I think it is essential to remember that the history of personal media did not start with computer-mediated communication. Avid users of the telephone were hardly stigmatized, were they? Women chatting on the telephone were at least perceived as anything but anti-social
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My understanding is that there were actually a lot of concerns that women chattering on the telephone would lead to lesser participation in their communities/nation/etc. and that in fact the social use of the telephone was seen as a threat at the time.
yes, very much so. Check out for instance: Lasen, A. (2005). History repeating? A comparison of the launch and uses of fixed and mobile phones. In L. Hamill & A. Lasen (Eds.), Mobile World. Past, Present and Future (pp. 29-60). Springer. At the time of fixed phone invention (1880-1920) many disadvantages of the telephone were discussed. They do resemble very much recent concerns regarding computer-mediated communication or mobile communication (neglect of f2f communication, addiction, sexual solicitation / obscene contacts, crime, stress etc.). Nicola. -- http://www.nicola-doering.de/