Smartphone and self-extension: Functionally,anthropomorphically,and ontologically extending self via the smartphone

Abstract

This paper focuses on the blurring boundary between the “human self” and the smartphone, using interviews with 60 heavy smartphone users. The interview responses reveal three types of self-extension via the smartphone—functional extension, anthropomorphic extension, and ontological extension. Smartphone users assert that their phone has become an indispensable part of their self and thus influences their identity and sense of being in both positive and negative ways.

Keywords

anthropomorphic extension extended-self thesis functional extension ontological extension smartphone technology-cultured thesis

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