ethnography on cell phone use

As a society, cell phone usage has evolved into a norm that nearly every person practices. Coming into my research, I was skeptical of what I would discover, due to the fact that I was myself a cell phone user and I saw it everyday. In my mind, I felt that I knew anything worth knowing about cell phones and how and why people use them. However, through my observations and research, I began to notice tendencies and discovered that there was much about cell phone use that I, as well as the majority of cellphone users, never noticed or realized. I came across 2 questions, both of which I still do not have a definitive answer to, over the course of my research of the Hartwick student community. 1.) How do students use their cell phones? and 2.) Why do students use their cell phones? The answers to the questions provides cell phone companies with the basis to try to mold their culture of production.

I chose to do my observations in the school library and then the school cafeteria, sitting among my fellow students, unnoticed by those who I observed. These are two of the most occupied locations at Hartwick so it provided me with an opportunity to see different examples of my peers using their cell phones, and the reaction to this usage on those around them. Each of these locations provided different interactions with cell phones from students, as well as different reactions from the people around them. After the observation process, I chose 5 different subjects to interview over the next few weeks, adjusting my questions in order to gain more information from my subjects. I felt that it was important to have different subjects to interview each time rather than re-interviewing due to the small sample size.

There were particular instances where my observations gave me theories or assumptions of cell phone usage, but my interviews would contradict this assumption. During my time spent in the library, a girl’s phone rang loudly in the middle of a very silent library. Immediately, people shot their heads up at the girl, giving a look of disapproval or annoyance, and the girl felt compelled to walk out of the library. During the same observation period, I saw a student at a desk with his face glaring at his phone and seemingly using it by swiping with his fingers, and nobody around seemed to notice. This interaction lead me to believe that people did not mind cell phone usage by those around, but they did mind the noise pollution that is potentially associated with it. However, an interview I did on OCtober 12th, an interviewee I gave the pseudonym B made me question whether this was a valid claim. When asked “How do you feel when someone is one their phone?”, B responded “When someone is on their phone at a party I hate when they’re just glued to their phone the whole time.” B responded to the next question, “How do you feel when you hear noise from someone's phone?”, with “I’m okay with that as long as it isn’t in a social setting where people are supposed to be mingling.” Experiences like this made the process frustrating, but also interesting and insightful. While B’s response had nothing to do with being in a library, but rather at a social setting, it shows what people’s priorities are and what they think of when they think of people using cell phones.

At the same time, some of my observations were spot on and reaffirmed multiple times through interviews. When I did my observation in the commons, I sat with 9 students who are on the football team. All 9 of them had their faces glued to their phones swiping and poking, while they discuss fantasy football. It became abundantly clear to me during this observation that fantasy football, and any sports in general, was a main draw for people to use their cell phones. On OCtober 10th, a different subject with the pseudonym B responded to the question “When do you use your cell phone the most?” by saying “I use my phone the most when there are sporting events on. I am an avid gambler and my phone provides me instant access to the stats and information I need to know. The next week, an interviewee I labeled C responded to the same question by saying “I use my phone the most on Sundays to keep up with fantasy football”. Gambling and wagering on professional sports is a massive part of society and cell phones make doing so easier than ever.

These as well as other examples provided me with data which was at times contradictory and contained no pattern, and then there were cases where the interviews and the observations agreed and it was fair to make assumptions. The most consistent themes and patterns I came across were how cell phones are used, the purpose of their usage, how they affect students work, and how it is tolerated in different social settings. These themes were manifested in different ways, but ultimately came up consistently through interviews.
In terms of usage, it is a question of where, and with who a person is using their cell phone. In my example with the girl in the library who was scolded, her location played a large role in why she didn't feel comfortable using it and decided to walk out. When the interviewee B claimed he doesn’t mind noise from a cell phone, he probably did not consider how he would feel if he was in the library focusing on his work. He focused more on the fact that he doesn’t like being in social setting where everyone is glued to their phones. This brings up the concern of cell phone usage around different company. I asked the interviewees on October 5th, “Does it bother you when other people use their phone?” and both A and B responded that if they are trying to talk to someone they dislike it when people are using their phones. B from October 12th clearly shared that same sentiment. In the classroom, it is unacceptable for students to use their phones, yet B from October 5th claimed “My phone helps me with school because google gives me access to unlimited knowledge through search engines like Google.” B from October 26th claimed “The only thing about my phone I don't like is that it can get me trouble when I'm on it too much. Professors find it very disrespectful and I have been called out for using my phone in class.
The purposes that students have for using their phone was also consistent in my interviews. As I’ve already mentioned, fantasy sports and gambling is very popular, and there are various apps which you can download to make it even easier. I also found that cell phones are used for more than just simple communication. Apps such as FaceTime have connected people more than ever, and when I asked on October 26th, “How do you use your phone throughout the day?” B responded “ I use my phone to talk to my girlfriend throughout the day. We do not live close to each other and texting, calling and Facetiming throughout the day gives us an opportunity to stay close with each other.” The cell phone provides this interviewee and his girlfriend the opportunity to stay connected enough to maintain a relationship. People also use their phones in order to gain quick access to all information, most commonly through Google. A from october 26th claimed “I use my phone to google something everyday.” C from October 12th credited cell phones with providing “access to so much information” D responded in the same interview “I use my phone for my schoolwork, I actually have used it to cheat multiple times. Access to knowledge and information, whether for pleasure or for schoolwork, is a very common purpose of cell phone usage among students at Hartwick.
My ethnography gave me the realization that there are patterns in the reasons why hartwick students use their cell phones and how they use their cell phones. Whether it be to maintain a relationship, help with school work, have basic communication, gamble, or anything else there are factors which contribute to how they’re using their phone, such as location and company. The only way to find out more about the specifics of how and why people use their phones, I would need to continue to do more observations in a wider array of areas, give more total interviews, and begin to go back and re-interview when I have adjusted my questions. The best way to learn about any human behavior is to have a large number of subjects to observe and interview.