Mobile Media as a Political Institution in Asia: Preliminary Evidence from Empirical Research 2000–2015

Abstract

Analyzing articles from a dozen leading academic journals in the field published between 2000 and 2015, this chapter assesses twenty-first century mobile communication research on Asia to trace the evolutionary trajectory of mobile phones from a technological device and tool of social interaction, and then to a global information and news platform. Results show that mobile media research on Asia has corresponded to the technological evolution, from which mobile media are examined as an institution that draws together large publics for purposes of civic engagement and political action. The mobile phone has become a pocket-sized political tool. Moreover, evidence analyzed from empirical research on Asian countries reveals the strong possibility of mobile media as a persisting civic and political institution in both democratic and non-democratic societies.