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Relating through Technology: Advances in Personal Relationships by Jeffrey A. Hall (2020) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 239pp., £85 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-10848330-8
Background
Jeffrey Hall's Relating through Technology. Advances in Personal Relationships is part of the series on advancing personal relationships edited by Christopher Agnew, John Caughlin, Raymond Knee and Terri Orbuch. A glance at prior volumes in the series reveals a focus on different types of relationships (e.g., close relationships, intimate relationships, marriages) or, more often, on specific psychological processes in relationships, such as power, intimacy, social influence or attribution processes. None of the books focuses on technology in general or on a specific technology. This is surprising considering that much of our daily communication these days occurs via technology - WhatsApp messages, voice calls, video chats, posts on social media platforms. A book on the role of technology in relationship maintenance is desperately needed.
Overview
Jeffrey A. Hall is a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. He has been active in the field of interpersonal relationships for years, shifting his research emphasis more and more to the role of social network sites or mobile phones in relationship formation and maintenance. Hall starts the book with a metaphor, comparing his work as an author with that of a DJ, a person who is not exactly creating music but curating and reorganizing music made by others. In similar vein, Hall does not attempt a complete overview of all work on technology and relationships. Instead, he wants to present an exhibition of selected work by others and himself. He has curated and mixed prior work to stimulate the development of new thoughts - an approach I highly appreciate.
The book has an introduction and ten chapters. The first three chapters focus on fundamental theories, the next three on modality comparisons and contrasts, and the last four deal with enduring tensions of relationships and technology. In the introduction, Hall justifies why this book is needed by arguing that there are too many papers focusing on technology rather than the conversations people use technology for. Moreover, pre-existing relationships of media users are often not considered in these studies, or are, at best, treated as ancillary variables. Hall argues - and I fully agree with him -...