Abstract:

This paper presents evidence from a pilot study of how ordinary people use mobile streaming video. We argue that although such technology is still its infancy, it is important to understand how it supports social activities. In essence, our study shows how services that promote co-experience – for example, singing karaoke together with friends in public places – become attractive to users. We find that the collaborative use of streaming mobile video is often connected to having fun. The results indicate that user innovations facilitate the social shaping of mobile multimedia technology. The data for this study are derived from a technology pilot of Radiolinja from 2002.