“We release them little by little”: maturation and gender identity as seen in the use of mobile telephony

Author

Ling, Richard

Author_Institution

R&D, Telenor, Kjeller, Norway

fYear

1999

fDate

29-31 Jul 1999

Firstpage

289

Abstract

Summary form only given, as follows. This paper examines the social meaning behind the adoption of mobile telephones by teenagers in Norway. Through this adoption process, one can see the way in which youths are developing their adult identity as well as their gendered identity. The primary database used in this analysis is from two telephone questionnaires of Norwegian youths aged 13 to 20, carried out in October and December 1998. A total of 2007 interviews are included. The survey instrument covered teens´ ownership of mobile telephones, payment forms and the use of mobile telephones to send and receive Short Message System (SMS) text messages. In addition, the analysis draws on a survey of 1001 Norwegian parents and ethnographic interviews of 12 families

Keywords

cellular radio; gender issues; socio-economic effects; telephone sets; Norway; Norwegian parents; Norwegian youths; SMS text messages; Short Message System; adult identity; ethnographic interviews; families; gender identity; maturation; mobile telephone adoption; mobile telephone ownership; mobile telephony; payment forms; social meaning; survey; teenagers; telephone questionnaires; Aging; Databases; Instruments; Message systems; Research and development; Telephony;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Technology and Society, 1999. Women and Technology: Historical, Societal, and Professional Perspectives. Proceedings. 1999 International Symposium on

Conference_Location

New Brunswick, NJ

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5617-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISTAS.1999.787348

Filename

787348