Some systematic aspects of self-initiated mobile device use in face-to-face encounters

Abstract

This contribution is interested in the interactional management of mobile phone use in face-to-face encounters. Early observational studies of mobile phone use have emphasized the tension between the participants’ presence in “public” spaces and their “private” activities on mobile phones. This assumed dichotomy and possible conflict between different communication involvements will be revisited by using a conversation analytic approach to mobile phone use in video recorded everyday encounters among friends and family members. Three examples of self-initiated text messaging or calling will illustrate how and on which sequential (or other interactional) grounds participants frame their mobile phone use for co-present others. More specifically, the analysis will discuss how participants format and respond to announcement sequences or their absence, and how they can orient to the phone users’ accountability.