Cross-Directional Hybrid Space: A Non-Locative Approach to Mobile Social Media Studies

Abstract

The article revisits the theory of hybrid space and looks more closely at the process of integration of physical and virtual spaces. It argues that the formation of hybrid space is not unidirectional but cross-directional. It also aims to address some of the concerns raised by Humphreys about how studies on mobile social networks have mainly been location-based, while increasingly, the use of socializing apps is non-locative. This concern is addressed primarily by offering a non-location-based approach to study mobile spatiality and sociality. This approach involves studying spatial integration afforded by smartphone chat apps with their “ubiquitous connectivity, portability, and fluidity.” While content analysis showed that cross-directional hybrid space exists and that the elements from the physical space migrate to the virtual space, the use of space-event text matrix further helped in unraveling the nature of cross-directionality more closely.