mobile phone research. For example, Barry Brown writes in the introduction of his co-edited book Wireless World. Social and Interactional Aspects of the Mobile Age that mobile phones “impact how we organise our days and our evenings, how we work, and even how we make new friends” (Brown 2002: 3). Once again, it is the mobile phone doing something to us and to our lives. In this context, the book Perpetual Contact, co-edited by James E. Katz and Mark Aakhus, is also interesting. On the one hand, Katz and Aakhus broaden our view on the cultural differences of mobile phone use by using a rich variety of reference points from different national cultures, starting in Norway and ending in the Philippines. On the other hand, underlying the book and its chapters is an assumption that mobile phone technology fosters general transcultural effects. As Katz and Aakhus write in their introduction, the mobile phone is considered as “a mind and society altering technology” (Katz and Aakhus 2002b: 2). “Mobile technology” affects not only the way in which people interact and organise their daily schedules, but also how political actions (such as demonstrations) are organised. Much more differentiated is Rich Ling’s The Mobile Connection, one of the first substantially rich studies produced within the ‘field’ of mobile phone research. The book’s subtitle – “The cell phone’s impact on society” – once again implies the centrality of the mobile phone and its effects, but Ling’s arguments within the book are more balanced. Ling argues more sensibly in terms of an “interaction” (Ling 2004: 171) between the mobile phone’s “technical innovation and social adoption” (Ling 2004: 172). Summarising his observations, Ling relates mobile phone technology and its success in European cultures to their increasing individualisation: “[…] The mobile phone is a technology that can help to sustain social networks. Social groups can be more tightly integrated via the use of the device. In many respects, the mobile telephone is like the traditional landline telephone, in that it allows us to maintain contact with our social network […]. However, the mobile telephone has an advantage over the traditional telephone, in that it is more personalised and allows quick and direct access to © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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others regardless of their location. Further, when calling on a mobile telephone, we call an individual, not an address or a family as with the traditional telephone. […] The device allows me a very direct and indeed a very individualised medium through which I can maintain social networks.” (Ling 2004: 183f.)

Next to the observations of Kopomaa outlined at the beginning of this section, Ling’s arguments appear much more sophisticated. According to Ling, it is not simply a matter of the mobile phone having a new “adaptive effect on our way of life”; instead the mobile phone is contextualised in the history of communication technologies, and its use is constructed as an appropriation based on the existing structures and processes of cultural and social life. In this sense at least, Ling’s book is a big step forward. Yet in spite of his identification of the interaction between mobile phones (as well as other media technologies of personal communication) and cultural change, Ling’s analysis still locates the mobile phone as a ‘technical object’ around which his theoretical reflections are constructed. Having referred to these exemplary studies, it becomes possible to capture more clearly the ‘technological centrism’ evident in a great deal of mobile phone research.2 While the different studies certainly develop arguments of their own, there are three tendencies which can be identified as aspects of technological centrism: firstly, a kind of ‘technological preference’; secondly, a ‘mobile phone isolation’; and thirdly, an ‘effect assumption’. 1. Technological preference: With ‘technological preference’ I refer to the inclination of making one specific technology (in this case the mobile phone) an unquestioned ‘starting point’ of research. Research focuses on the phenomena related to this specific technology, which is constructed as ‘stable’ in the sense that forms of communication technology are unchanging in their image over time. 2. Mobile phone isolation: Furthermore, the mobile phone and its everyday use is isolated from other media. It is seen as ‘one thing’, as a single object of study to be examined in isolation – separate from other personal communication media technologies of the everyday, many of which emerged and subsequently changed in how they were used. The mobile phone’s isolation does not correspond with everyday media appropriation, where different media of ‘personal’ and ‘mass communication’ are used simultaneously in the growing light of mediatization. 3. Effect assumption: Finally, different studies on mobile phone technology seem to utilise an explicit or implicit ‘effects’ model. There is a tendency to argue that the technological specifics of the mobile phone – its portability or unambiguous addressability, for example – have clearly definable effects on the people who use it as a mobile communication device of regular communicative connectivity. 2

In doing so, I do not wish to assume that this ‘technological centrism’ can be found in its pure form in each study on the mobile phone. Rather, I understand it as a ‘trajectory’ or ‘tendency’ across the different studies. A sharpened formulation and critical awareness helps us to understand problematic aspects in single research studies.

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Nevertheless, the ‘technological centrism’ evident in mobile phone research has not led to a complete absence of social and cultural considerations. Rather, it has meant that such aspects do not form the starting point of the research but are instead a kind of additional ‘context’ or ‘variable’ of the focus on mobile phone technology. However, it must be noted that ‘technological centrism’ is not unprecedented in recent media research history. For example, television was once viewed as an increasingly diffuse medium with quite discernible effects, communicating directly with a high number of people using images; it was also felt that video could change media production, being such a cheap form of communication production technology; and the internet was heralded as a democratic force because of its (technologically) open net structures. However, the cultural theorist David Morley recently criticised such “rhetorics of the technological sublime” concerning ‘digital media’ (see Morley 2007: 235). Although Morley’s critique is perhaps overly strident, he is right in at least once regard: there does exist a tendency to adopt under-complex research approaches where new media technologies are concerned, as we can see clearly in the early history of television and audience research.3 Such a tendency is also evident in recent mobile phone research. A contextualisation of the ‘technological centrism’ apparent in much mobile phone research should not only alert us to the flaws contained in previous studies, but may also open our eyes and help us to avoid similar assumptions and misconceptions in the future. One starting point for this might be Raymond Williams’ critique of the technological centrism which characterised early television research. To use the phrase contained in the subtitle of his book on the topic, Williams argued that television could be seen as both “technology and cultural form”. In doing so, Williams urged us to critique what he describes as “technological determinism” (Williams 1990: 13), a specific form of technological centrism in which research and development are assumed to be self-generating: “The new technologies are invented as it were in an independent sphere, and then create new societies or new human conditions” (Williams 1990: 13). Against this understanding Williams proposes an understanding of technology that does not separate it from culture and society. In a classic quote, Williams outlines his position as follows: “The technology would be seen, that is to say, as being looked for and developed with certain purposes and practices already in mind. At the same time the interpretation would differ from symptomatic technology in that these purposes and practices would be seen as direct: as known social needs, purposes and practices to which the technology is not marginal but central.” (Williams 1990: 14)

Such an understanding of media and communication technology as an ‘expression’ of social and cultural change opens the way for a different approach to the history of television – an approach that can help us understand the mobile phone in a new and different way. Williams sees an “operative relationship between a new kind of expanded, mobile and complex society and the development of 3

For a critique on this see Morley 1992: 45-58.

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modern communication technology” (Williams 1990: 20). For him, Western societies are marked by a process he refers to as “mobile privatisation” (Williams 1990: 26). With this he identifies the interrelation between two paradoxical but deeply connected tendencies in modern societies: “on the one hand mobility, on the other hand the more apparently self-sufficient family home” (Williams 1990: 26). According to Williams, first railways and then cars offered new forms of mobility, of ‘going out’ and of ‘stretching’ the borders between places of productive work and living – a mobility which was also necessary for the new forms of industrial production occurring in specific areas of the city. In this process, extended family relations were more and more dispersed and the nuclear family became more and more privatised. Williams’ argument is that this relationship “created both the need and the form of a new kind of ‘communication’: news from ‘outside’, from otherwise inaccessible resources” (Williams 1990: 27). The establishment of private transport, then radio receivers and finally television can be seen as an answer to this ‘communicative problem’. Through them, the nuclear family was connected communicatively. In this sense, broadcasting as a technology with central transmitters and domestic sets has to be understood as part of the wider process of mobile privatisation and not as a media technology with specific effects on the home user. That is not to say that Williams’ concept of mobile privatisation is unproblematic. Shaun Moores (2000: 97), for example, has pointed out that one flaw in Williams’ analysis is his insensitivity to the micro-geography of the household and its gendered power relations (see also Morley 2000: 56-85). Nevertheless, despite such criticisms the concept of ‘mobile privatisation’ remains an attractive one that can certainly help us to overcome the ‘technological centrism’ of mobile phone research in two specific ways: firstly, at the level of ‘contextualisation’ and secondly, at the level of ‘criticism’. 1. Contextualisation: It becomes clear when we utilise Raymond Williams’ notion of ‘mobile privatisation’ that the mobile phone does not change everyday life in the way a technological centrist position may imply. It is better that we contextualise the invention of the mobile phone by taking into account the far-reaching changes in social and cultural life which have taken place in modern societies. If one picks up and runs with Williams’ idea of mobile privatisation, the mobile phone can be situated in this process in a similar way to television: the daily move from the place of residence to the place of work implies the need of a communication facility that makes you reachable while being on the move. This necessity sharpens particularly when the place of work itself is ‘on the move’ as it is in the case of those working within the service sector who are employed in different places or as (mobile) consultants. We may note that this is currently the situation in many socalled ‘service economy societies’. If we are to discuss media such as the mobile phone by moving beyond a position of technological centrism, we have to be aware that such a contextualisation is necessary.

