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Abstract
This paper tells the story of Mpho to illustrate how consumer technology may be reframed and repurposed to suit an unintended social and cultural context. MPho, who is deaf, applied mobile technology to mediate social interactions in a new social context. The study applies symbolic interactionism and highlights how Deaf people assign meaning to technology through social interaction. The premises are that Deaf people adopt technology when other modes of communication are not effective, that technology as a mediator results in alternative relationship types, and that the increased and novel uses of technology provide opportunities for adoption as alternatives to traditional means of communication. This study demonstrates how readily available consumer electronics and service-based computing can assist Deaf people to function in contemporary social contexts.
Recommended Citation
Litchfield, Alan, "Technology as a mediator in the social context: The reframing of mobile technology in Deaf culture" (2020). AMCIS 2020 Proceedings. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2020/philosophical_is/philosophical_is/1
Technology as a mediator in the social context: The reframing of mobile technology in Deaf culture
This paper tells the story of Mpho to illustrate how consumer technology may be reframed and repurposed to suit an unintended social and cultural context. MPho, who is deaf, applied mobile technology to mediate social interactions in a new social context. The study applies symbolic interactionism and highlights how Deaf people assign meaning to technology through social interaction. The premises are that Deaf people adopt technology when other modes of communication are not effective, that technology as a mediator results in alternative relationship types, and that the increased and novel uses of technology provide opportunities for adoption as alternatives to traditional means of communication. This study demonstrates how readily available consumer electronics and service-based computing can assist Deaf people to function in contemporary social contexts.
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