Between M-Internet Users and Stakeholders: Convergence or Divergence?
Mobile phones’ sales are decreasing worldwide but smartphones sales show an exponential growth. This device results from the convergence between internet and mobile phones which support new uses other than voice communication. All these transformations ha
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Introduction and Problem Discussion
The consequences of technological mediation on human social forms of interaction, has always been one of the concerns for researchers within the field of communication and human-computer interaction (HCI). Nowadays the internet is accessible through a multiplicity of mobile devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, mp3, GPS or others. The convergence between the internet and mobile phones has resulted in a new type of devices, the so-called smartphones. Using such devices to access the internet is part of what came to be named m-internet. These new devices largely exceed the functions of a phone, blending voice communication, internet access and computer like functions. The usage of these devices and the possibility of accessing internet features “on the go” contribute to the emergence of new practices of social networking and communication, as these devices make it easier to maintain networks of relationships and continuous patterns of interaction (Dama´sio, Henriques, Botelho, & Dias, 2013; Ling, 2008). In this context, convergence can be found at three levels: between devices—the phone and other devices used to access the internet; between activities—talking and browsing; and between the local and the global through the permanent dynamic articulation of communication and coordination. Such convergence processes are in line with a techno-social process that signals the broader coming-together of technological networks that connect computers, and nowadays smartphones, and the social networks that connect human beings. Such convergence process could be broadly summarized under the “m-internet” concept. This concept is still a debated issue, far from a clear and delimited M.J. Dama´sio (*) • S. Henriques • I. Teixeira-Botelho • P. Dias CICANT-Centre for Research in Applied Communication and New Technologies, Lus ofona University, Lisbon, Portugal e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 A. Lugmayr, C. Dal Zotto (eds.), Media Convergence Handbook - Vol. 1, Media Business and Innovation, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-54484-2_19
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description. A general definition poses that m-internet concerns the use of internet on mobile devices (Gerpott, 2010; Wang & Wang, 2010). Given the too broader nature of this definition, several questions have arisen, particularly on what concerns the conceptualization and operationalization of the term. Some consider m-internet a synonymous of wireless internet that includes both going online with a laptop using a wi-fi connection or broadband card or going online via a mobile phone (Smith, 2010). For others, mobile devices are considered mobile phones, with two broad categories: smartphones and feature phones, notebooks and tablets (Townsend and Rios, 2011). Going online via wirelessly connectivity is one of the agreed features of m-internet (Wellman, Quan-Haase, Boase, & Chen, 2002), an important aspect being to perform
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