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In the first lines of Howard Rheingold’s seminal book on pervasive computing, Smart Mobs, he notes an observation he had in Japan that changed the way he thought about mobile technologies: “The first signs of the next shift began to reveal themselves to me on a spring afternoon. That was when I began to notice people on the streets of Tokyo staring at their mobile phones instead of talking to them” (2002, p. xi). This shift from using a mobile device as a voice communication medium toward usages that focus on data (specifically the “mobile Internet”) heralds the era of physical and pervasive computing culture. This culture is characterized by the ubiquity of the Internet, as it is woven into the fabric of daily life, typically so commonplace that we are often rarely aware of the extent of this integration. The effects of moving from a fixed-location Internet to a mobile Internet are far reaching. This special issue of Future Internet (http://www.mdpi.com/journal/futureinternet) seeks to elaborate on the various cultural transformations brought about by the mobile Internet.

Possible topics of interest include:

• the transformation of online spatiality
• uses of the mobile Internet in the arts
• confronting the digital divide with the mobile internet
• site-specificity of information (and information visualization)
• location-based social media
• mobile mapping and representations of space
• modes of embodiment across the mobile Internet
• consequences of the move from voice to data on mobile phones
• social research of the “Always-on/Always-on-you” internet
• effects of the mobile internet on temporal experiences (work, leisure, the “in-between”)
• the commodification of site-specificity with the mobile internet
• the evolution of content in the age of mobile media

This special issue will be guest edited by Dr. Jason Farman,
University of Maryland, College Park, Department of American Studies and the Program in Digital Cultures and Creativity, 1102 Holzapfel Hall, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Website: http://www.jasonfarman.com
Email: jfarman at umd.edu

Submission Process:

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Future Internet is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues the Article Processing Charge (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

To see the announcement on the Future Internet site, visit:
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/futureinternet/special_issues/mobile-social/