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2. Criticism: It is through such contextualisation that Raymond Williams’ reasoning opens up the possibility of a critical approach to the mobile phone (and other media) that goes beyond the consideration of its individual ‘productive use’. If mobile privatisation refers to the way in which everyday life changes with regard to employer-employee relationships and preferred forms of housing (besides other things) one must also see the possibilities and pitfalls that are linked to the mobile phone in a similarly wide context. Mobile phones, like other mobile communication devices, offer not only an additional means of communication with other people, but are also linked to communication expectations within specific cultural contexts as a whole. These communication expectations do not necessarily increase agency, but can also restrict it. Examples of this that are well known in mobile phone research are the use of mobile phones for surveillance (within the family, and also in the working environment). The mobile phone is not only a ‘technology that ‘liberates’ but also one that is related to ‘pressures’ in our lives. In the wider context of mobile privatisation, one has additionally to ask how (mobile) communicative settings are constructed as a whole and how they increase and minimise agency. With these factors in mind, it becomes clearer as to why it is necessary to discuss mobile phones in the context of the general relation between media and mobility. It is precisely this aim that the concept of communicative mobility intends to achieve. In light of the reflections I have made so far, one can now define the concept of communicative mobility more precisely:4 Using the term ‘communicative mobility’, I aim to illustrate the relationship of the media with an increasing local mobility within present cultures (see Figure 1). This relationship can be twofold, starting (a) in the way ‘communication devices’ of either mass communication or interpersonal communication get more and more mobile. This applies especially in the case of mobile phones, and also in the case of laptops, PDAs, MP3 Players, mobile TV and DVD sets, mobile play stations, and (in the near future) different forms of wearable computing. Yet communicative mobility also means (b) that stationary media are increasingly aligned with moving people. Having read Raymond Williams, it becomes clear that such aspects of communicative mobility are already occurring in the so-called mass media (for example, television) as they construct stable public communicative spaces for people moving between places of residence and places of work. Other examples are the use of video cameras for the surveillance of people on the move, and the attempts made by travellers to stay in contact via the Internet. This definition already suggests that communicative mobility must be related to another form of mobility – the so-called ‘local mobility’. Local mobility is a phrase which refers to the increasing tendency of people to be mobile in at least a double sense. 4

With this, I pick up and refine reflections I have already published elsewhere. See for this Hepp 2006b: 254 and 301f, Hepp 2008. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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Figure 1: Communicative and local mobility

On the one hand, we have a ‘situative local mobility’ (a mobility of a person over a day, week or month, for example, in reference to his or her work). Local mobility in this sense does not mean a ‘breezing around the world’ (in most cases, at least), but is rather a kind of location based mobility. This is the form of mobility that Williams had in mind in his concept of mobile privatisation. On the other hand, we have a ‘biographical local mobility’ (a local mobility over the lifespan of a person, for example, in the form of work migration). One can certainly argue that communicative mobility and local mobility are interrelated. To take an historical example: while existing communicative connections were once inevitably lost due to the move from one location to another, communicative mobility offers the possibility of up-holding this connectivity during the process of moving itself. In this sense, the concept of communicative mobility offers the chance for a better understanding of everyday local mobility, its possibilities and its limits.5 Based on these considerations, a study approach which takes communicative mobility as its starting point seems appropriate for media and communication research ‘after the mobile phone’ particularly because it does not focus on singular media like the mobile phone unit itself – thus overcoming a tendency inherent in the technological centrist tendencies of many previous studies. A communicative mobility perspective would emphasise how people make use of media in their everyday lives, concentrating more on how they use a range of different media to manage the problems and conflicts of increasingly mobile societies and cultures. In addition, such an approach would also examine how communication terminals are used to control and/or integrate (mobile) people in these contexts and how this might be interwoven with further social and cultural change change. 5

The concept of communicative mobility is, in a certain sense, the counterpart to the concept of mobile privatisation. While the latter tries to capture the cultural change related to the different forms of situative local mobility in our present lives, the concept of communicative mobility captures the change of media communication related to this as a whole. Accordingly, this theory fills a gap in Raymond Williams’ study: focusing only on television, Williams overlooked the extent to which the change of communication is related to local mobility. It is this point exactly that comes into the foreground when we use the concept of communicative mobility.

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3. Diasporic community and communicative mobility Focusing on diasporic communities in our discussion of communicative mobility in Germany is not only relevant in light of the results of the last micro-census in 2005, which revealed that 15.3 million people living in Germany (about 20%) have a migration background (see Bundesamt 2006: 75), but also because it is evident that migrant groups or diasporic communities can be distinguished simultaneously by their situative and biographical local mobility.6 Such groups are considered to be “mobility pioneers” (Kesselring 2006) as a result of economic pressures.7 The focus on diasporic communities offers an insight into the complexity of the relationship between local and communicative mobility. The empirical data I intend to use in order to illustrate some of the preceding insights was gathered in the second half of 2005 in a project which researched the communicative connectivity of diasporic communities. While this exploratory research was structured in a transcultural comparative design focusing on the Turkish and Polish diasporic communities in Germany, in the following section only the responses of four Turkish interviewees will be discussed. The interviews were carried out by a Turkish-German individual with the aim of providing insight into the use of digital media within this diasporic community.8 The interviews had an average duration of 50 minutes and were transcribed and categorised using the methods of grounded theory. Additionally, every interviewed person was asked to draw and explain a ‘media map’ of his or her own personal communicative media network. In the process of analysis, these drawings and explanations were contrasted with the statements provided in interviews. At first sight, the four interviewees appear to be very different: Harun is a 29 year-old student working as language teacher and is also a hip-hop musician; Mehmet is a 59 year-old engineer working for Philips and an enthusiast for Turkish music; Sertap is a 32 year-old sports teacher trainee; and Soner is an 18 year-old apprentice mechanist, working additionally as a cleaner for his living, and is also a break-dancer in his spare time. What soon becomes clear is that all of their lives are marked by a deep local mobility to which their communicative mobility is related. The implications of this will become apparent as we move through our central analysing categories with regard to their media use. These are: the ‘pressure’ of communicative mobility; its ‘crossing of media appropriation’; and the ‘intensifying of segmenting communicative connectivity’ in relation to local mobility. 6

