Quest for self-identity

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Description

Fuelled by the technology at hand and the post-modern culture of developed societies, people are relentlessly seeking means for self-realization, to make a difference and to communicate it; they want to make their own statement, to be heard, and each wants to matter. Our identities are not constructed and defined anymore by tradition, geography and economics. Nor is it a phenomenon exclusive in urban areas. It is especially evident among mobile phone users, and in countries which lead the drive in mobile technology, such as Finland, South Korea, Japan. Overall this has a significant impact on our perception of ourselves, also described as psychological-self determination, which is the ability to exert control over the most important aspects of one’s life.

Recent new technologies, such as computer based editing suites and high-performance digital cameras, have made enormous inroads in enabling individuals to both create and, at the same time, pervade their own media. In addition, advanced wireless networks, software and processing power mean that media can be accessed, altered and rebroadcast as easily on next-generation mobile phones as on the computers used to create them in the first place. Instant and constant flow of information makes people more perceptive of political, social and environmental changes. Mobile blogging is a logical continuation of blogging. Communication and sharing with family, friends or lovers is more frequent and immediate; and so is the emotional outcome.

Nevertheless, it has a toll on personal and interpersonal priorities. We run the risk of allowing the permanent wireless social clouds that surround us permeate our very nature, as social interactions become more mediated and derivative. At the same time people consider themselves active and communicable, they may become “atomised and individualised”: a new form of the proverbial lonely crowd. Mediated communication intervenes with co-present communication (such as a phone call during a face-to-face conversation). What's more, for some people it's unclear which comes first in order; the emotion for communication or communication in order to derive an emotion.


Enablers

  • Individual centered technology [1] and segmentation [2]
  • The effect of nomadism [3]
  • Emotional; self-esteem, insecurity, vanity, self-validation.
  • Self determination [4]
  • Mimicry, and fashion following [5]
  • Loneliness, urge for communication
  • Social networks (also available on some mobile devices), such as Facebook, Myspace, Hyves etc
  • Mobile phones as witness devices, mobile activism [6]
  • Online/ virtual communities [7], [8]
  • Mobile blogging [9]
  • Living through the information/ knowledge society [10]
  • Urban Culture [11]


Inhibitors

  • Social etiquette [12] and public annoyance
  • Possible loss of interest
  • A global market recession
  • Spread of collectivist cultures [13]
  • Growing need for discretion


Paradigms

  • Half of all mobile phone calls and texts go from any given phone to only 3 or 4 people. Half of all fit such a tight circle of the closest friends (and/or family). And better yet, by the data in the cellular network, these 4 people are within 10 kilometers of the caller. So we don't use the mobile phone to connect with many far-away friends, rather a few close friends who also are literally close to us, by proximity.
  • SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet (over 2.4 billion active users, over twice the total users of email worldwide). The fastest way to communicate ever invented by man, and also the most discrete way to communicate electronically. A service proven to be as addictive as cigarette smoking. In December 2007 the American SMS usage had reached 58% of subscribers who say they have used SMS text messaging. And already three in ten use it daily. The rest of 3.05 billion cellphone subscribers around the world exchange on average 2.8 SMS text messages every day.
  • The fashion pattern is such, especially in Japan, that new phone models are released for the Spring collection and the Fall collection, like the fashions in the apparel industry. Some women do coordinate the phone with the shoes and handbags they use that day. They wouldn't want to be seen with an old phone. For young employed adults the replacement cycle is 6 months. Fashion is a stronger motivator than features. Colour, shape, texture and packaging play a bigger role in influencing mobile purchasing decisions than the specification list. The highest margins in the handset business are achieved by devices which lag the technology curve but invest in brand partnerships and a boutique retail experience (like the case of iPhone)
  • Presence and IP-based messaging change the dynamics of mobile communication. The natural focal point for next generation user interfaces is an intelligent, presence-enabled contact list. Enhancing the information and services which can be shared through people-centric networks is the best way to encourage usage of voice, messaging and data.


Timing

  • 1989: Edward E. Sampson (1989) argues that the preoccupation with independence is harmful in that it creates racial, sexual and national divides and does not allow for observation of the self-in-other and other-in-self.'Selfhood' or complete autonomy is a common Western approach to psychology and models of self are employed constantly in areas such as psychotherapy and self help. [14]
  • 1990s: the "cocooning" effect comes along, coined by the trend forecaster Faith Popcorn. The advent of the world wide web, work at home options and home entertainment technology have given rise to this other form of social isolation. [15]

Additional Web Resources




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