Mobile phones and wrong numbers: how Maasai agro-pastoralists form and use accidental social ties in East Africa
Mobile phones and wrong numbers: how Maasai agro-pastoralists form and use accidental social ties in East Africa
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DOI：
10.5751/es-12528-260241
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发表时间：
2021
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Timothy D. Baird;J. McCabe;E. Woodhouse;I. Rumas;Stephen Sankeni;Gabriel Ole Saitoti
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作者：
Timothy D. Baird;J. McCabe;E. Woodhouse;I. Rumas;Stephen Sankeni;Gabriel Ole Saitoti
移动的电话被认为是全球南方农村发展的重要新工具，但很少有研究探讨电话如何塑造社交网络。这项研究记录了一种新型的社会关系，由移动的手机，据我们所知，以前没有在学术文献中讨论过。在2018年，我们发现坦桑尼亚北方的马赛牧民通过错误的数字创造了新的社会关系，这一现象对社交网络和路径依赖理论有影响。我们使用了一个混合的人种学和调查为基础的设计，以检查以下内容：（1）的条件下，错误的数字连接（WNC）的;（2）在研究区域这些连接的发生率;（3）WNC和多种生计策略之间的关联。在坦桑尼亚的10个农村社区工作，我们对男性进行了16次关于他们使用手机的小组访谈，发现WNC是多样化的，可以为家庭提供来自广阔地理区域的重要信息，资源和机会。(Nine对妇女群体的单独采访表明，妇女不创造WNC。根据早期的定性研究结果，我们设计并进行了一项标准化调查，共有317名户主参加。我们发现46%的受访者有WNC。此外，多元回归模型显示，WNC和租赁土地在一个地区的有争议的做法之间的显着关联。总之，我们的研究结果表明，WNC可以被视为社交网络的创新，减少路径依赖，增加潜在结果的范围，并对东非的农村生计产生重要影响。
Mobile phones are recognized as important new tools for rural development in the Global South, but few studies have examined how phones can shape social networks. This study documents a new type of social tie, enabled by mobile phones, that to our knowledge has not previously been discussed in academic literature. In 2018, we discovered that Maasai pastoralists in northern Tanzania create new social ties through wrong numbers, a phenomenon with implications for theory on social networks and path dependency. We used a mixed ethnographic and survey-based design to examine the following: (1) the conditions under which wrong number connections (WNCs) are made; (2) the incidence of these connections in the study area; and (3) the association between WNCs and multiple livelihood strategies. Working in 10 rural communities in Tanzania, we conducted 16 group interviews with men about their phone use and found that WNCs are diverse and can provide households with important information, resources, and opportunities from an expansive geographic area. (Nine separate interviews with groups of women revealed that women do not create WNCs.) Based on early qualitative findings, we designed and conducted a standardized survey with 317 household heads. We found that 46% of respondents have had WNCs. Furthermore, multivariate regression models show a significant association between WNCs and the controversial practice of leasing land in one district. Taken together, our findings show that WNCs can be seen as innovations in social networking that reduce path dependency, increase the range of potential outcomes, and hold important implications for rural livelihoods in East Africa.