– but as mirrors that reflect lived experiences . With this application of the mobile-asmirror , our mobile phones not only act as “ a wall ” separating one from our “ immediate surroundings ” but as a mirror that reflect “ different connected experiences online ” ( Warfield 2017 : 79 ). By exploring these different lived experiences that come from using specifically WhatsApp and Discord mobile apps , the mobile-as-mirror actively mirrors and brings forth types of societies that we ordinarily would not be able to experience through everyday life , changing how we view ourselves .
Along with Warfield ’ s exploration of the use of the mobile as a mirror , Paul Frosh ’ s use of “ doors ” could be seen as equally as helpful to us as we explore these apps . Through the prologue of The Poetics of Digital Media ( 2019 ), Frosh introduces us to the opening scene of the 2001 film Monsters , Inc . He observes the film ’ s use of the ‘ door ’, as “ entry points between the human and monster worlds ”, as holding “ great symbolic and narrative weight ” to the film ( Frosh 2019 : xvii ). Through this observation he draws parallels to how the world ’ s media seeks to do the same thing . It is worth noting how his notion of the door both in the cinematic film ( the doors in the film itself ) and the cinema screen itself ( acting as a doorway to film ’ s world ), could also be another way of helping suggest that our mobile phones mirror other worlds . Despite this , we will continue with our interpretation of Warfield ’ s mobile-as-mirror as arguably it is more fitting . Where a door suggests to the
COMM733 mind a more physical sense of entering other worlds , the mirror is fitting in that it is physically a surface that has the capacity to reflect – just like a mobile phone screen .
Section Two Prior to embarking on our exploration of WhatsApp and Discord , I want to first explain why the specificity of our interpretation of mobile-asmirror pertains to WhatsApp and Discord over other types of applications on our mobile phones . Indeed , there are many types of apps and thus many hundreds of thousands of apps that could be explored through the mobile-as-mirror to other worlds . Taking the mobile phone game as a certain type of app that can be an example of this , we can cite literature that has extensively explored mobile phone games as richly interesting points for discussions around work and life . Namely , Aubrey Anable is one such author who concludes that through mobile gaming we can see a “ blurred distinction between labour time and leisure time ” in that many games have production at the heart of their gaming fun ( Anable 2018 : 100 ). Here our interpretation of the mobileas-mirror is relevant in the sense that another world – the game world – is reflected to us through the event of game playing ( Giddings 2009 ). However , what is markedly different from a gaming app and an app such as WhatsApp or Discord , is firstly the type of app – a gaming app usually involves one person , whereas a social media messaging app involves multiple people interacting separately but at the same time on a singular app . Secondly , the vastly different levels of
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COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA