Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together and Tearing Us Apart - Tapa dura

-Although perspectives differ on whether the effects of mobile communication are beneficial, these essays make clear that this topic is worthy of investigation. A good addition to communication and mass media collections... Recommended.- --R. Davis, Choice -An intriguing blend of the impacts of technology on culture, -Mobile Communication- is a fine read, a core addition to any sociology and technology collections, very much recommended reading.- --Library Bookwatch "Although perspectives differ on whether the effects of mobile communication are beneficial, these essays make clear that this topic is worthy of investigation. A good addition to communication and mass media collections... Recommended." --R. Davis, Choice "An intriguing blend of the impacts of technology on culture, "Mobile Communication" is a fine read, a core addition to any sociology and technology collections, very much recommended reading." --Library Bookwatch "Although perspectives differ on whether the effects of mobile communication are beneficial, these essays make clear that this topic is worthy of investigation. A good addition to communication and mass media collections... Recommended." --R. Davis, Choice "An intriguing blend of the impacts of technology on culture, "Mobile Communication" is a fine read, a core addition to any sociology and technology collections, very much recommended reading." --Library Bookwatch "Although perspectives differ on whether the effects of mobile communication are beneficial, these essays make clear that this topic is worthy of investigation. A good addition to communication and mass media collections... Recommended." --R. Davis, CHOICE

This volume brings together scholars from around the world to consider how mobile communication is both bringing us together and destroying our sense of social cohesion. There is no question that uses of technology can lead to increased cohesion within personal communities. However, as social networks become inundated with mobile communication users, the contributors argue, they may become isolated and social division can take hold. Mobile Communication covers a wide range of topics, including the replacement of co-present interaction with mediated contact; analysis of mobile-based cohesion and gender; the role of media choice and its effect on the quality as well as quantity of social cohesion; mobile communication and communities of interest; and mobile communication, cohesion, and youth. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of mobile use and its impact on social cohesion are also considered. There are chapters on caravan couples in Australia, factory workers in China, young couples in Germany, citizens in Slovenia, and sports clubs in Ireland. There is also research on drunken calls between university students in the U.S., calls among international students in Switzerland who strive to keep in contact, and communications by immigrant women in Melbourne, Australia.