The Transition of Interactional Patterns and Cellphone Usage Between Generations in the Belitung Community: A Year Before the COVID-19 Pandemic

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.201209.120How to use a DOI?

Keywords

transition, interaction, community, cellphone, Belitung

Abstract

March 2020 marks the first milestone of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia. Since then, there have been changes in interactions in the society. Year 2019 ended the pattern of interactions that characterized the pre-pandemic era. This study aims to capture the patterns of interaction between generations related to the use of cellphones in 2019. The participants were three Chinese Belitung families, with a minimum of two generations: the baby boomer generation, and / or generation X, and / or generation Y and Z. Community interaction at several coffee shops and tourist attractions, as well as the activities of adolescents at one vocational school are also the subject of observation by the researchers. The study was conducted primarily with qualitative method, and ethnographic approach. Data collection was conducted through observation, and interviews. The data were then analyzed using actor network theory. The result showed that Baby Boomers did not seem to use cellphones intensely, while Generation Y almost always fulfilled their needs through cellphones. Generation X used cellphones, however not continuously and only for fulfilling some of their needs. Among the four generations, it seems that Baby Boomers have the best social relations skills, and Generation Y and Z appears to be less concerned about their surroundings, except when schools restrict the use of cellphones. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rise in the intensity of cellphone usage by children and adolescents.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Mei Ie
AU  - Anny Valentina
AU  - Sri Tiatri
AU  - Jap Tji Beng
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/12/12
TI  - The Transition of Interactional Patterns and Cellphone Usage Between Generations in the Belitung Community: A Year Before the COVID-19 Pandemic
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd Tarumanagara International Conference on the Applications of Social Sciences and Humanities (TICASH 2020)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 759
EP  - 765
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201209.120
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.201209.120
ID  - Ie2020
ER  -