Abstract

Objects, information, people, and identities are constantly on the move and circulating in contemporary society. Multiple mobilities, both material and immaterial, reconfigure the concept of co-presence, public and private sphere, mediated and face-to-face communication. The article aims to frame mobile communication through oppositional categories (convergence/differentiation, hybridity/distinction, saturation/distribution, ubiquity/situatedness, continuity/discontinuity) in order to understand how new media along with mobile infrastructures and artefacts contribute to mobilize old boundaries in social interaction, recreating new barriers and inequalities with reference to both digital and mobility divide. Implications of mediated and mediatized mobility, which represent the two profiles of mobility discussed in the article, are illustrated with reference to three fields whose boundaries are on the move: playing, travelling and being available to others.