[Air-l] Internet = toaster = habitual use

[Pille Vengerfeldt]

Hi all,

I agree with Denis here about the interesting points and I would like to 
take this a bit further. 

Habituation process or embeding the technology/technology application to 
your everyday life can also be described with R. Silverstone's 
domestication of technology theories, as he sees as the result of the 
successful domestication of the artefact to be invisibility. It would be 
very interesting to broaden this notion of domestication also to the 
technological applications of for what we use the thechnology (like 
e-mail).

But coming from somewhat younger genereation, who has had Internet in her
life more than one third of it, I have a question about the uses and
gratifications part. Why rule that out? why think that if a technological
application becomes habitual in its use, that then we have no use and/or
gratification to it? Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me, that
technology can become habitual only if we find the appropriate uses and
gratifications to it? and Playing along with ideas on Bourdieu, different
logic of practices makes uses and gratifications (and therefore
domestication) easier for some people rather than others.

It is very interesting thread for me as I try, in my research, to
doexactly the thing - look at what kind of people, with what kind of
cultural, economic and social capital, use and gratify interent in which
ways. As I really feel that it is very important to openly start avoiding
notion of singular internet use and start looking through prisms of 
different types of uses and users and gratifications. 

I hope some of this interesting discussion gets me further on this road. 

Pille Vengerfeldt

PhD studnet in University of Tartu,
Marie Curie Fellow in Dublin City University