”Du gapar så högt att jag försvinner!”. Smartphones och hörlurar i Göteborgs kollektivtrafik

Abstract

In this thesis the aim is to understand more about the effect that smartphones and headphones have on our social life in our everyday commute in the Swedish city Gothenburg. Through ethnographic observations and seven interviews with day to day commuters and one tram driver, this thesis will discuss public transportations in relation to our smartphones; as a vital necessity and a natural hazard. It will also bring up the smartphones as a comfort zone, public intoxication, the need of reaching out and getting in touch and the waiting time. Discussion around if technic brings us closer together or make us lonelier is one of the keystones in this thesis. The conclusion presented that this contemporary phenomenon, about using smartphones and headphones, really do effect how people interact with each other in the public area, that is public transportation. The use of smartphones and headphones help people to shield and distant themselves from others. The concept of ‘screening off’ oneself is central to this behavior. The thesis brings both the negative and positive sides of the use of smartphones and headphones in the commute.