6533b861fe1ef96bd12c4b4d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Reconfiguration du modèle conjugal à l'heure de l'hyperconnectivité : TIC et territoires de l'intime

subject

description

Online devices are part of our daily lives, fundamentally changing our habits and practices,especially as regards relationships as well as interpersonal and social communication.In this doctoral research, the aim was to analyse the ways in which Information and CommunicationTechnologies (ICTs) have somehow ‘reshaped’ the traditional conjugal model.Indeed, more than just technical devices, ICTs are communicational and even ‘transitional’devices. They are means of strategies and issues within the couple and the family. Theseincreasingly nomadic technologies question the couple regarding its foundations. First ofall, the phenomenon of hyper connectivity (or ‘continuous connectivity’) creates a communicationalcontinuum between individuals, generating a surge in conjugal communicationespecially via electronic written communication. In addition, New Online CommunicationDevices (NOCDs), by nature time-consuming and individual, have repercussions onspace and time management inside and outside the household. This growing permeabilitybetween the different spheres of everyday life raises the in-depth issue of intimacy. Thus,it seems that a new type of relationship based on ‘online presence’ and ‘poly-synchroniccommitment’ is now appearing. Therefore, this procedural upheaval brings up the followingquestion : do ICTs lead to individualisation or strengthen the couple ? We have triedto answer this question thanks to a qualitative survey among people living as a couple.Our research, problematised in a communicational perspective, fits into a Goffmanian approach,as well as sensitive, by giving much room to the testimony of respondents. In abroader way, it falls within the framework of use studies.