This chapter concerns a quite ordinary although often underestimated consequence of the use of mobile communication devices in public places: by virtue of their affordances and projected uses, these artifacts trigger a moral reasoning on what is right, expected and appropriate (or not) for the individual in public places, i.e. they are morality-building devicesIn this chapter, we will focus particularly on the ways in which these artifacts enhance the stage dimension of any social encounter (see Goffman, 1959) and therefore make relevant a social reasoning about the ethical dimension of everyday practices. Whenever we use a mobile device in a public place, an audience is undeniably present, and participates–willingly or not–in the unfolding of the play. Obligatory captive by standards, they seem to be drawn into a performance which they did not necessarily decide to attend, and yet they constantly condition. Whatever one might believe, mobile communication is, from the outset, designed to be performed on the public stage. It is constantly being adjusted to the involuntary audience and keeps traces of this orientation to a third party that is always included. Whether it involves using earpieces of a digital device as acoustic screens (Gumpert & Drucker, 2007), or removing them to indicate availability for interaction, the attitude of the actors reflects their awareness of the other. Even ignoring their presence, wanting to be positioned as a solitary individual, deliberately unconcerned by others around, is a behavior that requires an interactive effort. In short, the use of mobile devices is a communicative behavior, one which, when dissected through this Goffmanian theory (1967), amplifies the enactment of oneself on the public stage. The use of mobile devices in a public place is therefore a social performance that leads participants to manage (or to be concerned by) the self-images made relevant by the mobile device that are projected in the social interaction (Schlenker, 1980), the social consequences of a mobile device-mediated social behavior, and the cultural norms that govern (or should govern) this behavior in public places.
Mobile Communication Tools as Morality-Building Devices
CARONIA, LETIZIA
2015
Abstract
This chapter concerns a quite ordinary although often underestimated consequence of the use of mobile communication devices in public places: by virtue of their affordances and projected uses, these artifacts trigger a moral reasoning on what is right, expected and appropriate (or not) for the individual in public places, i.e. they are morality-building devicesIn this chapter, we will focus particularly on the ways in which these artifacts enhance the stage dimension of any social encounter (see Goffman, 1959) and therefore make relevant a social reasoning about the ethical dimension of everyday practices. Whenever we use a mobile device in a public place, an audience is undeniably present, and participates–willingly or not–in the unfolding of the play. Obligatory captive by standards, they seem to be drawn into a performance which they did not necessarily decide to attend, and yet they constantly condition. Whatever one might believe, mobile communication is, from the outset, designed to be performed on the public stage. It is constantly being adjusted to the involuntary audience and keeps traces of this orientation to a third party that is always included. Whether it involves using earpieces of a digital device as acoustic screens (Gumpert & Drucker, 2007), or removing them to indicate availability for interaction, the attitude of the actors reflects their awareness of the other. Even ignoring their presence, wanting to be positioned as a solitary individual, deliberately unconcerned by others around, is a behavior that requires an interactive effort. In short, the use of mobile devices is a communicative behavior, one which, when dissected through this Goffmanian theory (1967), amplifies the enactment of oneself on the public stage. The use of mobile devices in a public place is therefore a social performance that leads participants to manage (or to be concerned by) the self-images made relevant by the mobile device that are projected in the social interaction (Schlenker, 1980), the social consequences of a mobile device-mediated social behavior, and the cultural norms that govern (or should govern) this behavior in public places.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
