Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
CONCLUSION
On the other hand, the focus groups shed more
and a different light on culture and the adoption of
mobile telephony in the country. Ordinary people
confirmed that mobile telephony is far more popu-
lar and more socially integrated than the Internet
and other ICTs in Greece. Unlike the elite actors,
they contextualised claims of technophobia in an
everyday life framework and construed Greek
society's attitudes to ICTs in a broader context
in which diverse systemic, socio-cultural and
other parameters operate. Thus, although they
acknowledged the importance of culture, they
attempted to disentangle the various cultural
elements and their role in the adoption of mobile
telephony by looking at two different issues. First,
they emphasised how ordinary people appreciate
the role and usefulness different technologies can
have in everyday life. Hence, they brought up the
role of everyday culture, customs and lifestyle and
viewed the parameters of 'interest' and 'need' as
determining technology usage. In a sense, they
argued that mobile telephony is more needed and
interesting than the Internet. Second, they raised
broader issues, also touched on by the elite actors,
such as a lack of social awareness, education and
skills that prevent people from using Internet and
other technologies. Some focus group participants
argued, however, that this is not society's but
rather the state's responsibility, also related to the
culture and practices of the broader system (e.g.
politics) in Greece. As regards mobile telephony,
they argued that this technology is not challenged
by the current socio-cultural and systemic struc-
tures since no training or particular knowledge
is required to use mobile phones and adjust their
usage in various everyday life activities.
Although these empirical insights offer a far
from complete and exhaustive socio-cultural
analysis of the adoption of mobile technology
in Greece, they move beyond assumptions about
the general and floating role of socio-cultural
factors involved in ICT adoption, while pointing
to specific reasons why mobile telephony is a dis-
tinctive ICT, at least in the case of Greece. These
The elite actors' reflections and the focus group
discourses have illustrated the role of socio-
cultural elements of life in the striking popularity
of mobile telephony in Greece. Although elite
actors and ordinary people in Greece take a dif-
ferent perspective and approach social culture in
a relatively divergent way, they have enabled this
study to answer the question:
does mobile tele-
phony differ from other ICTs such as the Internet
in the particular socio-cultural context of Greece?
The elite actors argued that a technophobic
identity is in place, driving people in Greece to
maintain a traditional lifestyle that dissociates
them from the increasingly powerful world of new
technologies. They considered that this non-tech-
nocratic and technophobic culture leads to social
ignorance about technologies and to a particular
Greek lifestyle that resists the incorporation of new
technologies. In a way, these arguments indicated
a lack of citizenship in the country and its impor-
tance not only for how each individual treats new
technologies but also for how individuals might
'collectively' prevent beneficial technological
developments for the whole society due to fears
and insecurities related to individual interests. On
this basis, the elite actors considered the element
of culture and relevant evidence important for
explaining not merely why Greek people treat
generally popular technologies such as the Internet
with great scepticism, but also why society in the
country enthusiastically accepts some technolo-
gies only, such as mobile telephony. As regards
the latter, mobile telephony seems to lie outside
the scope of Greek society's technophobia. This is
because it does not require any training or learn-
ing, mostly facilitates oral communication and
does not, at least apparently, challenge people's
values, traditions or security, while it provides
Greek people with an extra asset (e.g. handset,
accessories) to improve their social profiles and
further develop their extroverted lifestyles.
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