This is an additional aspect of why we should understand diasporas as “the exemplary communities of the transnational moment” (Tölölyan 1991: 3). For the concept of diaspora in transcultural media research see Hepp 2006b: 284-286 and Hepp 2007. 7 Developing the concept of “mobility pioneers” Sven Kesselring helpfully identifies the situated groups of IT specialists and journalists. Nevertheless, the concept also seems to be helpful in our understanding of the local mobility in members of diasporic communities as something ‘special’ – their biographical mobility is often much higher than in other groups. 8 Within the research project we decided to use the concept of ‘diaspora’ instead of the concept of ‘migrant group’ because we realised that the interviewees themselves conceptionalised their belonging as lying ‘between’ the Turkish and German national cultures, characterised in part by the readiness of a biographical local mobility. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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3.1 The ‘pressure’ of communicative mobility The first remarkable result of the study, based on our interviews, is that communicative mobility is always linked with different forms of ‘pressure’. In using this word, I wish to refer to the individual circumstances of the interviewees and the way communicative mobility of digital media is affected by certain social influences. We can take Harun as our first example of this. In talking about his own mobile phone use since 2000, he informs us of the following: he already had a ‘beeper’, because a friend of his used to have one and he therefore had no urge to get a mobile phone. In addition to this, people in Germany seemed to view this new technology in a different way to people in Turkey, where the mobile phone was already seen as a ‘usual’ part of everyday life. Harun felt that a mobile phone had a ‘luxurious, prodigal image’ that was not related to his own educationallyorientated efforts. However, he was eventually given an older mobile phone by his mum, who had received one as a present from somebody in the Turkish community. Finally, the appropriation of the mobile phone was mediated by the ‘lifestyle’ of a younger student group9 which Harun got to know after his move to Bremen – the Bremen hip-hop community:10 „Just sort of meet people, got no mobile, ain’t got nothing, nothing at all, never into that stuff y’ know, says me, y’ know, but them who’s into that sort of, y’ know, sort of standard gear for them dudes _others_ y’ know, alternatives or whatever, yuh know, them finds that sort of funny that me I got no mobile, y’ know, and them says go for it, special offers an’ all that, y’ know, blah blah blah, like them dudes speak, y’ know, an’ I knows one of ‘em _stop_ all goes quiet, get away, me, Harun and a mobile? ha ha, an’ y’ know (laughing) they kills ‘emselves laughing. Sometime or other I got one of them there toasters in my mitts, one of them Motorolas it was, a big ‘un, them days was alright, y’ know, nowadays, the new ‘uns, getting smaller all the time they is, and me running around with one of ‘em stuck in my mitts (laughing)” (Harun)

As this quote shows, the ‘pressure’ of having and using a mobile phone was generated by younger members of the Bremen hip-hop community, who encouraged Harun to get a mobile phone not just because of its technical use but also because of the ‘image’ this technology carried. If he did not want to be seen as an “old school” member – a tag which he might have attracted due to his age – but as “new school”, it was important that he owned a mobile phone. When he finally had one, he noticed that personal contact with the other members of Bremen’s hiphop community was much closer than before. The pressure of being mobileconnected can be explained by the lifestyle within that young hip-hop community, in which the future-orientated technological image of the mobile phone seems to be as important as its practical use as a tool of contact while on the move. The results of our investigations show that different forms of ‘pressure’ which affect communicative mobility occur not merely in this example alone, but also in the lives of other interviewees who described similar motivations behind mobile phone ownership. A further example is Mehmet, a first generation migrant to 9

The extent to which the appropriation of mobile phones can be seen as part of a youth lifestyle has also been shown in a recent study conducted by Caroline Düvel (2006). 10 The following quotes present an attempt to transfer the German ‘sociolect’ of Turkish migrants in Germany into English.

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Germany. His family had already migrated from Bosnia to Turkey in 1960 for employment reasons, although he himself migrated at the age of 18 in 1965 to work and study in Germany. Despite not being a ‘real’ Turk, Muhuttin says he started to feel “more related to Turkey” once he moved to Germany. He says it was ‘only work’ that structured his life until 3 years ago, and he characterises himself during that period as a “real German robot” who “lives only to work” as an engineer. Correspondingly, the pressure on Mehmet to become connected through the mobile phone was caused by business factors: “Yeah, (laughing) the mobile is just another issue among many, many others in my age group, I did everything to resist such a modern toy, said I would never allow such a thing to enter my home, let alone carry one around with me, ‘cause I think the things are just a nuisance, at work though more or less forced to use a mobile, so in the end I had to have one, part of the job, had to be available, so I said at the time, shit, now they can get hold of me even on the loo […] in the middle of the night, and even on holiday on the other side of the world you’re on hand when you’ve got a mobile and a laptop, nothing to be proud about and in the meantime I’m beginning to think you’re nothing without a mobile, even go so far as to tell my loved ones, people like my wife and my children, not to go out without their mobile ’cause you can get in touch when you’ve got one, maybe even life-saving, you never know.” (Mehmet)

This quote is remarkable in a double sense. Firstly, Mehmet explicitly alludes to a business pressure as the reason why he obtained a mobile phone. He did not want to have one, but in his company – itself a technology company – there existed a specific requirement to be connected communicatively, especially if you were positioned at a higher level. That was how Mehmet got into the habit of using a mobile phone and other mobile communication devices (e.g. a laptop) when he was away on business. Secondly, this business pressure towards mobile connectivity also transformed his private life. In the meantime, he has become the person who tried to persuade the rest of his own family to stay connected using the mobile phone. ‘To be reachable’ takes up an increasingly important part of his private life. Thus the pressure of mobile connectivity continues. Comparable statements are evident in the other interviews. In spite of rejecting mobile phone technology, Sertap bought one in 1999, after leaving her family, as a result of the pressure put on her by her mother to maintain contact and be reachable. Since becoming a teacher trainee, and because she has worked in a number of different places, the pressure on Sertap to be constantly reachable via mobile phone and e-mail has increased substantially. It is a pressure, which sometimes leads her to think of “throwing it [the mobile phone] against a wall”. Although she has never lived out this fantasy, she occasionally switches the mobile phone off so she can have some rest. Nevertheless, being reachable for family members, friends and workmates is now an important part of her lifestyle. Soner bought a mobile phone in 2001 without any real interest in getting one. However, since all of his colleagues already had one, they put pressure on him to follow their lead, telling him that it was ‘usual’ to be reachable by mobile phone. Before he had a mobile phone, Soner says his life was “really cool”, but since having one he feels “uncomfortable” when he forgets it. In his own words, the mobile phone is now “a part” of him. © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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If we compare these different cases, we gain a remarkable insight into the pressures of communicative mobility within the Turkish-German diaspora. It is especially striking that every interviewed person perceives his or her own motivation for getting a mobile phone as pressure from elsewhere. This ‘elsewhere’ can be the immediate family, strengthening the network of the Turkish diaspora as in the case of Sertap and her communicative connection to her mother. Or pressure can emanate from members of the (migrant) hip-hop youth culture, as in the case of Harun. External occupational pressure is also evident, especially if the member of the Turkish diaspora reaches higher positions in the workplace. All in all, the communicative connectivity of the mobile phone has an important role to play in the lives of each of the interviewees. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the use of mobile phone technology is invariably talked about alongside other media such as the landline telephone or e-mail. If we link this back to our reflections on mobile privatisation and communicative mobility, it becomes obvious how far mobile phone use is linked to further questions of local mobility. If business is increasingly marked by a mobility between different working places, then growing up as a member of the Turkish diaspora in Germany also means leaving the place where you were born and moving elsewhere. Private life can also be marked by a situative local mobility (as the example of hip-hop youth culture has shown) which involves movement from one urban place to another (for example, the staging of break-dance or hip-hop concerts in different places). At this point the mobile phone is not only important because of its technical ability to address ‘persons on the move’ but also because the image of the mobile phone as a tool that realises ‘communicative inclusion on the move’ makes it additionally important beyond its actual use. This is perhaps evident in the way people claim to feel uncomfortable when they do not have their mobile phone with them. 3.2 The ‘crossing of media appropriation’ in communicative mobility So far we have discussed mobile phone appropriation as an example of the ‘pressure’ of communicative mobility. However, there is an interesting point in Mehmet’s description of his appropriation of the mobile phone which can be seen as a link to the particular focus of this section. In describing his own appropriation of mobile phone technology, Mehmet’s arguments take an interesting turn when he elaborates on the way in which he uses his mobile phone not merely “in the night and on holiday at the other side of the earth” but also while sitting at his laptop. Discussing his business experiences, it seems impossible for him to see one digital media as separated from another. Rather, there is a ‘crossing of appropriation’ between the different digital media and their appropriation in the context of communicative mobility. If we choose not to take specific media technologies as the starting point for our research, and instead begin from a perspective based on communicative mobility as a whole, we can begin to realise in analysing the interviews from this point of view how far communicative mobility can itself be seen as a general moment of digital media appropriation. To make this point clearer, one need only 142

