Negotiating Situational Constraints in Mobile ICT Use

London.
The last Transforming Audiences session for today (that went fast!) starts with Geoffroy Patriarche, who focusses on mobile communication and its impact on transforming everyday mobility. Media and ICT use is itself also dependent on the logic of situations, of course. Geoffroy approached this topic by examining the ICT practices of young adults (25-25 years) in Brussels, especially while using public transport.

Media and ICTs take up travel time, and accompany the user every day; for some, they are also taken along because they will be needed upon arrival. There are immediate distinctions between different ICTs in the way they are stored during travel (e.g. mobiles vs. laptops); this is also influenced by security and usability considerations (some devices are locked, securely fastened to clothes or bags, or hidden, to prevent theft or accidental activation, while others - such as iPods - are prepared beforehand for easy use during travel). Use is also influenced by time concerns - in public transport, there is usually not enough time for laptop or Internet use or the reading of books, while there is no such constraint experienced in newspaper reading, music listening, or mobile phone use.

Additionally, the moment must be right - users may feel more or less prepared to engage in intellectual work from one day to the other, or more inclined to do such work while travelling to than from work, for example. Further, the spatial environment impacts on ICT use - influencing factors are how crowded the transport is, how much space and time there is for packing or unpacking things, what access to media and networks is available, how much noise or light there is, and whether other travellers would be able to sneak a look.

In fact, listening to music to screen out noise may be a prerequisite for being able to engage in meaningful reading. More broadly, multitasking depends on the continuity of the user's engagement and the degree of active attention that are available in the current situation - people couldn't read while driving a car, for example, but may make mobile phone calls, unless perhaps there is particularly heavy traffic; by taking into account such situational constraints, they negotiate their media use in mobility situations.

Technorati : ICT, Transforming Audiences 2009, mobile, public transport, situation
Del.icio.us : ICT, Transforming Audiences 2009, mobile, public transport, situation