Book Launch: Teen Boys and their Smartphones as Worldmaking Devices

What is it like to be a young man in the age of the smartphone? This is the question John Magnus R. Dahl seeks to answer in this ethnography, which follows six teenage boys in their lives both online and offline.

He concludes, among other things, that the smartphone is a crucial tool for creating the kinds of social relationships the boys consider important, and thus a way to increase freedom and agency in their own lives. Furthermore, he shows that this is especially significant for minority boys: queer boys and boys with immigrant backgrounds use their phones differently than straight, white boys.

The book is published by Palgrave Macmillan and is based on the research Dahl conducted as a postdoctoral fellow at MediaFutures (UiB) from 2021 to 2024. The e-book is available here, and a longer article about the book’s findings can be read here (in Norwegian).

Book Launch: Teen Boys and their Smartphones

The launch will take the form of a book conversation between Dahl and Professor Kristine Jørgensen, project leader of Understanding Masculinity in Gaming, followed by an opportunity for questions. The conversation will be held in English. and light refreshments will be served.

Time and place: MediaFutures, Media City Bergen, 05.09.2025 at 12:15-14:00.