Smartphone and the changing practices of face-to-face interaction

TL;DR

This study introduces the concepts of sticky media devices and bystander inaccessibility to explain how smartphones influence face-to-face interactions, supported by ethnomethodological analysis of diverse data sources.

Contribution

It develops new theoretical concepts and combines multiple research methods to analyze the impact of smartphones on social interaction.

Findings

Smartphones can create 'sticky' situations hindering full engagement in face-to-face conversations.

Bystander inaccessibility makes it difficult to interpret smartphone users' actions.

Empirical evidence from video, role play, and quantitative data supports these phenomena.

Abstract

Smartphone use has grown rapidly, but the ways it shapes concurrent face-to-face interaction remains scarcely studied. In our research we have formulated two new concepts to depict this: 1) Sticky media device illustrates situations in which a person using a screen media device is difficult to get fully involved with ongoing face-to-face conversation. Their attention is not easily removed from the "sticky" device or returns to it quickly even if it is momentarily removed. This article adds to the theoretical underpinnings of the concept that we previously described mainly empirically. By 2) bystander inaccessibility we mean the difficulty of a bystander to a smartphone user to be aware of what kind of action the user is undertaking with the device and what the phase of the activity is. Our research is based on the theory of ethnomethodology. In addition to ethnomethodological analysis of interaction, we also apply other reseach methods. We illustrate the phenomena of sticky media device and bystander inaccessibility by analyzing 1) naturalistic video data, 2) written role playing materials and 3) quantitative data, all of which concentrate on the overlapping of smartphone use and face-to-face conversation.