and indeed this power is also at the disposal of the President , to which after three strikes – at the discretion of the President – you are ejected from the server . Quite evidently here , one using the Discord app on their mobile and experiencing the Society server would be able to perceive a type of world that is beyond our immediate physical perception ( Frosh 2019 ), namely that of an authoritarian society , a type of society that is a reality for some parts of the world . Within the Society Discord server , an autocratic world exists where there are strict rules governing free speech , and law and order of the moderators and bots prevail . Especially within this current pandemic world , Discord in this instance does not simply generate and put this world “ simply before us ”, but by “ the way mobile phones are held and touched … almost always in the hand and close to the body ” ( Richardson 2007 : 210 ) on a daily basis , this world is “ continually alongside us and with us : [ keeping ] us company ” ( Frosh 2019 : xviii ). We can see where WhatsApp reflects a more constitutional world through people controlling only the functioning of respective group chats , Discord goes a step further and reflects a more authoritarian society where the power over the functioning and the content lies in the hands of those in charge . Yet it is accepted , and people do obey the rules within the Society . Our apathy to this type of reflected world enables real lived experiences of anxiety , and a sense of self that becomes “ constrained [ and ] rendered problematic by the affordances of the site themselves ” ( Livingstone 2007 : 9 ). In the constant use of
COMM733 these applications , the mobileas-mirror points “ to a technocultural ‘ second nature ’ which is increasingly difficult to disentangle from a set [ our ] primary ” ( Frosh 2019 : 6 ).
Section Three In the previous two sections , I provided discussion surrounding the mobile phone ’ s ability – through its metaphoric reflective capacity as a mirror – to reveal and disclose worlds within the mobile phone apps of WhatsApp and Discord , that encroach on our sense of self . Now , I would like us to recall “ the end of the world ” ( Frosh 2019 ). This section will take Frosh ’ s ominous opening scenario , but we shall alter it to assume that only the mobile phone is working ( whilst our laptops , radios and telephones are out of action ). So , to what extent can we purely live out our day to day lives on our mobile phones ? View Sam ’ s scenario below .
Sam ’ s alarm goes off and they wake up from their sleep and realise that all of their technological gadgets that enable a connection to the wider world – their laptop , radio , telephone , television – have all stopped working , except for their mobile phone . By using their mobile , Sam is able to order breakfast via a food delivery app that is delivered to their door . Sam would sometimes go out to a café for breakfast , but it is far easier for the mobile to bring the café to Sam . Sam uses their mobile phone ’ s capacity to access the internet , to log on to their employer ’ s company website to sign in and begin working , as they work from home . Sam ’ s work pertains to customer service and so day to day job tasks
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