ICT and social networks "Connected" social relationships

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ICT and social networks "Connected" social
relationships

• Christian Licoppe
• Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications
• christian.licoppe_at_enst.fr

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Social network of a student in Rennes
Contact diary on two weeks (from Cardon,
Grandjon, and Bergé, in press)
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Face to face géographical proximity
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Home phone family
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Mobile phone first circle of strong ties
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Sms the very closest ones
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E-mail exchanges oriented towards themes of
interest
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 Connected  presence
(Licoppe and Smoreda, 2004)

• A few close bonds that get to be experienced as a
  tight and seamless web of ftf and mediated
  interactions
• Accumulation of short calls and various forms of
  messages
• Situational boundaries get blurred
• The "prepared" visit
• Loose coordinations

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 Connected  presence and the  technologies of
message 

• The growing use of messaging technologies
• As a way to alleviate the increased pressure on
  availability that goes with  connected 
  presence
• Provides a kind of regulation for that economy of
  attention
• A growth of generalized messaging,
• 5 of mediated contacts in 1990
• Approximately 20 in 2002, (data from Perin et
  al., 2003)

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• Availability to direct communication with respect
  to using SMS or not

(Licoppe and Smoreda)

• An increased disposition to availability (to
  mobile voice calls) is reinforced or internalized
  with the use of SMS
• User behaviour and competencies cannot be
  understood with respect to a particular use of
  that device
• the analysis must take into account voice calls
  ant text messaging
• And more generally all ICT devices within the
  user's environment
• The regime of  connected  presence gets more
  entrenched and pervasive as user environments get
  more wired

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The development of preference patternsThe
example of mobile calls and SMS

• The affordances to mobile phone voice calls and
  sms use are "close" together
• Occurring on the same terminal
• Can be seen as available alternative
  communication practices
• Strategies are developped that dwell on the
  possibility either to call or send a sms
• Strained relationships
• Contrast-induced categorization of interactions
• Phone conversations as potentially intrusive,
  risky
• Conventions about
• What type of device ot communication should
  preferentially be used in a given context
• What it means for one of the participants to use
  a given type of device or communication at a
  given time
• These conventions are culturally shaped
• Mobile voice calls and text messaging in France
  and Japan (Rivière and Licoppe, 2004)
• A "wired" multi-device rationality that orient
  user behaviour in a digital world

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The end