Patrícia Dias

Social activities and mobile Internet diffusion: A search for the Holy Grail?:

Any technology adoption is shaped by a myriad of factors that sometimes conflict in their ultimate goals and outcomes. So is the case with mobile Internet (m-Internet) adoption and diffusion. This paper discusses this process from the stakeholders’ and users’ perspectives and confronts their understanding and attitudes towards this technology with three complementary theoretical models: network theory, activity theory, and the technology acceptance model (TAM).The study presents results for the use of m-Internet in a southern European country and frames those in light of the activities, here understood as effects of the network, undertaken by the users. We seek to assess whether individuals perform a different set of activities when using m-Internet and how different forms of access result in different network effects, adoption processes, and distinct forms of interaction. The depicted study involved a qualitative stage, consisting of a set of interviews to stakeholders of the mobile communications industry and a quantitative study that involved the survey of a nationally representative sample of individual users. The findings of these studies provide several contributions to the understanding of m-Internet adoption and diffusion and the role network effects play in them.

The role of parents in the engagement of young children with digital technologies: Exploring tensions between rights of access and protection, from ‘Gatekeepers’ to ‘Scaffolders’

This study investigates the role played by parents as mediators of young children’s access and engagement with digital technologies. In Belgium, Germany, Latvia and Portugal, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 families in each country, including one child between 6 and 7 years old. Our findings show that parents of young children mainly play the role of ‘gatekeepers’ when it comes to facilitating and constraining access to and use of digital technologies. Parents’ perceptions of the efficacy of digital technologies as responsible entertainment and as educational tools influence the technologies available at home and accessible to the child. These perceptions in turn impact parents’ mediation strategies with regard to children’s actual use of digital technologies, with restrictive mediation – of time and less of content – and supervision applied most. The power exerted by parents over access and use may be understood as a limitation of the children’s rights. On the other hand, parents are not always concerned with the right of protection as they believe – sometimes incorrectly – that they are in control of the content their children are exposed to.

Motivations for multi-screening: An exploratory study on motivations and gratifications:

In contemporary society, the media landscape is complex and dynamic. Smartphones and tablets are proliferating, while the TV set is being passed over by other devices as the channel for TV content. These changes have implications on user behaviour, business models, technological platforms and content development. This article explores multi-screening, an emergent practice that combines watching TV and using a mobile device in articulation, by addressing the users’ motivations to engage in such practices. Our theoretical framework presents the state of the art of research on multi-screening and debates the main issues in the field using contributions from Mobile Communication Research and Uses and Gratifications Theory. Our empirical work consists of focus group discussions with multi-screeners, exploring the goals, needs, preferences and expectations associated with these practices. Our results identify uses where the activities on the TV and the mobile device are unrelated as more common, and two main gratifications are drawn out of these practices: utilitarian (associated with making a better use of time and being effective in accomplishing tasks) and affective (related to a constant and pressing need of being up-to-date with what is going on in the world and being connected to one’s network of relationships).

Between M-Internet Users and Stakeholders: Convergence or Divergence?

Mobile phones’ sales are decreasing worldwide but smartphones sales show an exponential growth. This device results from the convergence between internet and mobile phones which support new uses other than voice communication. All these transformations have social consequences.

Young children, digital media and smart toys: How perceptions shape adoption and domestication

Abstract: Contemporary homes are filled with digital technologies, and children are exposed to them almost since birth, initiating their first digital experiences at very early ages (Chaudron et al., , Young children (0–8)). This trend is expected to become stronger, as our future has been envisioned around the concept of the IoT (Internet of Things), and the first smart toys are arriving at the homes of digitally savvy families. This study focuses on the digital practices of young children, looking particularly at smart toys, aiming to: a) explore how smart toys are being adopted by families, considering the perceptions of children and parents about drivers and barriers to adoption; and b) understand the domestication of smart toys. Our research is exploratory and builds on the theoretical framework, methodological protocols and ethical guidelines of the international projects “Young Children (0–8) and Digital Technologies” (Chaudron et al., , Chaudron et al., Young children (0–8); Dias and Brito, 2016, 2017, Criancas (0 a 8 anos)) and “Media and Social Discourses around Young Children and IoToys” (Mascheroni & Holloway, 2017). Our methodology is qualitative, based on visits to families including interviews with children and parents and participant observation. We selected a purposive sample of 21 medium‐ or high‐income and digitally savvy families in Portugal. Concerning drivers and barriers for adoption, most children identify several smart toys and express interest in having them. Parents are motivated by the amount of satisfaction that the toy will afford the children and the added‐value in terms of learning or developing skills. However, most parents prefer mechanical toys, sports or outdoors activities and the high price is an obstacle. Concerning domestication, smart toys are still scarce in homes and perceived as novelty, thus being in a very early stage of domestication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]