SMS Can Never Replace WhatsApp
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have had soothing effects on social relationships over the last two decades: friends and families can easily locate and socialize with one another through smartphones, mobile phones, and the internet. Considering that the smartphone and social media...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nordic Africa Research Network
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Nordic Journal of African Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.njas.fi/njas/article/view/828 |
| _version_ | 1797697124825038848 |
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| author | Primus M. Tazanu |
| author_facet | Primus M. Tazanu |
| author_sort | Primus M. Tazanu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have had soothing effects on social relationships over the last two decades: friends and families can easily locate and socialize with one another through smartphones, mobile phones, and the internet. Considering that the smartphone and social media are deeply embedded in users’ lives, how do they socialize online when the internet is disrupted? This article is theoretically informed by literature on connectivity and media infrastructure and the empirical data draws from in-depth narrative interviews, participation, and observation, looking at accounts of online sociality in a context where the government of Cameroon shut down the internet in the Anglophone part of the country in 2017. The research participants living in the non-internet space described themselves as people relegated to the margins of the modern world. Furthermore, the article reveals the ingenuity of those research participants who got online by traveling to the Francophone side of Cameroon.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:35:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d76917c5930455fbf68a7079577e9ae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1459-9465 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:35:48Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Nordic Africa Research Network |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordic Journal of African Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d76917c5930455fbf68a7079577e9ae2023-09-03T13:15:31ZengNordic Africa Research NetworkNordic Journal of African Studies1459-94652021-12-0130410.53228/njas.v30i4.828SMS Can Never Replace WhatsAppPrimus M. Tazanu0Centre of African Studies, University of Copenhagen Information and communication technologies (ICT) have had soothing effects on social relationships over the last two decades: friends and families can easily locate and socialize with one another through smartphones, mobile phones, and the internet. Considering that the smartphone and social media are deeply embedded in users’ lives, how do they socialize online when the internet is disrupted? This article is theoretically informed by literature on connectivity and media infrastructure and the empirical data draws from in-depth narrative interviews, participation, and observation, looking at accounts of online sociality in a context where the government of Cameroon shut down the internet in the Anglophone part of the country in 2017. The research participants living in the non-internet space described themselves as people relegated to the margins of the modern world. Furthermore, the article reveals the ingenuity of those research participants who got online by traveling to the Francophone side of Cameroon. https://www.njas.fi/njas/article/view/828Social MediaSmartphoneInternet DisruptionSocialityCameroon |
| spellingShingle | Primus M. Tazanu SMS Can Never Replace WhatsApp Nordic Journal of African Studies Social Media Smartphone Internet Disruption Sociality Cameroon |
| title | SMS Can Never Replace WhatsApp |
| title_full | SMS Can Never Replace WhatsApp |
| title_fullStr | SMS Can Never Replace WhatsApp |
| title_full_unstemmed | SMS Can Never Replace WhatsApp |
| title_short | SMS Can Never Replace WhatsApp |
| title_sort | sms can never replace whatsapp |
| topic | Social Media Smartphone Internet Disruption Sociality Cameroon |
| url | https://www.njas.fi/njas/article/view/828 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT primusmtazanu smscanneverreplacewhatsapp |