Mobilising Place

Unlike many other aspects of new technology, mobile media are fundamentallyconcerned with our negotiation and engagement with space and place. It is this facet ofmobile media use that I am interested in here. In this paper, I will look at how mobiletechnologies impact on notions and experiences of place. To do this, I’m examining theliterature on mobile media; this examination forms the first part of the paper.The argument that I want to develop in this paper – as suggested by the title – is twofold:First, that how we understand and engage with place is in key respects transformed bymobile media; and secondly, at the same time, place remains an important concept – oneworth mobilising – in order to better understand everyday mobile phone use. In thesecond part of the paper, I propose an alternative conception of place that might provemore productive and better suited to the present age of mobile media.Prior to an examination of the mobile media literature, it is necessary to make a fewprefatory remarks regarding why place remains an important concept and how thisconcept is framed and understood for the purposes of this paper.2-4 July, 200