Human, smartphone and territories of the self

In this paper, we interrogate the applicability of Goffman's theory on ‘territories of the self’ to study the relationship between human and the smartphone. We look into how a number of Copenhagen adolescents and their parents reflect on their everyday lives with smartphones. Our analytical framework is based on discursive psychology and positioning analysis. Through this framework we investigate the interpretative repertoires invoked by the participants in their small stories of their everyday life with smartphones and discuss how they relate to territorial concerns. Overall, the analysis suggests that the smartphone creates new conditions for the territorial self as it involves an intersection of the possessional territory, the information and conversational preserves and to some extent the sheath. • The smartphone creates new conditions for the territorial self. • The new conditions involve an intersection of the possessional territory, the information and conversational preserves. • The smartphone occasionally violates territorial borders through its technological affordances. • The concerns raised in participants' reflections relate to the balance between the social and the private and the degree of control. • The human perspective on smartphone use is given a particular emphasis by the participants.