{"product_id":"portable-communities-mary-chayko-9780791476000","title":"Portable Communities: The Social Dynamics of Online and Mobile Connectedness","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLooks at the social implications of having constant access to others through cell phones, wireless computers, and other electronic devices.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRunner-Up, 2009 Association for Humanist Sociology Book Award \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I blog, text, IM, email, and I don't like to be without my cell phone or have to shut it off-even in a theater. Let's put it this way, my 'connections' are more important than whatever I'm doing that might force me to shut my cell phone off.\" - A Member of a Portable Community\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn contemporary American life, community has become a portable phenomenon-you can \"get it to go\" wherever and whenever it is desired at the push of a button, mouse, or keyboard. In Portable Communities, sociologist Mary Chayko examines the social dynamics and implications of having access to countless others at any time. Teeming with the observations of people who blog, email, instant message, game, and chat on cell phones, wireless computers, and other portable devices, the book captures the appeal and the excitement, the challenges and the complexities, of online and mobile connectedness. Chayko considers some of the external dynamics that emerge as these communities resonate within the larger society-constant availability, social interaction that is more controlled and controllable, and new opportunities for self-expression, creativity, and even voyeurism. Internal social dynamics involving emotionality, intimacy, play, romance, and networking are also fully explored. Portable Communities provides a unique view of shifts in the social landscape and points the way toward needed social and political change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mary Chayko\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0791476006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780791476000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e State University of New York Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/23\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 318\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2009","brand":"Mary Chayko","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48448949813503,"sku":"9780791476000","price":36.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6970717d-c06c-48cd-b51f-dc664cb4f326.jpg?v=1777261310","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/portable-communities-mary-chayko-9780791476000","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}