This thesis explores the use of the cell phone among US teens. The research was conducted in a rural east Texas town, with two student groups, 13-14 year-olds (middle school) and 18-20 year-olds (university), between 2007 and 2008, at a time when 2G cell phones were the norm. The analysis adopts and applies the domestication framework developed by Silverstone and Hirsch (1992) within work on the social shaping of technology (Haddon, 2004; Berker, 2006; Selwyn, 2012), and points to some limitations and areas for further development within this approach. The thesis explores the extent to which teens use of the cell phone serves as a vehicle for self-expression and collective identity. It considers their emotional investment and connection with the cell phone as an extension of the self ; as well as its role as a focus for, and a means of, regulation of young people both by adults and by peers. The analysis suggests that, far from being a matter of free choice and autonomy, teens use of cell phones may be restricted by cost (of texting, calling plan), features (of particular phones), and by parental or institutional rules about how, where and when cell phones may be used. Use may also be regulated by peers in terms of when and with whom to talk or text, enabling peer groups to exclude others. Through the lens of the domestication framework this thesis concludes that teens in this context are not an homogenous group: the ways they incorporate the cell phone into their everyday lives may differ to a degree, not least as a result of parental and institutional regulation. The research does, however, identify broad areas of consensus among teens, partly linked to the geographical and socio-economic context of the participants, which provides a useful comparison with research undertaken on teens elsewhere in the world.

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In the early twenty first century, the mobile phone plays an integral role in helping young people shape their identity and achieve social goals. This means that designers of mobile phones are not only creating an artefact that will have a functional purpose for the end user, but one that will be saturated with cultural meanings. In response, the research conducted for this thesis aims to investigate the use of mobile phones in youth cultures so the social and cultural intricacies of interactions can be understood. Consistent with a user centred design approach, the insights from the user study are applied to the development of new technology. The result is the development of The Swarm; a mobile phone prototype that meets the specific social and cultural needs of the young users in the study. Integral to this is the development of a methodological approach that embeds cultural theory within Human Computer Interaction and more specifically, the user centred design process.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-95).

Thesis (M.Comp.) -- Unitec New Zealand, 2009. / "Shanthi V. Ravidchandran"--CODA version of author's name. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-176).