64
D. van Greunen and A. Veldsman
6.4 Research Objectives
The objective of the research is to determine how Information Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to act as the driver of change without excluding human
participation. What social structural factors relate to unique patterns in youth mobile
phone usage in low-income areas faced with severe social challenges? We suggest
that certain social dynamics inherent in the institutions of family, public places and
peer relations are key factors. The youth use mobile phones because they enable new
kinds of social contact, but also because different socio-economic environments are
limited in access to adult forms of social organisation. This paper relies on ethnographic observations of members of a youth leadership academy as well as surveys
and interviews conducted with different youths representing the Northern Areas
community.
6.5 Methodology
Drawing on articles and reports by academics combined with ethnographic observations, this paper encompasses a range of disciplines including education, sociology,
culture and information technology. Whilst the paper draws upon a variety of literature, the focus is on the South African context. An exploratory case study approach
is adopted that applies interviews, surveys and direct observations as data collection
mechanisms.
6.6 Mobile Youth Culture
Adolescents and young people have been identified as the first adopters of mobile
technology with 72% of 15–24 year olds reported as having a cell phone in a national
survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2007) and the South African
Broadcast Corporation in South Africa in 2007. Prepaid mobile subscriptions are
cheap, do not require the user to have a bank account, physical or postal address
and airtime can be bought as money becomes available. Together with services such
as ‘Please Call Me’, which is a free notification service that a user can send to
another person’s phone, and ‘WhatsApp’, which allows users to exchange messages
without having to pay for SMS, made mobile phones the preferred communication
tool among the youth. Since phones are usually handed-down to the junior members
in a household, as the parents upgrade to newer and better devices, the problem of
obtaining phones does not exist.
Where adults tend to have more conservative uses for mobile phones, young people
find mobile phones quite liberating as it allows them access to just about anything
they are interested in, anywhere, any time. To the youth today, mobile phones have
D. van Greunen and A. Veldsman
6.4 Research Objectives
The objective of the research is to determine how Information Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to act as the driver of change without excluding human
participation. What social structural factors relate to unique patterns in youth mobile
phone usage in low-income areas faced with severe social challenges? We suggest
that certain social dynamics inherent in the institutions of family, public places and
peer relations are key factors. The youth use mobile phones because they enable new
kinds of social contact, but also because different socio-economic environments are
limited in access to adult forms of social organisation. This paper relies on ethnographic observations of members of a youth leadership academy as well as surveys
and interviews conducted with different youths representing the Northern Areas
community.
6.5 Methodology
Drawing on articles and reports by academics combined with ethnographic observations, this paper encompasses a range of disciplines including education, sociology,
culture and information technology. Whilst the paper draws upon a variety of literature, the focus is on the South African context. An exploratory case study approach
is adopted that applies interviews, surveys and direct observations as data collection
mechanisms.
6.6 Mobile Youth Culture
Adolescents and young people have been identified as the first adopters of mobile
technology with 72% of 15–24 year olds reported as having a cell phone in a national
survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2007) and the South African
Broadcast Corporation in South Africa in 2007. Prepaid mobile subscriptions are
cheap, do not require the user to have a bank account, physical or postal address
and airtime can be bought as money becomes available. Together with services such
as ‘Please Call Me’, which is a free notification service that a user can send to
another person’s phone, and ‘WhatsApp’, which allows users to exchange messages
without having to pay for SMS, made mobile phones the preferred communication
tool among the youth. Since phones are usually handed-down to the junior members
in a household, as the parents upgrade to newer and better devices, the problem of
obtaining phones does not exist.
Where adults tend to have more conservative uses for mobile phones, young people
find mobile phones quite liberating as it allows them access to just about anything
they are interested in, anywhere, any time. To the youth today, mobile phones have