“A gente se ama e se odeia ao mesmo tempo” uma etnografia do consumo de smartphones em circuitos de sociabilidade de jovens de camadas populares

Abstract

Through an ethnographic approach, the present dissertation sought to identify the circuits in which occur the construction and maintenance of dynamics of youthful sociability, through the practices of smartphone consumption of a group of thirteen young people. Thus, I approach these technological artifacts as a way of accessing the Internet. Such perception led me to question whether the use of these devices is in articulation with the construction of the relationship networks of the young people surveyed. In this sense, the paths of this research led me to investigate the circuits of sociability present inside and outside the digital sphere. Therefore, through the observation of the smartphone consumption practices of these young people, I was able to identify three categories: conflicts and competitions; love and sexual relationships; and recreation and work. These spheres are the stage for the execution of sociability dynamics mediated by smartphones and digital media and, especially, by social networking platforms. In this way, I realized that the exercise of these activities work in the construction and maintenance of the participants' social links. For this study, I investigated the consumption practices of smartphones through an anthropological approach (DOUGLAS and ISERWHOOD, 2002; MILLER, 1997; 2013). Futhermore, I understood digital social media through the concept of scalable sociability by Daniel Miller and coauthors (et al., 2016), who believes the level of privacy and the size of a platform interfere with how social media is used. Finally, in theoretical articulation with the analytical categories, I thought about the influence of smartphones in the construction and maintenance of sociabilities among the group of participants. At the end, I identified that the consumption practices of these devices compose a nucleus of tactics (CERTEAU, 1989) that help in the constitution and maintenance of the social links of these individuals. Besides, I have noticed some activities being permeated by elements of hegemonic masculinity which help in the conservation of a social hierarchy among young of both sexes. In short, these behaviors of masculinity express performances of aggressiveness, virility and competitiveness, manifested in the sociabilities mediated by smartphones. Finally, the consumption practices of these technological devices by the researched group are aimed at the following aspects: guarantee the sociability needs of this group of young people who are connected in the digital sphere; ensure the entertainment of these individuals; and manage the construction and maintenance of social links in the circuits of youth sociability present both in online and offline.