Abstract
The smartphone has become the most ubiquitous piece of personal technology, giving it significant social importance and sociological relevance. In this article, we explore how the smartphone interacts with and impacts social interaction in the setting of the urban café. Through analyzing 52 spontaneous in-depth interviews related to social interaction in cafés, we identify three categories of smartphone use in social settings: interaction suspension, deliberately shielding interaction, and accessing shareables. These categories comprise the constitutive smartphone practices that define the social order of public smartphone use within an interactionist sociological framework.
Highlights
The role of the smartphone in today’s Western society is significant, yet it is still unmanageable, difficult to follow, and coloured by myths and stories
In the analysis of our empirical material, we identified five empirical different categories of smartphone use in cafés: (1) phone–face transitions, (2) screening for urgency, (3) ignoring, (4) phone use contagion, and (5) screen sharing
At the start of this study, we asked the question about how the smartphone would interact with and impact social interaction in urban café
Summary
The role of the smartphone in today’s Western society is significant, yet it is still unmanageable, difficult to follow, and coloured by myths and stories. It leads to renegotiation of place from an understanding of place as stable and fixed (stabilitas loci) to a reconceptualisation of place as formed in and through mobility (mobilitas loci) [6] Such freedom and reconceptualisation contribute to major changes in the co-ordination of social life [7,8,9]—as illustrated by the usual initiation of mobile calls—through a mutual exchange of information about the location of communicators. This provides guidance for legitimate and “safe” conversation themes [10], linked to awareness of place-based possibilities and limitations [11]. The awareness of place exemplifies how new technological opportunities—such as the smartphone—are domesticated through people’s adaption and use [12,13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
