With mobile technologies being increasingly intertwined in our daily lives, there are two major ways that mobile can blend with culture. The first is when mobile devices are used in a way that reflects pre-existing cultural practices or social patterns. This is discussed interestingly in an article by CNN on mobile etiquette across the world. The second is that use of mobile technologies, and the activities that occur on them, create new digital cultures altogether. Between online communities of interest, brand loyalty, phone decoration or customisation, texting trends, and social media use, mobile phones are in to a culture of its own.
There is a huge pool of research into this, which results in a great reading list that I will share below. Discussions around how the mobile devices can act as a part of identity, how they support the emergence of new socio-economic activities, shift definitions of what is art, allow people to sit at new intersections of culture, or even shift the way you relate to your surroundings are in abundance.
Mobile Culture Library
Bertschi, S., Glotz, P., Locke, C., & De Gruyter Open Access. (2005). Thumb culture: The meaning of mobile phones for society
Bristow, T. (2013). ‘Half tiger’: An interrogation of digital and mobile street culture and aesthetic practice in johannesburg and nairobi. Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 11(3), 221-230. doi:10.1386/tear.11.3.221_1
Chuma, W. (2014). The social meanings of mobile phones among south africa’s ‘digital natives’: A case study. Media Culture & Society, 36(3), 398-408. doi:10.1177/0163443713517482
Fitzsimmons, L., Lent, J. A., & Taylor & Francis eBooks A-Z. (2013;2012;). Asian popular culture in transition. London;New York;: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203116852
Goggin, G. (2006;2012;). Cell phone culture: Mobile technology in everyday life (1st ed.). London [England];New York, NY;: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203827062
Hjorth, L., Burgess, J., Richardson, I., & Taylor & Francis eBooks A-Z. (2012). Studying mobile media: Cultural technologies, mobile communication, and the iPhone. New York, NY: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203127711
Maltby, S., & Thornham, H. (2016). The digital mundane: Social media and the military. Media, Culture & Society, 38(8), 1153-1168. doi:10.1177/0163443716646173
Punathambekar, A., Mohan, S., University of Michigan Press eBooks Open Access, & JSTOR eBooks: Open Access. (2019). Global digital cultures: Perspectives from south asia. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. doi:10.3998/mpub.9561751
Shepherd, L. J., Hamilton, C., & Taylor & Francis eBooks A-Z. (2016;2015;). Understanding popular culture and world politics in the digital age (1st ed.). London;New York;: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315673394
Smith, P., & Lefley, C. (2016). Case study 4: Digital and mobile phone cultures. (pp. 364-378) Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315722412-28