Portable Communities: The Social Dynamics of Online and Mobile Connectedness
"I blog, text, IM, email, and I don't like to be without my cell phone or have to shut it off--even in a theater. Let's put it this way, my `connections' are more important than whatever I'm doing that might force me to shut my cell phone off."-- A Member of a Portable CommunityIn contemporary American life, community has become a portable phenomenon--you can "get it to go" wherever and whenever it is desired at the push of a button, mouse, or keyboard. InPortable Communities, sociologist Mary Chayko examines the social dynamics and implications of having access to countless others at any time. Teeming with the observations of people who blog, email, instant message, game, and chat on cell phones, wireless computers, and other portable devices, the book captures the appeal and the excitement, the challenges and the complexities, of online and mobile connectedness. Chayko considers some of the external dynamics that emerge as these communities resonate within the larger society--constant availability, social interaction that is more controlled and controllable, and new opportunities for self-expression, creativity, and even voyeurism. She also provides a unique view of shifts in the social landscape, from diminished privacy to lack of technological access for all and points the way toward needed social and political change."Portable Communitiesis the first book to clearly identify the importance of mobile media in the evolution of new forms of social relations. Anyone interested in matters of online community, identity, and social media should read this absolutely terrific book." -- Steven G. Jones, editor ofCyberSociety: Computer-Mediated Communication and CommunityandCyberSociety 2.0: Revisiting Computer-Mediated Communication and Community, and founder, Association of Internet Researchers"This book addresses how advances in technology are altering the form and content of social relationships. It is THE central question sociologists must address in the coming decades." -- Rebecca G. Adams, coeditor ofDeadhead Social Science: You Ain't Gonna Learn What You Don't Want to Know"In the old days, we had to travel to our friends, families, and social networks. Now, Mary Chayko shows us, we take our networks with us, connecting by text, voice, and video wherever we--and they--are. Chayko's timely and fascinating book provides a guide to the new world of `communities to go.'" -- Barry Wellman, coeditor ofThe Internet in Everyday Lifeand Director, NetLab, University of Toronto"In this fascinating volume, Mary Chayko explores the way people use their communication technologies to produce conviviality and connections. She insightfully captures people playfully and seriously engaging their online and mobile communities, and she shows how ordinary physical limits are transcended to create rich worlds of meaning and interaction." -- James E. Katz, author ofMagic in the Air: Mobile Communication and the Transformation of Social Lifeand Director, Center for Mobile Communication Studies, Rutgers University--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.