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look at the way the mobile phone is appropriated alongside other digital media in the process of communicative mobility. All in all, this opens the way for a new and more detailed understanding of media technology (and its everyday use) that can subsequently be refined by examination of the media maps drawn by the interviewees. Starting with the mobile phone, it is striking that the interviewees’ uses of this mobile communication terminal are rather limited bearing in mind its technological capabilities. While the mobile phone as a smart phone is increasingly marketed as a mobile communication computer (something that has relevance for the self-image of our interviewees, for owning a smart phone is often seen as an expression a communicatively connected lifestyle), the actual appropriation is different. The mobile phone unit is used only in four specific ‘core technologies’: use of the telephone; the sending of SMS; as an alarm clock; and as a telephone address book. For example, this is the case for Harun who is frightened that the address book of his mobile phone “might anytime be flooded and deleted by mistake”. Meanwhile, Mehmet uses the address book only as a telephone directory and very rarely uses the mobile phone to receive e-mails. He sometimes uses the phone as an alarm clock if he is away on business, but beyond this Mehmet’s view is that not all the functions of the mobile phone are relevant to him. Sertap, meanwhile, has tried to use the photographic function of her mobile phone, and also the address book, but mainly uses just the telephone and SMS functions. Occasionally she uses the alarm clock and reminder functions and she sometimes listens to the radio via headset when she is on her way to work. Her mobile phone has additional functions – such as an MP3 Player – which she does not use because, in her own words, she has “completely no instinct for this”. The only exception among the interviewees is Soner, whose lifestyle is more technically-orientated: besides telephone and SMS, he uses practically the full range of his mobile phone’s functions, including the address book (as a telephone directory), calendar, camera, and MP3-Player. He makes use of these functions particularly in the company of his friends, with whom he enjoys playing with such technology. To sum up, while Soner has some personal interest in technology and therefore uses more functions of his mobile phone, this digital device does not occupy as central a position in the lives of the interviewees that one might expect given its multitasking capabilities, even if their lives are characterised to a large extent by local mobility on a biographical and situative level. So is communicative mobility of digital media merely a ‘phantom’ or an ‘academic fantasy’? If we reach beyond technological centrism and comprehend the mobile phone as a single digital device in the context of communicative mobility, the answer is that communicative mobility has to be grasped across the borders of different media technologies. This becomes more evident when we compare previous statements with other sections of the interviews which focus on the relationship between the internet and local mobility. For example, Harun emphasises that the internet as a communication infrastructure became more important for him as local mobility increased, particularly when he moved abroad for the first time as a student. At that point he © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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started to use e-mail to communicate with his friends. However, when he is back in a local context in Germany he rarely checks his e-mail (1-2 times a week). Although he does not have a computer, and therefore does not use the internet personally, he informs us that the internet is of great importance to his family as part of the Turkish-German diaspora, again at the level of biographical local mobility. For example, his brother reads special diaspora web pages such as www.vaybee.com or www.tuerkduenya.de in order to be informed about activities within the Turkish-German community, even though Harun himself considers them to be “elitist”.11 E-mail is also important for maintaining contact within Germany and also “for contact with Turkey”. For members of the TurkishGerman diaspora the internet is a communication infrastructure of key importance because it offers the opportunity of a diasporic communicative connection across biographical local mobility. This is substantiated by certain statements made in the interviews. Mehmet uses the internet to read Hürriyet (the Turkish newspaper in Germany) and especially to browse through Google news with an interest in Turkish topics. Additionally, he searches on the internet for specific information such as football results for the Istanbul team Ikta.12 Google news and its search routines are helpful for him, as they also integrate diasporic web pages like türkdünya.de, which came to his attention via the Google news search. These pages are “very important” to him. Besides that, the internet occupies an important role in keeping his friendship network together, which is divided into two parts: a German one and a Turkish one. His connection with Turkish friends is maintained specifically by using e-mail. Such an intensive use of e-mail is stimulated by the fact that e-mail is very important in the corporation where Mehmet works. Each day he writes about 50 e-mails, approximately 80% for business and 20% for private reasons. For him, email is the most important tool to organise diasporic life in Germany, as it offers the possibility of continuous direct contact across the Turkish-German community network – indeed, it is a matter of regret for Mehmet that such a large number of people still do not understand this. Again it becomes clear that if we wish to discuss biographical mobility, it is important that we keep in mind communicative mobility across the ‘borders of different media’. In this sense, Sertap also reports that her brothers enjoy using diasporic internet content, including online Turkish newspapers and online information about the places they come from in Turkey. Her own e-mail use is linked directly to her job as a teacher trainee. On a private level, her e-mail use is affected by her residence at different places abroad when she uses e-mails to stay in contact with her network of friends. It is only for Soner that the internet is not important at all, but even he knows other members of the Turkish-German community who use the internet to stay in visual contact with family members in Turkey via internet webcams. 11

In Harun’s view, there is no “one fact of a Turkish community” in Germany, but rather multiple linked “scenes”. 12 He only very rarely reads German magazines like Spiegel and Focus in the Internet.

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Overall it is noticeable how far everyday local mobility in the diasporic community is related to different digital media of communicative mobility. It is not just the mobile phone that is linked to questions of communicative mobility. Particularly if we have biographical mobility in focus, then the internet as a digital distribution platform is at least as important. In addition to this, the interviews show how far questions of situative and biographical local mobility are connected with each other: for members of the Turkish-German diaspora, whose lives are marked to a very large extent by biographical mobility, it is especially important to keep specific diasporic networks together locally. Here the internet seems much more important than the mobile phone, which covers only situative aspects of communicative mobility. Such a ‘crossing of media appropriation’ in communicative mobility gets more comprehensible if we consider the media maps of the interviewees (see Figure 2). These maps are drawings made and explained by the interviewees having being asked to visualise with whom they communicate and by which media they do so.

Figure 2: Media Maps

In their media maps each of the interviewees visualised their network of egocentred personal media communication. While the drawing by Soner gives no deeper insight into her other statements, the other three diagrams are very interesting in highlighting the ‘crossing of media appropriation’ in communicative mobility. In all of the drawings the centre is sketched out by the interviewee.13

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In the case of Mehmet, he does not write ‘me’ but ‘M’ as a shortcut for his name.

