Impact of Mobile Phone on Work/Life Balance - ANU Preliminary Report

Recently released preliminary findings from an Australian National University (ANU), AMTA/ARC study has supported the belief that the mobile phone is becoming an indispensable part of everyday life for the majority of Australians.

This large quantitative research project, reporting on findings from Phase 1 of the research, is based around a questionnaire, mobile phone log and 24 hour time diary. The result is a sample size of 1358 individuals from 845 households. Of this sample, the age-group that used mobile phones the most were aged between 18-39. Can we really have a moral panic about student use of mobile technologies in secondary schools, when many of their teachers use them even more frequently?

Some other interesting findings to come out of the research, even at this early stage, have to do with the factors influencing the individual's choice of 'different communication modalities'. These include why individuals use mobile phones as opposed to landlines, and why people send text messages instead of making a phone call.

When choosing a mobile phone over a landline, 'convenience' is the major influence, but when choosing and landline over a mobile, the major factor is 'cost' (Wajcman, et.al., 2007, 11). Making decisions between texting or calling are also related to financial, contextual, as well as intra- and interpersonal dimensions:

"The major reasons for sending text rather phoning someone were convenience, consideration for the other person's situation, and cost. Convenience is also an important consideration when deciding to use the mobile to phone someone rather than sending a text but the main reason is how important or time critical the topic is. " (11)

It is refreshing to see some research into the effect of contextual factors on the modalities of contextual practices.

There was also some interesting preliminary findings on how people use their mobile technologies, focusing on what features they use. The vast majority of uses were for talking and texting, though there was still other uses emerging around using the visual (photos), voting, Internet and music functions of phones (around 20% each). It would be further interesting to see how contextual factors (such as those for choices between landlines, mobiles and texting) influence choices around these other modes of semiotic engagement.

This research is laying important new ground in scholarship about mobile technologies and their effects on the everyday social lives of Australians. It provides a statistical backdrop for more detailed ethnographic or case-study based investigations that can flesh out the lived experiences of people as expressed in the findings of this research.

I will remain interested in how this research progresses, it's further findings and how they may tie in with and inform my own studies.

The full preliminary report is available through the ANU website at the following URL:

http://polsc.anu.edu.au/staff/wajcman/pubs/Report_on_Mobiles_and_Work_Life_Balance_June_07.pdf

References

Wajcman, J., Bittman, M., Jones, P., Johnstone, L. & Brown, J. (2007). The Impact of the Mobile Phone on Work/Life Balance: Preliminary Report. Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association and Australia National University. Retrieved on 17 July, 2007 from: http://polsc.anu.edu.au/staff/wajcman/pubs/Report_on_Mobiles_and_Work_Life_Balance_June_07.pdf

Walliker, A. (July 17, 2007). Mobiles change world. Herald Sun, p.7.

The Loaded Decision of Coverage

I find myself once again, and quite unintentionally, caught up in the maelstrom of mobile phone selection. I received a phone call from my mobile communications service provider - who shall remain nameless - informing me that because I had been with them for so long (at least 7 years), they would be rewarding me: free credit on my next recharge (I still use pre-pay) and a free, new handset. I could even get a free 3G handset!

Now, after the fuzzy feeling of being appreciated by some faceless corporation wore off, I began to once again appreciate the complexity and difficulty in selecting a mobile phone. I had forgotten this area of complexity. It must appear that much more difficult in the US, where phone service provider choice can in some ways be even more determining of the people and technologies you have access to. I had been going along with the assumption that a lot of people had mobile phones which they simply used, and in such exercised literacy skills. I had overlooked the intricate set of negotiations and understandings involved in the consumer's engagement with the market in selecting a mobile phone and a service provider; along with the inherently political nature of this engagement. In essence, choosing a mobile phone - such a ubiquitous and important part of contemporary everyday life for many people - is no simple task in contemporary Australia.

My situation is additionally, not as complex as most in that I am sticking with the same service provider (I am getting sick of this term! - what others can I use?) as they're the ones giving me the new mobile phone! Therefore I am really choosing between different model mobile phones (an easy task of choosing what you like the most - I like flip-phones), but more importantly, whether to choose a 3G model, and joint the 'Third Generation' network. This is the more complicated decision, as the network you choose, determines the coverage that you receive.

Mobile phone coverage was a contentious issue of debate during the roll-out of mobile phones into popular Australian culture during the 1990s. This was especially evident in a binary discourse that emerged regarding equality of access between urban/rural Australians, a binary that still exists to some extent. You can still travel through many areas of rural Australia and, depending on your coverage provider, may find yourself out of 'contact'. This situation is improving continually, though still exists. I know that my own provider drops out of coverage between towns in Northern Victoria. This is even more evident with the 3G network, which is not rolled out and available through most of rural Australia. If I make the decision to buy a 3G phone, to learn about all these new features available, then I forgoe access to that whenever I got to rural areas to visit family and friends, or for work of course.

Third Generation Networks have expanded recently with Telstra (the largest provider in Australia) launching it's 'NextGen' Network. This is a third generation model, which builds on Telstra having the most extensive coverage in Australia. It will be interesting to see if this allows for the expansion of other 3G networks provided by other corporations. If so, my decision of whether to choose a 3G phone would not necessarily limit my access in rural areas. But then again, there are still areas that don't have any digital coverage! We've all seen the skit on various television shows and movies of someone moving their mobile phone about in order to find better coverage; in rural Australia finding better coverage may generally involved a more extensive drive in the car.

The difficulties of roaming between different countries is of course even more pronounced and plagued with the difficulties of traversing different networks (unless your provider has a form of 'roaming' which is covered).

I was quite comfortable with my 2-year-old mobile phone. Sure, I haven't figured out all the features and how to access everything available with it yet, indeed, I don't use most of the features, but the offer of a new, free handset is always a temptation for one raised in consumer culture. One phone call has once again set my mind off into that labyrinth of deals and contracts and features and coverage and all the rest of that nonsense, which in some ways form legally binding contracts. There are regular media stories of young people (and wider-people generally) falling victim to the financial dragon of mobile phone contracts, or developing 'negative social habits' as a result of phone use (but these are issues for discussion at another time).

Choosing a mobile phone is a social task fraught with complexity and difficulty. Despite the image portrayed in marketing of easy of choice and easy of access, buying such a constantly used and financially alive device, is not the same as buying shoes. Like everyone else, I will continue to navigate my way through this briar-patch of possibilities and the restrictions and possibilities they allow for my communicative practices.