The development of mobile phone practices.
This paper explores the development of mobile phone practices and the stabilization of norms about behaviour in public places. The research is based on qualitative interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005. At this time, public use of mobile phones was more contentious, and therefore more subject to discussion and rationalisation. Respondents seemed to be aware that mobile phone public use norms were developing, and tended to argue for or against use public space. In contrast, they found it much more difficult to talk about other mobile phone norms which had been transferred from telephone calls, taking these for granted as an inherent aspect of the technology. In interaction, breaches of established communication norms give off meaning, affecting what is communicated. Consequently, interactants are forced to adopt these norms in order to communicate successfully, creating interaction order.
Goffman defines interaction in terms of the situation, which is defined by the frame of what is thought to be going on, the setting and physical copresence. This definition no longer works when so many interactions occur between people who are distanced in time or place, and when a person can be simultaneously involved in several simultaneous non-symmetrical interactions. The paper considers whether the concept of the practice can replace Goffman’s situation. A practice theory approach tries to avoid generalising about mobile phone use in general, instead relating behaviour to salient practices, e.g. leisure, travel, work.