Abstract
PurposeYoung people’s attachment to their smartphones is well-documented, with smartphones often described as prostheses. While prior studies typically assume a clear human/machine divide, this paper aims to build on posthuman perspectives, exploring intercorporeality, the blurring of human/technology boundaries, between emerging adults and their smartphones. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on assemblage theory, this interpretive study uses smartphone diaries and friendship pair/small group discussions with 27 British emerging adults.FindingsParticipants in this study are characterized as homo prostheticus, living with and through their phones, treating them as extensions of their mind and part of their selves as they navigated between their online and offline, private and social lives. Homo prostheticus was part of a broader assemblage or amalgamation of human and non-human components. As these components interacted with each other, the assemblage could be strengthened or weakened by various technological, personal and social factors.Research limitations/implicationsThese qualitative findings are based on a particular sample at a particular point in time, within a particular culture. Further research could explore intercorporeality in human–smartphone relationships among other groups, in other cultures.Originality/valueAlthough other studies have used prosthetic metaphors, this paper contributes to understanding of smartphones as a prostheses in the lives of emerging adults, highlighting intercorporeality as a key feature of homo prostheticus. It also uses assemblage theory to contextualize homo prostheticus and explores factors strengthening or weakening the broader human–smartphone assemblage.
Highlights
Smartphones, “the most successful consumer electronics device of all time” (Deloitte, 2016), are transforming daily life, culture, social structures and values ( Jung, 2014)
The following sections first explore the emerging adult-smartphone assemblage and how participants themselves described their relationship with their phones
The human–smartphone assemblage The material components comprising the human–smartphone assemblage are identified, with participant accounts of their experiences referring to phones, chargers, power points for charging, phone covers, contracts and users
Summary
Smartphones, “the most successful consumer electronics device of all time” (Deloitte, 2016), are transforming daily life, culture, social structures and values ( Jung, 2014). The constant presence of this mobile technology in users’ hands as well as their lives has led to the proliferation of prosthetic metaphors, but the human/smartphone interface requires further theoretical attention. This paper, aims to explore this interface, and the appropriateness of the prosthetic metaphor, in relation to young people’s smartphone use. Within and beyond the information systems (IS) field, have highlighted the importance of mobile phones in general and smartphones in particular to young people, to. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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