Introduction
Over the next decade and beyond, internet users will be increasingly likely to use portable devices such as mobile phones to connect to the internet. Indeed, experts contributing to the 2008 Pew/Internet report concluded that by 2020 mobile devices will be the primary way that most people connect to the internet (Anderson and Rainie, 2008). Web-friendly smart phones and new devices such as the iPad tablet are also making it much easier to access the mobile internet. Coupled with this, mobile internet devices are increasingly becoming part of our identity – they are a tool for staying in touch with family and friends, and also a valued device for finding and sharing information, often with large networks. What then, are some of the likely social implications arising from people increasingly having a take-anywhere, always-on, internet connection?
