The embedding of Mobile communication into society

Rich Ling's article talks at length about the infusion of the mobile phone into the fabric of society. 

Ling spoke of the psychological dimension of the mobile phone, as well as the rapidity by which they became mainstream. 

One key argument that is perhaps beyond the scope of Ling's paper but still very central to the reason for the infusion of the mobile phone in the very fabric of society is the present Neo-Liberal economic employment mode. The present economic model which is based upon contractual, temporary employment and gig work are all hallmarks of the neo-liberal framework.

Platforms such as TaskRabbit, and UBER, to name a few owe their success to the availability and ubiquitous of mobile devices in general and to the mobile phone in particular. It can be argued that the cell phone not only has a social dimension as in the case of Fisher's landline, a psychological dimension as in the case of Ling but also an economic dimension by enabling thousands of people to participate in the gig economy. 

The rise of internet giants such as Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon can be partly attributed to the mobile phone and the technologies that are integrated into it which makes a lot of business that flows through these companies possible.

The present surveillance apparatus that is being employed by many private companies would not have succeeded to the extent that it has without the mobile phone. 

A question that comes to my mind is whether mobile communication technologies in general or the Cell phone, in particular, have enabled the extension and preservation of the Neoliberal economic policy through the gig employment model?


Comments

  1. Anisha MistryDecember 13, 2021 at 7:33 AM

    Hi Ahmad,

    I really enjoyed your connections here. I think you are extremely correct in saying that mobile phones have become deeply intrenched within the fabric of our society. I think its very interesting that you bring up the gig economy in terms of mobile communication technologies as this is something I never really thought of. In terms of the gig economy, I think it is interesting to look at the way the the mobile device has translated the ways in which we do business. Like you mentioned, there is an economic dimension to this all. Often when we think about the mobile phone we run towards the social aspect where it has changed the way we socially interact and communicate. We often focus solely on this while there are other routes to it. In terms of economics, the mobile phone has transformed the possibilities of on the go revenue. Gig economy platforms, such as Uber, are just one type of example. We can even look to things such as trading apps that allow you to make stock trades on the go. We could even look to social media apps and their structure for advertising. Beyond the privacy aspects of this situation, the social media platforms now make a fortune off of information that users willingly give away. But this is not just about the platform itself, it is about the mobile device that tracks your every movement and listens for key words no matter where you are to sell it right back to you.

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