“We love and hate each other at the same time”: An analysis of young male practices in dynamics of sociability meadiated by smartphones

Abstract

In this article, we investigated the sociability dynamics of young people mediated by smartphones. Therefore, through an anthropological perspective of the consumption by Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwood (2004), we analyzed the consumption practices of these devices in a group of adolescents. Through an ethnographic approach, we followed, during a ten-month period, thirteen adolescents in order to investigate the influence of smartphones on their sociability dynamics. Finally, we identify some tactics (Certeau, 1998) used by these young people to work in the maintenance of the circuits of sociability inside and outside the digital sphere, mainly through two interaction dynamics: conflict and competition. Thus, we understood, by means of a gender perspective, the sociability mediated by these devices encompasses performances (Butler, 1990) of hegemonic masculinity (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2013; Almeida, 1995; Grossi, 2004; Cecchetto, 2004), such as: aggressiveness, virility and competitiveness. At the end, we conclude that the dynamics of sociability mediated by smartphones are redefined in order to attend to the interaction needs and gender affirmation of these individuals. In addition, the elements of hegemonic masculinity present in these dynamics assist in the constitution of a social hierarchy among the young participants of conflicting and competitive events.

Keywords: communication, anthropology of consumption, youths, smartphones, masculinities.