The Meaning of Home in the Context of Digitization, Mobilization and Mediatization

Arguing for the lasting relevance of the home as meaning-giving sphere of media communications does not seem very popular these days. With the emergence, pervasion and increased centrality of online media and mobile technologies, the research focus of many communication scholars has been aimed at mobility rather than locality, and on networks rather than places. This is mainly due to the liberation of media from their physical restrictions that has characterized the better part of media innovations in the last two decades. As a consequence, the use of media technologies is no longer bound to well-defined settings, as was common for most of the last century when the television had its permanent place in the centre of the living room, and the telephone was considered perfectly placed in the entrance hall. Nowadays, media communications of all different kinds have shifted into the public sphere, permeating a plethora of places and cultural spaces. By using devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs, people can connect to their friends and families and have access to media content and online services from anywhere in the world. This has brought about several changes for the perception and understanding of the outside world which have increasingly become subject to negotiations and customizations by the media users. It is often overlooked, however, that significant changes are also taking effect within the home.