Cutting the Cord: Social and Scholarly Revolutions as CMC Goes Mobile

Abstract

Mobile media and communication (MMC) serve as the preferred context for going online among many individuals today and the only means for others less fortunate. As computer-mediated communication (CMC) increasingly goes mobile, scholars should bear in mind the distinctive, and oftentimes disruptive, implications for everyday social life as well as research in the field. Toward that end, this article reviews select ways that MMC structures how people connect with each other and places of social activity. Synthesis of that research casts light on key developments in technology, social practice, and scholarship as CMC primarily becomes a mobile phenomenon.