Geolocation and Video Ethnography: Capturing Mobile Internet used by a Commuter

Abstract

The common characteristic of Information and Communication Technology is that of being highly portable. Nevertheless, the dependence on the telecommunication operator's network and current communications infrastructures exert specific constraints on the mobile Internet user. We present the results of a study of the interactional complexities of a commuter reading WAP enabled devices. The WAP user is observed ethnographically and filmed while cell phone identification periodically gives information about the interviewee's physical location, indicating where and when the usability of a WAP device becomes difficult. In which way do communication and transport infrastructures intersect and how do people negotiate this intersection?

Keywords:

• video ethnography
• geolocation
• Wap
• mobile phone

Notes

1. A similar methodology was used in a study of urban mobility and communication practices by Diminescu et al. (in press)

2. The use of camera spectacles was initiated in ergonomic research – see: Lahlou (2006, p. 209).

3. He was selected from the participants in a large longitudinal research sample where his cell phone uses was observed for several months – cf. Smoreda (2007).

4. Since our objective was not to obtain data on how he used ICT, information on this subject was kept brief.

5. We would like to thank Karine Lan Hing Ting for having raised relevant questions on the method.

6. Even if the definition of the situation (Thomas, 1923; Goffman, 1959, p. 13), and beliefs and representations that the players consider real, presents an asymmetrical relation between two interacting parties, one of whom knows the customary patterns of the place.

7. Recording of a contextual view via a camera held by the ethnographer has been ruled out here. In fact, shots taken by the researcher provide a broader view of the environmental context (Zouinar et al., 2004): this is not appropriate for our study in relation to the multimedia content received by the user's mobile.

8. ‘Our approach is informed by the perspective that the researcher is inevitably part of the social world that is being studied. […] The facility of video to record, albeit partially, a version of the research process is unique in that it enables an analysis of the contribution of that process to the production of the data. Thus, here we demonstrate and explore the possibilities of a reflexive video‐based methodology’ (Lomax & Casey, 1998, p. 7).

9. The fact that the comments are distributed in their context.