Uses of mobile phones in post-conflict Liberia

Authors:
Michael L. Best;Edem Wornyo;Thomas N. Smyth;John Etherton
Affiliations:
Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia and School Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia;School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia;School Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia;Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
Venue:
ICTD'09 Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Information and communication technologies and development
Year:
2009

Citing 4
Cited 1

An analysis of young people's use of and attitudes toward cell phones

Telematics and Informatics
Moving Beyond "The Real Digital Divide"

Information Technologies and International Development
Microentrepreneurs and Mobiles: An Exploration of the Uses of Mobile Phones by Small Business Owners in Rwanda

Information Technologies and International Development
Post-conflict communications: the case of Liberia

Communications of the ACM

Q-methodology as a research and design tool for HCI

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

Liberia is a country emerging from years of protracted and devastating civil conflict. Left without any fixed line telephone infrastructure, it relies solely on the mobile phone for telephony. This study investigates the usage of mobile phones in this immediate post-conflict setting. In particular, we adopt the uses and gratifications approach to media research, giving focus to both instrumental and intrinsic motivations for use. Mobile phone users in both the capital city of Monrovia and in various rural areas were surveyed using the Q methodology, which identified distinct perspectives within these urban and rural groups. Participants were then sorted into groups where each group contained users with similar perspectives on their mobile phones. These identified groups included sets of users who saw their phones as productivity enhancers, means of connectivity to family and friends, essential business tools, technological curiosities, and sources of personal security. The idea of a phone as a stylish object was markedly rejected, especially in rural areas. We contrast these Q-sort results from Liberia with previous work from Kigali, Rwanda, finding differences especially as related to security.