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If we take Mehmet’s drawing as a first example, we can see that the mobile phone (‘H’ for German ‘Handy’), the telephone (‘T’) and e-mail are the media he uses to communicate at work, with his family, friends and with government agencies. The numerals he has written on the lines from the media to the groups of communication partners, or next to the shortcuts for the communication partner groups, indicate how intensely he uses different media for communication with each of these groups.14 We can compare this with the communicative network of Harun. Similarly, for him three media are particularly relevant in personal communication: the telephone, the mobile phone and e-mail. The telephone is the medium used for contacting family members (especially his brother and mother) and also for contacting friends in his home city and beyond. It also has relevance for his work. The mobile phone is principally the medium of his hip-hop youth culture: other break-dancers call him on his mobile phone, although for economic reasons he prefers to call them using the regular telephone where possible. His family rarely uses his mobile phone to contact him and he seldom uses the mobile phone at work. For Harun, e-mail is more reliable in terms of contacting others and being contacted himself, and is used quite frequently to contact friends who live abroad or in other German cities. Sertap is the only one who still writes letters to her friends. The other striking aspect of her drawing is that contact with her family is largely conducted by telephone and contact with her professional colleagues is mostly by e-mail. The interesting point here is that she does not mention the mobile phone as relevant for business, even though (elsewhere in the interview) she criticises the pressure she feels from work since she has become permanently reachable via the mobile phone. It is only contact between Sertap and her friends that is maintained using different media of mobile communication – besides the landline telephone and the mobile phone (including SMS), this also includes e-mails and letters. These helpful drawings make more clear what the ‘crossing of media appropriation’ in communicative mobility actually means: on a basic level, it is striking that different groups of communication partners are the central reference points for discussions of media appropriation in personal communication networks, rather than the ‘borders’ of different media themselves. The communicative connection to the different groups of people is ‘transmedial’ in the sense that it is conducted by different media. Firstly, it is problematic to equate personal media communication exclusively with ‘digital media’. For example, the traditional phone is still a relevant medium in the maintenance of personal communicative networks. Secondly, local mobility is an important factor in all the included personal networks of these members of the Turkish-German diaspora. This is certainly the case at the level of biographical mobility, in the sense that these networks transgress the border of the German state. Yet this is also the case at the level of situative mobility, in the sense that the interviewees’ lives are all ‘mobile’ either for business reasons or private ones. However, it should be noted that this 14

The third ‘F’ should be a ‘B’ for government agencies, as it is commented in the interview.

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biographical and situative local mobility is not linked exclusively to the mobile phone as a medium of communicative mobility. Rather, one can say that different media are used to manage different aspects of local mobility. For example, e-mail, the web and the telephone are used principally to manage biographical local mobility, as these media make it easier to ‘stay in contact’ at a distance, either at the level of personal communication (e-mail, telephone) or at the level of shared community communication (the web). Together with e-mail, the mobile phone is a technological medium that is used in order to manage situative local mobility, as it offers the opportunity to directly contact people who are ‘on the move’. It becomes obvious, therefore, that questions of media and mobility in contemporary society cannot simply be reduced to the study of ‘the mobile phone’ or any one media technology. A far-reaching local mobility makes the use of different media necessary if one is to maintain his or her own place in a communicative network. 3.3 The ‘intensifying of segmenting communicative connectivity’ If we are to contextualise communicative mobility against the horizon of local mobility, it is equally relevant to query the social changes which have taken place in relation to the changes in media use experienced during communicative mobility. It is important that in asking this question we do not reproduce the ‘effect’ assumption implicit in the technological centrist approach outlined earlier. Rather, this question should invite us to consider the reasons why communicative mobility has become more relevant as local mobility has increased. The answer suggested in our interviews points to an ‘intensification of segmented communicative connectivity’. We can substantiate this by looking first at the interview with Sertap. As we mentioned earlier, ever since Sertap owned a mobile phone she has felt pressured by the fact that she is reachable all the time, which is why she occasionally switches it off. However, such negative aspects of mobile phone possession count as only one dimension of her communicative mobility – on the other hand, she reports of using SMS to stay in contact with her sister, who lives in Istanbul, and a good female friend who lives in London. It is the same in the case of e-mail use. Although the prospect of e-mailing offers nothing completely new, it does make it easier for Sertap to stay in touch with friends, especially if they live abroad. For example, apart from her female friend in London, Sertap also mentions a contact in Riga which she came to know through her involvement in basketball activities. Meanwhile, Soner is quite explicit when he reflects on what has changed since he acquired a mobile phone. While he describes his life before the mobile phone as “pretty cool”, now his communicative contacts have increased. Through SMS, for example, he has more contact with girls than before, and in general it is important for him to be reachable all the time. An example of this is that his father – who has recently established a small removal enterprise – can call him when he needs help and he can go to assist him. Besides this, the communicative network between him and his three best friends has also intensified across his daily local mobility. While for Soner the internet is less important, it is clear that his appropriation of the mobile phone has to be contextualised alongside a surge of communication across © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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his family and social network which has taken place as he becomes increasingly locally mobile. For Harun communicative mobility has a lot to do with his hip-hop lifestyle. When it comes to the mobile phone, Harun remarks that since having it he has a “much tighter contact” with others inside the youth culture. This is especially relevant in his case because the lifestyle within this youth culture is marked by a very pronounced local mobility – some of the members are very rarely at home and only reachable on their mobile phone. The mobile phone is for Harun a “total communicative thing” used in an ongoing exchange concerning the activities of different members of the group. However, Harun also wishes to be reachable all the time for employment reasons, and in his position as a freelance language teacher he hopes never to lose out on an interesting job offer. In spite of only using e-mail about once a week, it affords Harun a chance to intensify communicative connections particularly with friends and members of his youth culture who live abroad. In Mehmet’s case, the overall impression is that different forms of media intensified communicative connectivity. Even when he “goes to the toilet” he takes his mobile phone with him to stay connected. First of all, this is an intensification of mobile communicative connectivity in the context of work, but next to this is an intensification of communicative connectivity with family members. Similarly, other media can be contextualised: as mentioned earlier Mehmet uses e-mail intensively, writing about 50 and receiving about 100 e-mails per day. In addition to this, the traditional phone is contextualised in a process of intensified communicative connectivity with Turkey as it becomes increasingly cheaper. How can we summarise such statements? First of all, they show how important communicative connectivity is for each of the interviewees: they want to ‘stay connected’, especially with their friends, family and other elements of the Turkish diaspora community which is dispersed across different countries. With digital media, this ‘staying connected’ becomes increasingly simple. Secondly, this intensification of communicative connectivity has a segmenting orientation. It is not focused on the connectivity of a global cosmopolitism as outlined in some optimistic discussions to have taken place regarding cultural globalisation and media (see Tomlinson 1999: 181-207). Rather, it is focused on pre-existing cultural segments such as the family, friendship networks or the networks of the Turkish diaspora.15 The consequence might well be that this surge of segmented communicative connectivity itself points towards a deterritorial horizon, of which the communicative connectivity within diasporas is an example. When all is said and done, the relevance of this increasing communicative connectivity can only be understood if we see it in its whole context. If everyday lives are affected by an increasing local mobility, the question of ‘staying in contact’ resonates strongly. The appropriation of different digital media may be an answer For Tomlinson this is one reason why we should resist thinking of “mobile terminals” such as the mobile phone as globalisation technologies, but rather as technologies of the home in a world of global flows and deterritorialisation (see Tomlinson 2006: 78). 15

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to this growing tendency, especially with regard to questions of biographical and situative local mobility. 4. Communicative mobility and perspectives of research My arguments in this chapter began with a criticism of the ‘technological centrism’ evident in much mobile phone research. Focusing on mobile phones as a separate communication technology, contemporary mobile phone studies offer some interesting insights into many aspects of the use of this particular form of communication technology. However, such studies fail to comprehend that analysis of the cultural context is imperative if we are truly to understand mobile phone technology (cf. Tomlinson 2008) – and this is a context in which other media must be located. In criticism of the approaches that ignored such contexts, I have referred to Raymond Williams’ concept of mobile privatisation, a concept that Williams’ developed in order to locate television as both a technology and a cultural form. I have argued that we must widen Williams’ conception by identifying two crucial aspects within it: firstly, the factor of local mobility at the level of biographical and situative local mobility; and secondly, the factor of communicative mobility at the level of media technologies, as well as stationary media technologies addressing mobile people. Such a concept of communicative mobility offers a chance to understand the appropriation of mobile phone technology and other media technologies in the Turkish-German diaspora. In light of these considerations, it is possible to sum up two possible perspectives for future research on media and mobility: firstly, the complexity of communicative mobility; and secondly, the relativity of spacious mobility. 1. Complexity of communicative mobility: Hopefully the empirical examples in my chapter have shown that communicative mobility is itself structured in a complex and highly differentiated way. Communicative mobility does not just refer to an increase of communicative accessibility while ‘being on move’. If we understand communicative mobility in the wider sense as I have tried to outline it here, we ought to focus on the appropriation of complex ‘media environments’ including the mobile phone, but also other media such as email, telephone or traditional mass media. All these media can be understood as aspects in communicative mobility, as they offer both the chance and the pressure to develop communicative connectivity during phases of biographical and situative local mobility. Therefore, the central perspective for research in this respect is to analyse this complexity in a more differentiated manner, focusing critically on the questions of which media are appropriated and with which aspects of mobility they focus. Such a multilayered approach to research on communicative mobility is only the beginning. 2. Relativity of local mobility: While the above point on future perspectives can be seen as a call to stimulate research on questions of communicative mobility, one should also keep in mind its relation to local mobility – a mobility which is marked by a specific kind of relativity. The example of members of a © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

