Consuming apps: The Australian woman’s slow appetite for apps

Abstract

This article explores the domestication of mobile technologies by women and how their traditionally slow adoption of new technologies is being mirrored through their adoption of smart-phone applications. Building on existing gender and mobile communications literature, this paper provides a needed overview of how women are strategically deploying the use of 'apps' on their smart phones in both 'fun' and 'useful' ways. Two groups are analysed in this article. The first comprises women who only use a single Internet connection, identified as 'single connectors'. This group is contrasted with a second group who use multiple Internet connections, identified as 'triple connectors'. In this article we playfully name the social seeking Triple Connectors Social Consumers and the Mobile Internet Single Connectors have been identified as Information Seeking Consumers. 'Social networking' was identified as a 'fun' app rather than a 'useful' app by both groups of female connectors: what does this say about women and their definitions of leisure? Are women still viewing networking as part of their commitment to emotional labour rather than something that is 'useful'?