Media sharing amongst teenagers is a well-observed process all across the world, our research continues this path, and in particular, our aim is to analyze media sharing and usage of African youth in townships.
The current mobile technology practices with urban teenagers living in South African Townships are heavily dictated by a lack of funding for airtime, lack of access to desktop devices, power issues and a high crime rate in the area. These shortcomings, however, do not deter mobile usage amongst these teens, but rather create a new set of practices that are very different to how people living in first world conditions make use of mobile technology. The term “mobile-centric” is often attributed to these teenagers’ living in low-income, urban areas, as a cellular phone is the primary computational device in majority of these individuals’ lives. According to the ITU, South African mobile phone use reached 92.67 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people in 2009. Our research uncovers some of these practices, in order to better understand the demographic, thus being able to create better technology.
The purpose of this blog is to highlight some of the findings I encounter throughout the year as I gain my MSC.
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