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diasporic community, as we have discussed here, is certainly an example of a group of enforced “mobility pioneers” (Kesselring 2006) in the sense that the lives of these people are highly characterised by an involuntary biographical mobility, either by parents or by themselves. Even with this group in mind, it is obvious that their lifestyles are not marked by a kind of ‘global flickering through territories’. Rather, their biographical mobility is marked by careful consideration and in most cases the local mobility is one which occurs within a specific region with a scope of 150 kilometres. It is important to keep such contexts in mind, as the research of cultural geographers has shown that only for a few groups is the range of local mobility far-reaching. There are also a high number of frequently out-bordered people whose local mobility has only the range of a few kilometres (see Massey 1995: 59; Morley 2000: 128-203; Moores 2008). While members of diasporic groups may become “mobility pioneers” due to economic pressures (as more voluntary “mobility pioneers” emerge out of careers in areas such as IT), there are lots of people for whom questions of local mobility have almost no relevance at all. This relativity of local mobility means that if we are to truly understand communicative mobility, we must look carefully at which social groups are affected and which forms of local mobility are actually enacted by those groups, in addition to the possible characteristics and overlapping causes of such processes. All in all, it seems sensible to conclude that if one wishes to understand the mobile phone and other mobile media technologies in present cultures, it is important to investigate the complexities of communicative mobility. However, in doing so we should be wary of over-generalising with regard to specific forms of local or communicative mobility, keeping in mind those certain groups who may be excluded from participation in such processes. 5. References Brown, B. (2002): 'Studying the Use of Mobile Technology'. In: Brown, B., Green, N. & Harper, R. (eds.): Wireless World. Social and Interactional Aspects of the Mobile Age. London: Springer, pp. 315. Düvel, C. (2006): 'Kommunikative Mobilität – mobile Lebensstile? Die Bedeutung der Handyaneignung von Jugendlichen für die Artikulation ihrer Lebensstile'. In: Hepp, A. & Winter, R. (eds.): Kultur – Medien – Macht. Cultural Studies und Medienanalyse. Dritte überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage (Medien – Kultur – Kommunikation Series). Wiesbaden: VS, pp. 399-424. Hepp, A. (2005): ‘New Media Connectivity: A New World of Mobility? The Internet, Identity and Deterritorialization in Europe’. Paper presented at the “Internet Identities in Europe”, international conference, 6-7 September 2004, organised by the European Centre for Gender Studies and ESCUS University of Sheffield. Downloaded on 31 December 2005 from http://www.shef.ac.uk/content/1/c6/04/88/28/Hepp.pdf. Hepp, A. (2006): Transkulturelle Kommunikation. Konstanz: UVK (UTB). Hepp, A. (2007): ‘Networks of the Media. Media Cultures, Connectivity and Globalization’. In: Bartels, A. & Wiemann, D. (eds.): Global Fragments. (Dis)Orientation in the New World Order. Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, pp. 227-240.

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Hepp, A. (2008): ‘Translocal Media Cultures: Networks of the Media and Globalisation’. In: Hepp, A., Krotz, F., Moores, S. & Winter, C. (eds.): Connectivity, Networks and flows. Conceptualizing Contemporary Communications. Cresskill: Hampton Press, pp. 33-58. Katz, J.E. & Aakhus, M. (eds.) (2002a): Perpetual Contact. Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Katz, J.E. & Aakhus, M. (2002b): 'Introduction: Framing the Issues'. In: Katz, J.E. & Aakhus, M. (eds.): Perpetual Contact. Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-13. Kesselring, S. (2006): 'Topographien mobiler Möglichkeitsräume. Zur sozio-materiellen Analyse von Mobilitätspionieren'. In: Hollstein, B. & Straus, F. (eds.): Qualitative Netzwerkanalyse, Wiesbaden: VS, pp. 333-358. Kopomaa, T. (2000): The city in your pocket: Birth of the mobile information society. Helsinki: Gaudeamus. Ling, R.C. (2004): The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone's Impact on Society (Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive Technologies). Boston: Morgan Kaufmann. Massey, D. (1995): 'The Conceptionalisation of Place'. In: Massey, D. & Jess, P. (eds.): A Place in the World? Places, Cultures and Globalisation, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 45-77. Moores, S. (2000): Media and Everyday Life in Modern Society. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Moores, S. (2008): 'Conceptualizing Place in a World of Flows'. In: Hepp, A., Krotz, F., Moores, S. & Winter, C. (eds.): Connectivity, Networks and flows. Conceptualizing Contemporary Communications. Cresskill: Hampton Press, pp. 183-200. Morley, D. (1992): Television Audiences and Cultural Studies. London, New York: Routledge. Morley, D. (2000): Home Territories. Media, Mobility and Identity. London, New York: Routledge. Morley, D. (2007): Media, Modernity and Technology. London, New York: Routledge. Nyiri, K. (2003): Mobile Communication: Essays on Cognition and Community. Vienna: Passagen. Nyiri, K. (Eds.) (2005): A Sense of Place: The Global and the Local in Mobile Communication. Vienna: Passagen. Statistisches Bundesamt (2006): Leben in Deutschland: Haushalte, Familien und Gesundheit – Der Mikrozensus 2005. Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt. Tölölyan, K. (1991): 'The Nation-State and its Others: In Lieu of a Preface'. In: Diaspora 1: 3-7. Tomlinson, J. (1999): Globalization and Culture. Cambridge, Oxford: Polity Press. Tomlinson, J. (2008): 'Your Life – To Go: The Cultural Impact of New Media Technologies'. In: Hepp, A., Krotz, F., Moores, S. & Winter, C. (eds.): Connectivity, Networks and flows. Conceptualizing Contemporary Communications. Cresskill: Hampton Press, in print, pp. 58-68. Williams, R. (1990): Television: Technology and Cultural Form. London, New York: Routledge.

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Mobile Internet, Social Capital and Civic Engagement in Japan Kakuko Miyata & Ken’ichi Ikeda

1. Introduction1 One of the most important considerations for social capital accumulation in the age of the internet is that the internet ensures its users access to heterogeneous social networks. As a consequence of heterogeneous encounters, citizens have chances to shape their opinions, to then potentially make them accessible to a broader audience and to polish their skills for coordinating exchanges – all of which are fundamental to skills of civic engagement. However, the impacts of the internet on social networks depend on the nature of online activities (DiMaggio et al., 2001; Wellman et al., 2001). This paper develops a more nuanced and differentiated argument on how internet use will affect social networks and impact on civic engagement. By analyzing data on the internet use in a random sample of Japanese people, we will discuss the social consequences of internet use from a social capital viewpoint. We therein take a broad definition of internet use – for us it includes mobile phone use as well. This is partly based on the specific usage patterns in Japan (which include a relatively high usage of emails sent from mobiles) as well as points to future usages. This investigation is seen to be essential for anticipating the future of democracy in societies that have highly advanced communication technologies. We will first review arguments about social capital that are seen as highly relevant to civic engagement in liberal democracies and then move our discussion on to the relationship between social capital and internet use. 2. Social capital, social network and civic engagement In many arguments on social capital, several components of social capital are juxtaposed and discussed as mutually reinforcing each other to produce consequences of social capital such as better deliberation in political processes, 1

