The phenomena of ‘presence bleed’ leads to the obliteration of borders in the home, we may be physically in one location but sorting through information flows in the homogenised space, the cyberspace (Mitef 2014b). A result of this ‘presence bleed’ is the transformation of the institution of family, which Deuze (2006 pg. 5) says, in deference to Anthony Giddens, has become a shell. Now, our families can be considered transitory units, places that exist for temporary convenience where no one is expected to remain long (Deuze pg.5).
The family, now transformed by media devices, may be present physically but somewhere else, breaking down the bonds among family members. Gregg observed in her study that parents were aware that their technology use had an impact on their family and says that children used the same technologies to cope with their parents distracted presence in the home (pp. 26-27). One man in Gregg’s study, a father of two, simply did not have enough hours in the day to answer his emails and would do so at home, upstairs and away from his family (pg. 27). Has the process of ‘presence bleed’ led to the fragmentation of families and the breaking down of bonds between family members? One can only conjecture, but I would say it is a small part of it, ‘presence bleed’ certainly eats into the time that families could be spending together.
References:
Deuze, M 2006, Liquid Life, Convergence Culture, and Media Work, Working Paper, dated 19 March, pp. 01-25.
Gregg, M n.d., Function Creep: Communication Technologies and Anticipatory Labour in the Information Workplace, viewed 20 August 2015, http://homecookedtheory.com/wp-content/uploads/functioncreepnms.doc
Mitef, T 2014, Liquid Labour [Part 1], online video, YouTube, viewed 19 August 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3M9x_UJkoo&list=PLiPp71qLKusXOU1bKxHVappCbRNN3-J-j&index=11
Mitef, T 2014, Liquid Labour [Part 3], online video, YouTube, viewed 19 August 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3BJCXsaDE4&list=PLiPp71qLKusXOU1bKxHVappCbRNN3-J-j&index=13
Music: Are You There by Robodub
Knowledge Like Flowers 