As the penetration of mobile technologies continues to grow, with an estimated 4 billion subscriptions world wide, Indians are rapidly adopting and incorporating such technologies into their lives. A recent article in The New York Times, which was brought to my attention via Smart Mobs, describes how users from all levels of Indian society are using cell phones to perform a variety of tasks, from transferring money to finding jobs. But perhaps more remarkable is how Indians are using cell phones to redefine boundaries of identity, interpersonal communication, and governance.
Though finding a place in practically every level of the social strata and promoting communication with the outside world, which one would think would have some kind of leveling effect on social hierarchy, cell phones interestingly are being used as identity pieces to reinforce layers within the social strata they permeate. According to the article, social position is gleaned from the kind of phone one owns, whether large or small and how memorable one’s number is, to how one chooses to customize their phone with a particular ringtone. In this way, as the author states, the cell phone “has made itself Indian.” Or, as I prefer, Indians have made the cell phone Indian.
Areas where cell phones do seem to be leveling the playing field, however, are domestic life and governance. Similar to how Japanese youth are using text messaging to bypass certain household power dynamics by communicating out of view of their parents, Indians are using cell phones to do much the same thing. And on a more macroscopic level, by enabling always-on participation, cell phones are giving citizens all the more reason to pay attention to and voice their opinions on political decisions. A number of groups are creating a variety of ways for Indians to stay connected with the decisions being made by their government through text messaging. Additionally, text messaging is also being used as a backchannel for people to communicate with reporters and newscasters. Apparently some television channels provide live feeds of viewer comments sent from their cell phones.
This example raises some very interesting questions. How are new technologies adopted and transformed in context? How will mobile technology impact cultural boundaries, like those of the family household mentioned here as well as larger cultural phenomena like India’s caste system? What is the future of e-governance and how will this affect democratic participation, in India and elsewhere? As new technologies spread that make it easier for us to communicate and exchange information, our definitions of boundaries will need to change. And since our cultures are, in many ways, defined by boundaries, this is nothing short of a revolution.
Tagged: cellphones, contextcollapse, culture, India, mobile, technology