Acknowledgment: Research for this study has been supported by grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, KAKENHI15330137. We thank Mitsuhiro Ura, Hiroshi Hirano, Tetsuro Kobayashi and Kaichiro Furutani for their collaboration in the design of the survey. © Frank & Timme

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higher political participation, or a higher level of life satisfaction (Putnam, 1993, 2000; Norris, 2000; Lake & Huckfeldt, 1998). Among these components, social participation (civic engagement), social network, norms of reciprocity, and trust are the ones most emphasized. However, how these components of social capital affect each other in a positive way, and then produce positive outcomes for social capital such as those mentioned above needs to be examined further. In this paper, we will focus on the relationship between social networks and social participation, by supposing the former as independent variables. The reason is that, in order to investigate the effects of the internet on social capital formation, one of the most promising approaches will be to focus on how it affects (expands) our social network, as the internet is a networking tool in its primary sense rather than a tool for participation. We assume that the internet gives social affordance (Hampton & Wellman, 2002) that facilitates communication with people from different social categories, i.e. heterogeneous others communicate with the focal person. However, there is a possibility of the other way around, i.e. possibility that those who participate (in the words of Putnam “the joiners” of civic engagement) are more likely to use internet than the non-joiners. However, this does not seem to be the case in our target country, Japan. This is because internet use within voluntary organizations is not much developed, mostly due to the fact that only a small part of the members of the organizations use the internet (the data we utilize below shows only 7% use e-mail among the members, 4% access the webpage of their organization, and 2% upload to BBS; 90% do not use any of the above). Then, as the internet is not a medium to communicate evenly with throughout the organization in question, we do not need to suppose that participation causes internet use. Before proceeding to focus on the internet, let us further develop the idea of more nuanced ramifications of social network and social participation. Firstly, social networks can be a powerful asset, both for individuals and for communities. There are two types of social networks: bonding social networks and bridging social networks. In a “bonding” social network such as a homogeneous, tightly-knit, and cohesive relationship, we easily lose the chances to get exposed to heterogeneous information, different political orientation, or other perspectives than our own. By contrast, in an open, “bridging” social network, we have greater chances to encounter heterogeneous citizens with different viewpoints and different sets of knowledge. In these networks, it is easier to mobilize people to tackle problems of public concern, and easier to arrange things that benefit the group as a whole. Also, bridging social networks determine the extent to which individuals’ weak ties are spread in the social strata beyond their daily bonding social network. Weak ties, typical for bridging networks, are known to introduce heterogeneous knowledge and ideas in networks (Granovetter, 1974). Previous studies indicate that people with weak 154

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(bridging) ties across groups have higher levels of community involvement, civic interest, and collective efficacy than people without bridging ties among groups (Kavanaugh et al., 2005). A study in Japan (Ikeda & Kobayashi, 2008) using the Japanese Election Survey also revealed that heterogeneity in weak ties measured by a “position generator” (Lin, Fu & Hsung, 2001) positively related with civic engagement. Therefore, one of the foci of the paper is on the diversity in weak ties on the individual level. Secondly, civic engagement refers to individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. Civic engagement can take many forms, from individual voluntarism to organizational involvement to electoral participation. It may include efforts to directly address an issue, work with others in a community to solve a problem, or interact with the institutions of representative democracy. In this paper, we focus on membership within intermediary organizations, since it is well known that intermediate organizations are important for democracy (Kornhauser, 1959; Almond & Verba, 1963). As discussed, we are particularly interested to know if people with diverse networks are likely to discuss social issues in public to resolve social problems such as those related to education and the environment. Hence, we posit that people with more diverse weak ties are more likely to be involved in social activities in intermediary organizations, because they have more access to information related to social issues and thereby obtain more knowledge on diverse opinions. 3. The internet as a place to meet people Some researchers argue that the internet may strengthen civil society and democratic politics more generally as it expands the opportunities for communication and mobilization (i.e. Shah et al., 2005; Norris, 2001). The communicative potential of the internet permits the sharing of political perspectives and concerns with others through interactive messaging technologies (Price & Cappella, 2002). The internet, by permitting the exchange of views across long distances, or with many people, can reduce organizational costs, and make ineffective communication networks effective (Lupia & Sin, 2003). Moreover, the internet has the potential to enable collective action without the temporal, geographic, and size limitations of face-to-face communication (Shah et al., 2005). What kind of internet use does help users to have diverse social networks and to be active in civic engagement? Although the evidence for the strengthening or weakening effects of the internet on social networks continues to be debated, prior studies have suggested different subtypes of internet use may differ in their impacts on social ties as shown below (Wellman et al., 2001; DiMaggio et al., 2001; Zhao, 2006). For instance, when people engage primarily in activities such as web surfing in a way that does not include personal © Frank & Timme

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communication, its engrossing nature can turn people away from community, organizational, and political involvement, and domestic life (Wellman et al., 2001). In contrast, online communities such as mailing lists (listservs), BBS (Bulletin Board Systems), and online chat groups in which people discuss shared interests or topics may form new, diverse ties. It is easy for new members to participate in online communities because of the lack of barriers to entry. Anonymity in communication also encourages people, especially marginalized populations, to participate in online communities. McKenna and Bargh (2000) argue that because communication via the internet can reduce the importance of physical appearance and physical distance, heterogeneous people can meet and discuss political issues in online communities. They have also indicated that the users of online communities were likely to have more social ties, because they tend to communicate with more people, including those they do not know in person (McKenna et al., 2002). Based on data from the 2000 General Social Survey, Zhao (2006) also shows that e-mail users and chat users are likely to have more social ties than non-users do, with chat users having more social ties than e-mail users do even after controlling social categories that may affect the media use. Further, online communication about politics may not only permit citizens to gain knowledge, but also allow them to coordinate their actions to address joint concern (Norris, 2001), because of the internet’s potential to enable collective action without the temporal, geographic, and size limitations which are characteristic to face-to-face communication. On the other hand, the connectivity of e-mail adds to the volume of social contact by face-to-face and by telephone communication in relationships such as those among family members and friends (Quan-Haase et al., 2002). The use of e-mail helps people build their social networks by extending and maintaining friends and family relationships (Howard et al., 2002). In particular, e-mail exchanges by mobile phones are very frequent with intimate others, but the number of intimate others is comparatively small (about 2 to 5), compared with PC e-mail exchanges2. Furthermore, Miyata et al. (2005) revealed that e-mails via mobile phones tend to be more local than e-mails via PCs; exclusive mobile phone users are especially likely to use their mobile phones to send e-mail to people who live nearby; double users on both of PCs and mobile phones are more likely to use the latter to send messages to others who live nearby (within one hour’s travel by car) but to use the former to those who live further away; exclusive PC users are the most likely to communicate with others who live 2

Under “e-mail exchanges” we include SMS (“short message service”, sometimes known as “texting”) as well as regular e-mail (communication via the PC). Japanese e-mail by mobile phone, which is one of our target media, is designed to use SMS and regular e-mail seamlessly. Accounts of mobile phone use in other East Asian societies include Yan (2003) for China and Chae & Kim (2003) for South Korea.

