Mobile Communication Collective

wE in the mc2 bring energy to scholarship on the uses and consequences of mobile media in everyday social life. wE bridge the traditions of Political Communication and Media Psychology to study how mobile communication uniquely structures social behavior and social cognition. wE take a comparative approach to understand how different media, as well as different uses within them, shape social expectations and how people engage with each other, their communities, and the political process. For example, wE are conducting a longitudinal survey comparing nuanced uses of mobile and other media for new insights into their relative effects on cognition and behavior. The cognitive side examines differential effects on personal empathy and political perspective-taking, while the behavioral side examines reaching in to personal relationships and reaching out to engage in the civic and political domains.Although diverse in our interests and research traditions, wE all share the premise that mobile communication is uniquely meaningful in that it supports the possibility of connecting while users are physically in transition. All other forms of media, including portable devices, tether users to places with necessary infrastructure. Mobile media characteristically support the possibility of connecting between and beyond places of destination, not just in them. As a result, communication, information, and content can be weaved into the flows of everyday life moments and movements, with distinctive ramifications for society as well as the self. This is what wE study in the mc2.The Mobile Communication Collective is a dynamic network of interdisciplinary scholars and students. In addition to Professor Campbell, the present make-up includes two assistant professors in Pediatrics, three PhD students in Communication and Media, one undergraduate student in Communication and Media, and two visiting scholars from other institutions.If you are interested in more information about the Mobile Communication Collective, please contact us. wE are an inclusive network of scholars open to different research traditions, methods, and theoretical orientations. wE = mc2

Contact Information:

Faculty Coordinator: Professor Scott Campbell
Email: swcamp@umich.edu