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This is a really interesting thread. Ulla I like your explication
of the habituation and ICTs. I agree that we unconsciously incorporate
technology into our daily routines as a matter of habit. I would
add that, generally speaking, we are encouraged to do to - to not look
too critically at the technologies that surround us. I have encountered
this in Greg Wise's book about Technology and Social Space, as well as
an article he wrote published in Cultural Studies (see below for citations).
In my own research I connect this idea of habituation with Bourdieu's notion
of habitus (and Dewey's ideas on habit and education, for good measure).
I term this the habit@online, and try to use it to describe the general
enculturation and habituation processes you talk about:
<p>"The habit@online is the digital habitus: the ways in which people are
encouraged to use technology, based on informal learning structures and
the formation of habits
<br>associated with technology use. In the habit@online, communication
habits are socially constructed, mediated, and transmitted through learned
behaviour and emulation." [<a href="http://individual.utoronto.ca/luke/articles/habitat/Luke_habitatonline.pdf">reference</a>]
<p>Also, Denise's point about "a kind of invisibility (habituation) - which
could tie back into the story of the telephone? as it became a habitual
technology" is also interesting. I think we are very nearly at the
point of the computer becoming transparent (until such time as they crash,
anyway).
<p>I would be interested to hear thoughts on how we can cultuivate the
kind of critical awareness we are speaking around here, in terms of circumventing
habituation (though this is at least partially necessary). At what point
do we encourage/discourage habituation? I see part of habituation
as being necessary when we are dealing with the amelioration of digital
divides and the necessaity to engage people with ICT who might not otherwise
be inclined or able to do so. But, as Wise (and Dewey) point out,
the danger is when habits slip from active, critical view. This slippage
can be easy when we are encouraged to enter the habitué of the wired
world and take up the technologies that promise us convenience. If convenience
is our dieu du jour, then it is a sometimes faustian bargain we settle
on, I think.
<p>Up until now I have looked at the habit@online with a critical eye towards
discourses of desire and affect that congrue with current technologies
(web portals, mobile phones). But now I am contrasting this with
the community construction of online portals, and the necessity to encourage,
as I said, those in using ICT as we try and work towards a broader conception
of digital literacy. Specifically I am looking at the enculturation
processes invovled in constructing a community learning network, and how
a community organization is seeking to encourage its constiuents to use
ICT, and what tools they are making available for them (a portal - hence
my contrast with the commercial portal).
<p>Robert
<br>
<p>If anyone is interested, I have a couple of articles here:
<br><a href="http://individual.utoronto.ca/luke/articles/habitat/Luke_habitatonline.pdf">habit@online:
web portals as purchasing ideology</a> (a version of which was delivered
at AoIR 2.0)
<br><a href="http://individual.utoronto.ca/luke/articles/phoneur/Luke_The_Phoneur.pdf">The
Phoneur: Mobile Commerce and the Digital Pedagogies of the Wireless Web</a>
<br>You can also view the "Coles Notes" version here: "Dial In, Sell Out"
<A HREF="http://www.shift.com/content/9.2/84/1.html">http://www.shift.com/content/9.2/84/1.html</A>
<br><a href="http://individual.utoronto.ca/luke/articles/signal/index.htm">Signal
Event Context: Trace Technologies of the habit@online</a>
<br>(they're all bits of my thesis - I would welcome any criticisms)
<br>
<p>Wise, J. M. 1997. Exploring technology and social space. London and
New Delhi: Sage.
<br>Wise, J. M. 2000. Home: Territory and identity. Cultural Studies 142:
295-310.
<br>
<p>Ulla Bunz wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><quote who="jeremy hunsinger">
<br>> and i think many people have begun to think of
<br>> the personal computer as an appliance like the toaster....
<br>>
<p>As an aside to Jeremy's original inquiry, the above statement reminds
me of
<br>something I just heard at the International Communication Association
and
<br>thought quite interesting. Robert Larose was making the argument that
much of
<br>our Internet/technology use is habitual, rather than guided by active
choice
<br>following uses and gratifications theory (a mass communication theory
many of
<br>you are probably familiar with). Larose was saying that, i.e., we don't
<br>actually choose consciously to check our email in the morning, it's
just
<br>something that we do automatically because it's part of our routine
- like
<br>popping two slices of toast into the toaster in the morning (unless
you're the
<br>corn flakes kind of person, of course, but I'm sure you see the analogy
one
<br>way or the other).
<p>I think this is an interesting perspective and certainly seems true
for some
<br>of my personal Internet and technology usage. It also goes back to
the point
<br>Charles Ess brought up on this list just a short time ago when he shared
with
<br>us that his students don't really exprience the "wow" effect about
the
<br>Internet and related technology anymore. Some of the people responding
to that
<br>thread had said that it's probably because younger generations have
grown up
<br>with the Internet and thus take it for granted. They know no different
than
<br>the Internet being part of their everday life. Introducing the word
"habit"
<br>and "habitual use" to describe some of these phenomena may be stating
the
<br>obvious, but I certainly had never heard it stated quite that openly
before
<br>and thought I'd share this with you, since Jeremy's statement reminded
me of
<br>it.
<p>Comments? Anyone else encountered this before? Are there theories in
other
<br>disciplines that address this?
<br>Ulla
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