Incorporation In Relation To Domestication

The notion of incorporation in relation to domestication is essential in understanding current mobile devices and phones. Incorporation is the ways in which objects, especially technologies are used in everyday life (University of Twente, 2010) and in a sense, creating a media ritual. The growing dependence we place on our mobile devices and phones ultimately results in formalised action – the regular, meaningful pattern (Couldry 2005, p. 3)– as can be seen through Nick Couldry’s assertion that, “we are only connected to people through media to create social collectives”. This can be seen through things such as the way we may check our Facebook newsfeed as soon as we wake up every morning, or using GIFs or Memes to express ourselves, portraying an instant connection with our social collectives, ultimately intertwining our public and private spheres together. It may also be suggested that Scannell’s argument that the way temporal structures of broadcasting are fundamental to how it relates to our everyday lives, may also be applied to our use of mobile devices and phones in the way that we may choose to go online during ‘prime time’, which demonstrates how we are consciously deliberate with the way we interact with the public sphere through our mobile devices and phones.

Hence, domestication is fundamental to understanding the way contemporary mobile devices and phones work in relation to the public and private sphere, as illustrated through the notion of incorporation.