#mobile media

[archiveofaffinities]

Dan Lohaus, TV Truck, Brooklyn, New York

[sarahkhoojijean]

Blogpost 3: Mobile Media (Sarah Khoo)

In this reading, Anderson, Ito and Okabe (2017) explore how mobile media has shaped and transformed the everyday life of people living in urban spaces. Through their research, they focused on how people used these mobile media objects to interact with the environment around them, particularly the public spaces they are in and public infrastructure. These mobile objects were not exclusive to interpersonal communication technologies, and included other portable objects such as books and personal data assistants (eg. identity cards). Okabe et al. looked at how people were present with mobile media in urban spaces and categorized them into 3 parts: Cocooning, Camping and Footprinting. Firstly,  Cocooning was described to be the practice of using our mobile devices to preoccupy ourselves while in a public space, so as to maintain their personal space. Next, Camping refers to the a temporal yet prolonged period of stay, where an individual intentionally settles down in a public space, appropriating the space. Finally, Footprinting focuses on the portable devices people carry around, mediating and personalizing people's relationships to various establishments in urban space. The authors expanded on how the use of mobile media has become so prevalent in our everyday lives, especially for those with urban lifestyles. This has led me to ponder about how important the smartphone has become to my everyday life. I have become so desperately dependent on my mobile phone that losing my phone would feel so helpless, as if my entire self has been robbed from me.

Smartphones have transcended its original purpose of allowing users to communicate with others, transforming into a device that can practically do anything, at any time. From investing in stock to paying for a pack of chicken rice at the hawker center. Playing mahjong with friends on the go, to checking when the next bus is arriving. You could literally do all four things simultaneously too. It is incredible how easy the smartphone has made it for people to shift our attention from one thing to the next, making accessibility and productivity so simple. By having access to the internet, people are connected to anything and everything that is available, be it through mobile applications or websites. Consequently, I find that the phone is the prime example for all three categories of mobile media presence in my own everyday life, and thus fully agree with Okabe et al.'s points.

My phone is my primary form of mobile media that I use to "cocoon" myself in any public space. It is second nature for me to put on my earphones, connect them to my phone and play my go-to Spotify playlist every time I am commuting alone. Any idle moment is filled with me scrolling through Instagram or watching Netflix or TikTok. Having my earphones on allows me to block out the surrounding sounds, enabling me to be blissfully unaware of the people around me and humdrum of public transport. My phone keeps my attention occupied, and I feel significantly less tense as compared to when I don't have my phone for company, often looking anywhere just to avoid making eye contact with others, with fear of starting up a conversation with a stranger that would leave me feeling awkward and uncomfortable. In this instance, I am just passing through the public space, with no intention of prolonging my stay. Therefore, my phone allows me to keep to my personal bubble and I do my best to mind my own business. I occasionally get so caught up on my phone that I would even miss my stop, resulting in me having to do the walk of shame of alighting at the MRT next stop and awkwardly crossing to the other side of the platform to wait for the next train. Lucky no one's paying attention to me, and are usually on their phones as well.

I find that my phone is also effective as a device that would allow me to "camp" in a public area. It works just as well as any laptop or tablet when it comes to studying as well. I would often sit in public spaces such as libraries or cafes to catch up on recorded lectures, watch movies or even have Zoom meetings with my friends. My phone acts as the personal belonging that I place to 'put my roots down', claiming the space for myself and settling down, readying myself to spend a significant amount of time in that public space. As I purposefully plan my day such that I set time aside to relax at the nearby park to watch the new episode of attack on titans, I am exhibiting the concept of "encampment". Thus, I believe that my phone plays an active role in facilitating "camping" in my day to day life.

Finally, my phone is perhaps the best example I can give with regards to "footprinting", aside from my identity and transport cards! Online banking is incredibly convenient, and an increasing number of retail shops and restaurants are accepting payment via PayNow, PayLah or Google Pay. Google Pay even offers "Cashback" if you use their service to transact money. As such, I tend to favor shops that allow me to pay through these means, inadvertently altering my behavior for my convenience. This in turn allows for mobile media to "trace" my movements and track my behavior. Furthermore, quite a few of my membership information can be found on my phone, for example the McDonald's application. The value deals that I am given through the application encourages me to frequent McDonald's, especially when I cannot decide where to eat in the moment. My phone thus serves as a medium for me to actively form interpersonal relationships with commercial establishments, which in turn allows for these establishments to track my everyday behavior.

The extent to which my smartphone assists me in my day to day life is quite extreme. I could easily say that I am overly dependent on my phone for basic needs like getting from one place to the next (MyTransport App, Maps) or even getting access to restricted places in school (going to Central Library and needing a green pass from uNivUS app). As Okabe et al. articulates the 3 main ways that we use our mobile media to interact with urban public spaces, I can fully agree with their insights on Cocooning, Camping and Footprinting.

References:

Ito, M., Okabe, D., & Anderson, K. (2017). Portable objects in three global cities: The personalization of urban places. In The Reconstruction of Space and Time (pp. 67-87). Routledge.