Comments on: Israel: Teenage Girls Usage of Mobile Phones for Dating

By: Gilad Lotan

Gilad Lotan — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:36:55 +0000

startrek: The research article describes regular Palestinian teenagers who use mobile technology to navigate across cultural barriers. It is fascinating to see how gender roles and privacy are enhanced by this type of technology. As a culture-technology researcher, the implications of this type of user scenarios are fascinating!

The anthropologists who wrote the article are very familiar with the local culture. Check out their websites before making false claims.

By: startrek

startrek — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:59:22 +0000

I find this article confusing and quite pointless. Are we talking about mobile phone use amongst unruly teenagers or grown-ups? And so Arab teenagers use mobile phones to break the gender barrier and communicate, so what? You think this is funny? Have you made yourself acquainted with the culture before drawing the OH! Expression of bewilderment on your face? Maybe you’ll find the love letters discreetly exchanged between lovers in 18th centuries Europe quite funny as well….

And I’ll tell you what, why don’t you go get a life?

By: Peter Lepacus

Peter Lepacus — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:04:08 +0000

It’s always nice to see technology used to get around oppression and tyranny.

By: Lydia Beyoud

Lydia Beyoud — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:51:18 +0000

Interesting article, Gilad. In Morocco, (and presumably elsewhere in the Arab-speaking world) I noticed many girls (usually veiled)in the cybercafes who type as quickly on the Arabic keyboard as on the French, and who chat online with men from the Gulf. I recall one girl in particular who was always in the cyber cafe whenever I went there. These girls are seeking relationships -prefereably marriage- with men they perceive as rich who can take them away from their situations at home. Though their chat platform is in itself private, the fact that many of them use headsets to talk to these men means that they have to negotiate these interactions between the public and private realms -and you can be sure that they make a huge effort to go to a cyber cafe far from their neighborhood and possible acquaintances, even if it means it costs a lot more to be in that part of town.

I wonder if other Arab and Muslim countries experience this same phenomenon of the cell phone dating system?