Lo smartphone alla prova della Domestication Theory

Abstract

This paper presents exploratory research, conducted at the end of 2019, on mobile phone uses in Italy. Starting from the assumption that "social life in the modern world is increasingly made up of non-direct forms of interaction" (Thompson, 1998, p. 128), the article wants to describe the modeling of relationships and interactions established by individuals through the use of smartphones, focusing the observational perspective on the home environment and on the family group. The main interest is to investigate the way in which the smartphone is integrated within the horizon of daily life and becomes part of the personal and family routine. The results of the research, although provisional and not generalizable, represent an interesting starting point for further analyzes which could, especially in light of the current pandemic scenario, discover new and interesting causal connections.