Mobile technology: private talk, public life and the shrinking commons.

"In the field of Communication studies, mobile technology is still a relatively new area of study with scholarly research just beginning to address this rapidly growing field. Because this technology is continually evolving, as is the way in which people are starting to use it, much of the research remains inconclusive as to any predictions of how this technology will to be used. In the meantime, much has been made about mobile technology's potential to change the way we interact and communicate with one another, and how these changes might have the ability to alter social relations forever. What I would like to examine are the locations where mobile technology and social relations intersect, and the manner in which the two inform each other. More specifically, I would like to focus on the areas where mobile technologies (cell phones, Blackberries, text messaging) affect social life, such as collective behaviour, political action, as well as public sphere and public space issues. Much has been made about the supposed benefits of technology and its potential to collectivize, politicize and, above all, mobilize our society. However, is this constant telephony really living up to this potential? In an environment already saturated with communication technology, billion-dollar advertising expenditures and media multinationals, will the addition of new technologies benefit those seldom heard or only add to the white noise?"--Pages 2-3.