The social implications of mobile communication
Orit Ben-Harush's Page
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- About Me:
- PhD Candidate, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Researching communication patterns within social networks.
ABOUT MY RESEARCH
Communicating friendships;
A case study of Australian women in a sea change community
This research explores communication patterns among Australian women and their friends. Executed in an Australian sea change community (Ocean Shores, NSW), the study examines issues of social cohesion in a migration environment in the modern society. Four themes are of particular interest: location and mobility, friendship networks, communication patterns and implied politics.
Location and mobility issues, such as internal and external migration and glocalization set the research context in which social networks are established and maintained. Out of the overall social network of the research participants, friendworks - networks of friends, are of main interest resulting from their growing acknowledged significance in contemporary society. Among questioned friendworks issues are: exploring the process of creating new social ties, as well as preserving existing friendships (including best friends, partners, family and online friends) and mapping participants’ current relationships. A communication approach is used in order to capture the participants relationships with their friends, while focusing on direct (face-to-face) and mediated (telephone, Internet and mobile phone) interactive communication patterns. Mobile phone use is particularly examined in order to understand the impact of this telecommunication method on the researched women within their friendworks and as a dominant communication device in the modern society. Based on the research findings, practical implications are discussed, specifically addressing policy makers, service providers and users.
The research methods include a case study of 26 female participants over 35 years old from Ocean Shores, NSW. Each participant completed a survey and was interviewed for an hour and a half. Interviews included open questions as well as 3 forms mapping their friendwork, their communication patterns with friends and their mobile phone log. In addition, Australian surveys focusing on social networks and mobile phones are used in order to position and compare the research data with wide-scale representative studies.
The findings are expected to map the social texture in a regional Australian town, to outline the communication methods in use within the local friendworks and to provide a profile of mobile phone use by the adult Australian women who took part in the case study. Consequently, this study provides a fine grain analysis into individual impact of mobile phone usage within friendworks, while applying to wider social, political, economic and cultural insights about the role and practices of communication and mobile phones in particular, within friendworks.
- Website:
- http://womenandmobile.blogspot.com
- Institutional affiliation
- Queensland University of Technology
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