Mariek Vanden Abeele

Linocut portrait by Ivo van Leeuwen

Part of the portrait series Women in Academia

Academic Portrait 

"Sometimes anecdotal experience or personal fascination inspires researchers in their scientific inquiry. I use the slogan ‘research is me-search’ to describe when this happens. In my case, I became fascinated by mobile connectivity. As someone who turned 20 in 2000, I experienced the transition from a mass media society to a digital society at first hand. I witnessed how being connected anytime and anywhere profoundly altered how we live, work and play. Yet, I also observed that we often take mobile connectivity for granted, only noticing it when our phone battery dies, or our connection fails.

As a media sociologist, I see it as my role to lift the veil over the various social implications of this ever-present connectivity. I believe we have to observe social reality with a wide variety of methods to reveal patterns in mobile media use and its relationship to social relationships and well-being. By situating these patterns socio-historically, we can understand how mobile connectivity transforms our lives and society."