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further away. These findings indicate that mobile phone e-mail exchanges involve mainly strong-tie networks, while PC e-mail exchanges are with weak-tie networks. Generally, the messages of e-mails exchanged by mobile phones are shorter than those exchanged by PC. This difference reflects the fact that the communication between strong ties can be brief because much information and assumptions of communications are pre-shared by those who are in strong tie networks, and it matches with the technological specifications of the mobile phone, i.e. the difficulty in composing long messages through its input device. According to these findings, we suggest that users of mobile phone e-mails are likely to be involved in groups which bring together similar sorts of people, and offer the kind of assistance and support that comes from affection, willingness to help and considerable knowledge of one another, since mobile phone e-mail mainly occurs as homogeneous communication among people connected by strong ties, and lowers the possibility of encountering heterogeneous people. 4. Research questions and hypotheses The purpose of this paper is to develop a more nuanced and differentiated argument about how different kinds of internet use cause different effects on social networks to facilitate civic engagement. First, we explore the relationship between internet use and social ties. We compare the impacts of three types of internet use: online communities, PC e-mail and mobile phone e-mail on three types of connections people have in their social networks: the diversity in weak ties, the number of weak ties, and the number of strong ties. It is expected that online communities could be a place where participants meet various types of heterogeneous people and could make new relationships with them. However, because of the easy withdrawal or anonymous communication possibility, these communities are not a good place to maintain strong ties. In contrast, it may be easier for people who use mobile phone e-mail to increase frequencies of contact with their close friends and family, who tend to provide social support. Then, relative to non-users, they may have more strong ties. However, these contacts may not create new relationships, nor increase the variety of social networks. Therefore the use of mobile phone e-mail will not have any significant correlation with the number and the diversity of users’ social networks, but will have a significant correlation with the number of strong ties. On the other hand, PC e-mail may be best utilized to maintain contact with weak ties in addition to strong ties. Moreover, because of its affordance to open networks, i.e. affordance to easily communicate with acquaintances at a distance, and affordance to increase chances to communicate with newly formed weak ties thanks to its more formal nature and more publicized addresses as compared with mobile-phone e-mails, PC e-mail users may have more opportunities to make new © Frank & Timme

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acquaintances compared with mobile phone e-mail users. This means that PC e-mail may help people cultivate new social networks. Hence, it is expected that people are likely to increase the size of their social network by using PC e-mail. However, we expect that PC e-mail will develop not that much participation in heterogeneous networks, but online community participation, because communication in open online communities provides more opportunities to meet heterogeneous people by chance due to its openness to the outer world, i.e. it is not only accessible through the introduction by your acquaintance or word of mouth through e-mail or face-to-face communication, but also accessible via search engines or net-surfing. Given that the basic unit of analysis is individual data, our hypotheses are as follows: H1a: People who participate in online communities have larger and more diverse social networks than those who do not participate in them. H1b: PC e-mail users will have larger social networks than non-users, although they do not have a more diverse network. H1c: The users of mobile phone e-mails have more strong ties than non-users. However, there is no difference in the number and the diversity of social networks between users and non-users. Second, we explore the relationship between social networks and civic engagement. Previous research found network heterogeneity is positively associated with political and social activity (for instance, Kotler-Berkowitz, 2005; Scheufele et al., 2006). Thus, it is expected that diverse ties in social networks are instrumental for enhancing civic engagement. Moreover, it is expected that people with a large social network size including both strong and weak ties are likely to be involved in social activities, since the number of ties increases the probability of contact with diverse people. H2a: The more diverse the social networks people have, the more active they are in civic engagement. H2b: The larger the social networks people have, the more active they are in civic engagement. 5. Method 5.1 Survey method Our study is based on a random sample survey of 1,320 adults in the Yamanashi prefecture in Japan. Yamanashi is a mixed rural and urban area, located in the centre of Japan, more than 100 kilometers west of central Tokyo. It is typical of Japan (outside of the Tokyo and Osaka urban agglomerations) in the 158

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characteristics of its population and represents about the average for the diffusion rate of internet. Within the Yamanashi prefecture, 40 neighborhoods were randomly selected by postal code. Using the electoral roll, a further random selection of 33 individuals was chosen from people aged 20–65 years within each neighborhood. Paper surveys were delivered and collected in person three weeks later. Three-quarters (75.9%) of the selected individuals completed the survey, giving us a total sample size of 1,002 respondents. This entire process occurred between November and December 20023. The sample consisted of nearly equal numbers of males and females, with a mean period of residence in Yamanashi for 25.4 years. A comparison showed that female respondents were younger, and had received a lower education level than males. 5.2 Outcomes 5.2.1 Internet use Online communities refer to mailing lists (listservs), BBS, and chat groups. Among all respondents (N=1,002), about 7% of them used these many-to-many online communities. On the other hand, whether respondents use e-mail by PC was measured as a dummy variable. Around 36.1% of the respondents used PC e-mail. The use of mobile phone e-mail was also measured as a dummy variable, and around 49.6% of the respondents used mobile phone e-mail. 5.2.2 Social networks Three properties of social networks were measured: Network Size: We tried to estimate the size of weak tie networks of the respondents. Yet this is hard to do in a short, closed-ended survey. As a proximate measurement, we asked respondents about how many New Year’s greeting cards they had sent in the past year. It is known that the number of personal New Year’s greeting cards is a useful index to measure the total size of social networks, because Japanese adults customarily send these greeting cards to extended family, friends, relatives, neighbors and acquaintances to maintain their close and weak ties. They even do so to maintain contact with people whom they have little chance to meet otherwise. Moreover, the number of these cards is relatively correct, as most people keep the cards for a year (Yabe, 2000). Thus, the number of New Year’s cards means the number of people kept in contact with at least 3

The growth rate of internet adoption in Japan has been slow since this survey in terms of access via PC (the increase from early 2003 to 2006 was 131%), whereas that from mobile phone increased substantially (254%). We think the results of this article continue to be especially true for the hypotheses related to PC e-mail use. Although the situation for mobile phone use changed greatly, we suggest that its basic social effect has not changed because of the network “bonding” nature of the media (the effect will not spill over to the outer world due to its closed network character). If the chosen medium has more of a “bridging” nature, we may expect stronger social consequences. © Frank & Timme

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once a year, i.e. a good estimate of the overall size of social network. As the great majority of ties in a network are relatively weak (Bernard, et al., 1990; Watts, 2003), this is a crude estimate of the number of weak ties respondents have (business-related cards received were excluded). To deal with the skew of the distribution to smaller numbers, we used the logarithm of the exact number in the analysis. Network Diversity: Diverse networks provide access to new sources of information and resources. The more different types of people you know, the more social milieus you are likely to be connected with (Feld, 1982). Network diversity has many different facets, such as occupational diversity, gender diversity, ethnic diversity, etc. In this analysis we focus on an occupational diversity because people who work in different occupations often come from different social backgrounds (Lin et al., 2001). Respondents were asked to indicate if they have any relatives, friends, or acquaintances in any of fifteen categories of diverse occupations4. A count of the number of different occupational categories was made for each respondent, yielding a score from 0 to 15, with a higher score indicating greater diversity of contact. Number of Strong Ties: To measure the number of supportive strong ties, respondents were asked to report the number of network members that would give them words of encouragement (emotional support), provide them with a small amount of money (financial support), or aid them in tasks such as moving house, or providing other goods and services (instrumental support). A three point scale was used to record the number of each type of supportive ties. The number of network members in all three categories was summed up and divided by three. 6. Results 6.1 Does the internet use affect social networks? Do different types of internet users have different social networks? Table 1 displays the average scores of three different measures of social networks for the three different types of internet user groups. It appears that the internet use is indeed differentially related to interpersonal connectivity, depending on the types of online activities in which users are engaged. 4

Respondents were asked to indicate if they had any relatives, friends, or acquaintances in any of fifteen categories of diverse occupations. We used the prestige ratings for Japanese occupations constructed from the Social Stratification and Mobility datasets, which were collected in 1985 and 1995. The sampled positions had prestige scores ranging from 90.1 to 38.1, and can be roughly grouped into three classes: the upper class (high-status professionals such as physicians, lawyers, owners of large companies, and congresspersons); the middle class (middle-level professionals such as elementary school teachers, nurses, and policemen); and the lower class (such as bus drivers, janitors, and restaurant waiters/waitresses).

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Online community nonusers

users

PC email nonusers

t

users

Mobile phone email nonusers

t

users

t

Network size

3,425

3,601

1,450

3,218

3,832

8,096 **

3,486

3,408

Network Diversity

3,758

4,379

2,165 *

3,615

4,218

3,042 **

3,825

3,845

0,104

Number of strong ties

2,468

2,3 97

2,422

2,523

2,116 *

2,403

2,514

2,368 *

- 0,967

- 0,972 +

**p