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Clayton et al. - The Digital Glimpse as imagining home.pdf (298.04 kB)

The ‘digital glimpse’ as imagining home

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posted on 2023-06-09, 09:00 authored by William Clayton, Juliet Jain, Adele Ladkin, Marina Marouda
This paper proposes the concept of the ‘digital glimpse’, which develops the existing framing of imaginative travel. Here it articulates the experiences of mobile workers digitally connecting into family life and everyday rituals when physically absent with work. The recent embedding of digital communication technologies into personal relationships and family life is reconfiguring how absence is experienced and practiced by workers on the move, and through this, new digital paradigms for life on-the-move are emerging. This paper explores how such social relationships are maintained at-a-distance through digital technology – using evidence from qualitative interviews with mobile workers and their families. Digital technology now enables expressive forms of ‘virtual travel’, including video calling, picture sharing, and instant messaging. This has implications for the ways in which families can manage the social and relational pressures of being apart. Experiences of imaginative travel created through novel media can enrich the experience and give a greater sense of connection for both those who are at home and those who are away. While technology is limited in its ability to replicate a sense of co-presence, ‘digital glimpses’ are an emergent set of sociotechnical practices that can reduce the negative impact of absence on family relationships.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Mobilities

ISSN

1745-0101

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

3

Volume

13

Page range

382-396

Department affiliated with

  • Anthropology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-11-23

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2019-03-01

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-03-01

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