Traces of trust : a study of text messaging in everyday life

Abstract

Access to 'anywhere, anytime' connectivity through text messaging is now firmly entrenched in everyday life. This dissertation begins with an investigation of the interception of text messages a week before the rioting at Cronulla beach, in Sydney, during December 2005. This case study foregrounds the durability of text messaging beyond the moments of inception, transmission and reception. In this dissertation a text message is conceptualised as a trace that has a materiality, which is explored through the policing of text messaging in December 2005, and juxtaposed with how the technology is used in everyday routines. This contextual framework provides a broad spectrum to analyse the varying scales and meanings of surveillance, privacy, trust and comfort. This dissertation elaborates on Anthony Giddens' theorisation of ontological security as the continuity and stability of social and material environments (1990, 1991) by applying it to the everyday use of text messaging and a case study of the Cronulla riots. This dissertation is a qualitative study of the everyday text messaging practices and experiences of 30 participants between the ages of 18 to 40, living in Sydney. The empirical data from interviews with the participants is combined with analysis of media reportage of mobile phones, government policy, and academic research studies that consider text messaging in its political, social and cultural contexts. The dissertation concludes that text messaging is used by individuals to build flexible barriers around and within their social lives to maintain ontological security, which is fortified by the materiality of text messages.

Date of Award	2010
Original language	English