The social juxtaposition of mobile telephone conversations and public spaces

This paper examines the use of mobile telephony in public spaces. It looks into the issue of how and why mobile telephony is seen as being disturbing. The two major issues are first, the way in which the device disturbs the web of front and back channel interactions found in a social setting and second the difficulties of managing issues surrounding eavesdropping and courtesy. The paper bases its findings on direct observation of mobile users in their natural environment. The paper finds that mobile telephony in public spaces contradicts the taken for granted notions of public behavior. Beyond this, the paper concludes with a short discussion regarding the potential of the mobile telephone to contribute to or detract from the general development of social capital.