Non-communicative teenagers are a thing of the past thanks to the mobile ‘phone according to new research carried out by the Digital World Research Centre. The DWRC study found that mobile ‘phones enhance and invigorate teenagers’ social learning skills and communication abilities. Teenagers’ lives revolve around mobile ‘phones and a highly developed sub-culture exists that shapes the way they behave and interact. This has important implications for the design of future mobile technologies.
Mobile ‘phones are not just used by teenagers for chatting or even texting – they have other evolved uses. For example, sharing mobile ‘phones helps to consolidate friendships and relationships of trust; showing messages displayed to friends nearby forms topics of conversation and the ‘phone can also be used to demonstrate rivalry and power e.g. to tease boyfriends/girlfriends by hanging up on calls.
The study took place in a sixth-form college over a ten-week period and sociologists from the DWRC, observed mobile ‘phone usage by students between the ages of 16 to 19 years, mainly during break times in the canteen and outside of the school premises. This research formed one element of a larger three year study – known as STEMPEC (Socio-Technical Shaping of Multimedia Personal Communications) - looking into how users and industry shape mobile futures. The study investigated use of WAP phones, use of mobiles in public spaces as well as the sociology of mobiles. The STEMPEC study was sponsored by the DTI, the DWRC and the mobile operator partners – Vodafone, One2One, Orange, BT Cellnet (02) and Granada Media.
Professor Richard Harper, Director of DWRC and co-author of the report, commented: "We found that young people use text messages and mobile ‘phones as forms of gifts which have special meanings. The performance of gift-giving was found to be ritualised. You send me a message, I reply, you reply again and so forth or you borrow my ‘phone today and I borrow yours tomorrow or I pay you back by buying ‘phone credits. This observed behaviour is now an inherent part of teenage life and forms the basis of their social relationships." Richard Harper continued, "Based on our findings, it was not surprising to hear about those teenagers who did not share their ‘phones or who did not reply to messages were left feeling socially isolated by their peers."
One of the common examples of what the research defined as the ‘ritualised’ form of mobile ‘phone use was the regular ‘goodnight’ text messaging between boyfriends and girlfriends. When one of them texts at bedtime there is a moral obligation to reply otherwise you are criticised for being insensitive. Also between friends, texting ‘goodnight’ and then waiting for the other person to reply. Often there can be a real flurry of message exchanges, as neither party wants to stop for fear of being seen as weakening. Indeed, as reported by the researchers, this constant messaging spills over into the teenager’s home life where they can retreat into a ‘microworld’ and carry on their social life to the exclusion of the rest of the family.
The study also highlighted that mobile ‘phones were used to initiate and stimulate conversations. When students were sitting together in the canteen, their mobile ‘phones were placed on the table and they watched and discussed each other’s displays as messages arrived. Some of these messages were even forwarded between teenagers sitting next to each other! Says Professor Richard Harper: "Students felt they had to receive and be in contact by ‘phone everyday, otherwise they felt left out".
When interviewed on the types of messages received, it emerged that there was a code of conduct for using SMS or text messaging. Writing messages in capital letters or without punctuation marks was described as ‘horrible and difficult to read’. Ending relationships via text was considered contemptible and to use texting to ask someone out was thought cowardly.
Interestingly, the study showed that voice messaging did not have the same appeal as messages could not be shared so easily or seen. As for voice calls the original function of ‘phones, they were mainly used when messages were important or when the caller was trying to be assertive or authoritative.
One of the unexpected aspects of the findings was the need to store personal or special text messages from boyfriends/girlfriends or close friends. As most mobile ‘phones have limited storage capacity, the teenagers interviewed suggested that mobile ‘phone manufacturers could develop memory cards to plug into ‘phones which could be stored ‘in the form of diaries.
