Rise of Nomad-ism

Description:

Wireless communications have ushered a new version of this very old idea. Nomadism is a trend that started out mainly within urban environments; augmented by the growing sophistication of mobile and network (including internet) technology, it has outgrown into a very real lifestyle and a paradigm shift hiding in plain sight. It is the permanent yet placeless connectivity to one's documents, family, professional and social network, market, entertainment etc. Nomadism implies immediacy, flexibility, facilitation and engagement, yet it does not necessarily imply migration or travel. A 'nomad' is as likely to be a teenager in Oslo, Tokyo or suburban America as a world roaming business executive. Technologically that is made feasible by wireless internet, notebooks, smart phone devices (such as Blackberry, Nokia N95 or the late iPhone), Wi-Fi hotspots, protocols such as IMAP etc.

The changes wrought by the networked environment is structural. The latter suggests that our society, media and communications are evolving from the straight road of an industrial era to the more complex and networked world that almost mimics nature. The new media environment does not necessarily revolve around content and distribution. It is more about people, connections and social networks.

This phenomenon has immense implications, reshaping work conditions, personal life, public behavior and social cohesion alike. In one sense, it transcends the late 90's 'cocooning' ebb, since most of the devices used nowadays are mobile, and network coverage is almost seamless. In work, relationships become more transactional and purpose driven, social serendipity is declining. From a sociological standpoint, it is interesting to figure out how mobile communications are changing interactions between people. Nomadism, many argue, tends to bring people who are already close, such as family members, even closer. But it may do so at the expense of their attentiveness towards strangers encountered physically (rather than virtually) in daily life.

Anthropologists and psychologists are investigating whether and how mobile and virtual interaction augments or challenges physical and offline chemistry, and whether it makes young people in particular more autonomous or more dependent. Architects, property developers and urban planners are changing their concepts about buildings and cities to accommodate the new habits of the 'nomads' that dwell in them. Activists are trying to take advantage of the ubiquity of mobile technology to manifest their causes, even as they worry about the same tools in the hands of the malicious. Linguists are arguing how mobile communication changes language itself, and thus thought.

Enablers:

1. Evolving wireless technologies [1], [2] more cell phones than fixed landlines

2. Increasing mobility [3], [4]

3. Digital savvy younger generation, increasingly involved older generations

4. Importance of individual status, family ties, and community

5. More demanding and volatile professional environment

6. Media globalization [5]

7. 'Intelligent Urbanism' [6]

8. More sophisticated while dependable and less confusing mobile devices [7]

9. Segmentation [8]

10. Increasing awareness of social problems and inequalities, growth of mobile activism [9]

11. Modified architecture of urban spaces, accommodating and further enabling this mobile technology-induced lifestyle [10]

12. Postmodernist approach to technology, society and interpersonal relations [11]

13. Mobile advertising [12]

14. Culture [13]

15. Fashion over functionality [14], [15], [16]

Inhibitors:

1. Limited connectivity in rural areas

2. Mobile device limitations [17]

3. Diffusion of work into personal and family life - margins between 'home' and 'office' are unclear [18]

4. Weakening social ties outside family-friend-colleague network [19]

5. Affordability of high-end devices, such able to yield more advanced services (such as mobile TV)

6. Fear of eavesdropping, surveillance or unauthorized access by third parties [20], [21]

7. Health risk posed by extensive use of mobile handsets [22], [23]

8. Not all workers can thrive in such a culture; Some people are dubious, or difficult to manage without face-to-face communication

9. More stress; mobility implies greater autonomy, but anybody can be reached anywhere [24]

10. Online communication is more ambiguous than offline. Expressions or body language cannot be successfully emulated

11. Older generations can be either ignorant or mistrustful towards this new technology