Kenzie Burchell
The Barriers that Bind: Everyday Conventions of Presence and Privacy
This research is based on fieldwork conducted between 2009-2011, interviewing Londoners who are balancing the demands of social and work life against a background of technological convergence. These empirical findings trace the subtle construction of convention throughout an era of rapid change and individual communication practices.
With regards to interpersonal communication, our experience of being in another’s presence and our experience of privacy are shifting, defined less by connection and more by personal practices of building and managing barriers to access and availability.
As we overlap and couple multiple communication tools and multiple activities, we are filtering access and availability to ourselves for different groups in different ways. This becomes of process of building expectations and awareness of each other’s communication habits. In this manner, we cobble together conventions: divergent activities and shifting practices become integrated into the wider flow of communication that makes up our day-to-day life.
Aspects of this research have been presented at:
- Westminster Joint PhD Symposium, 2009 & 2010
- Public Screen Research Group, Post-Graduate Showcase, Goldsmiths, 2010
- NYLON Research Network Conference, London School of Economics / Goldsmiths, 2011
- Oxford Internet Institute, Summer Doctoral Programme, 2011
More information at: www.kenzieburchell.com