Abstract

This ethnographic study investigates the ways in which smartphone use shape the daily routines of seven mothers who immigrated to Montreal from the English-speaking Caribbean. Using a combination of empirical data collection through a use-tracking app installed on participants’ smartphones and open-ended interviews, the paper argues that the pervasive use of smartphones in these mothers’ routines creates conflict with children while simultaneously providing mothers with a valuable outlet for socialization, identity creation and the maintenance of community ties. Evidence found in this study also suggests that media literacy is a relevant concern for women belonging to this population. One of the roles of a “good” mother is media gatekeeper, and while most of the participants in this study subscribe to this belief, most of them also have very little working knowledge about the media landscape in which they inhabit, and in some cases very little ability to decode the meaning and function of basic media products. For these reasons, media literacy among this population emerged as both an area of inquiry and a possible area of further study or outreach.