'Mandami un messaggio’: sulla comunicazione con i messaggi di testo come possibilità, costrizione e desiderio

Abstract

'Send me a message': on communication with text messages as possibility, constriction and desire. The responsibility for deciding if, how and when an artefact shoud be used does not fall solely on the user. A significant amount of research in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has highlighted the complex interrelationship that determines the way we use technological objects. Many elements attributable to both the "social sphere" and the "technological dimension" are responsible for the way the device is effectively used. In this article we intend to, firstly, understand the distribution scheme of responsibility proposed by the literature, in which users, technological objects and relative contexts constitute and configure practices of use. Secondly, we will try to explore a particular configuration of this scheme in which user's responsibility is greatly diminished. To illustrate and analyze the main aspects of this configuration, we will focus on the use of mobile instant messaging systems. This case study allows us to observe the ways in which smartphones, in certain contexts, impose a particular behaviour on people, reducing their responsibility in choosing the mode of use.