Approaching the Mobile Culture of East Asia

Abstract

Convergence is a term that has been gaining increasing attention across the globe. Conceptually situated between technological and socio-cultural domains – as has been intensely debated between the technological and social determinists since the birth of computer mediated communication (CMC) – mobile culture is no exception. It is powered by inter-operable and multi-functional mobile telecommunication technologies, which are also becoming increasingly high functional especially via fixed-mobile convergence, interconnecting fixed and wireless broadband networks. Wide diffusion and convergence of digital communication technologies – wired and wireless – in recent years have resulted in the emergence of two key paradigmatic convergences: between technology and sociality, and between productivity and play. I will first elucidate these convergences; I will then discuss cultural characteristics of specific East Asian cultures, focusing on South Korea, China, and Japan.