パーソナル・メディアの利用とコミュニケーションの態様

Abstract

In recent years, the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren has become an issue of public concern as mobile phones have become more trendy in Japan. This popularity has been greatly enhanced by the recent incorporation into cellular phones of numerous features and functions. For example, most of allow users to download images and music, and many are equipped with digital cameras. They can also be used to exchange e-mails and access the Internet. The mobile Internet is a form of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). This non-face-to-face (non-FTF) medium facilitates asynchronous communication, so messages can be sent everywhere to anybody at any time. As a consequence, both senders and receivers of messages could potentially experience anxiety vis-a-vis their personal relationships, for due to a lack of accurate, face-to-face feedback among interlocutors,inflated self-images might be built up.By examining the results of a questionnaire distributed amongst high-school students in Nagasaki Prefecture, the authors of this paper explore patterns of mobile phone usage in this population. The results of multiple factor analyses on the responses to the questionnaire suggest that styles and modes of personal communication media varied based on gender differences, personal preferences and experience. Such contrasts appeared to affect the overall media literacy of the participants, as well as the effectiveness with which they employed information technology.