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New Media & Society
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Untangling the technology cluster: mobile telephony, internet use and the location of social ties

Radhamany Sooryamoorthy

University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, sooryamoorthyr{at}ukzn.ac.za

B. Paige Miller

Louisiana State University, USA

Wesley Shrum

Louisiana State University, USA

Among the communication technologies introduced in the developing world during the past century, none has grown more rapidly than mobile telephony.Yet the impact of mobile phone use on social relationships has received limited systematic study. This article examines the factors associated with mobile phone usage in the south Indian state of Kerala and the social structural consequences of such usage, particularly the composition and location of the social ties maintained through mobile technologies. Bivariate analysis of mobile phone usage and network composition shows that frequent users have fewer local ties and more external ties than non-frequent users. However, these effects are due largely to the association of email and mobile phone use. The article shows that internet use increases, while mobile phone use decreases the geographical diversity of social ties. The implication is that mobile telephony and internet technologies may have different consequences for the globalization process.

Key Words: cellphone • email • ICTs • India • internet • Kerala • mobile phone • social networks

New Media & Society, Vol. 10, No. 5, 729-749 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1461444808094354
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