%0 Journal Article
%T Two
%A Andrew Duffy
%J Mobile Media & Communication
%@ 2050-1587
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/2050157918772858
%X Travellers have long inhabited a liminal position between home and away. Now they also have a bridging foot in cyberspace, as Internet-enabled smartphones mediate their travel experience. Social-web-assisted mobility means that gazing down at a smartphone screen can either enhance or hamper a traveller¡¯s movement through a destination and their interaction with place and its inhabitants, either distancing them from local people or offering new means to connect with hosts and enhance the travel experience. An Internet-linked smartphone is like a portal through which the traveller can gaze into different directions. Further, it is not just a question of which direction they choose; the choice will impact on the gazer and the performance of the gaze, potentially compromising attempts to view a place through independent eyes as the traveller¡¯s imaginings of the foreign sphere are influenced by the social web. This paper reviews the literature on how travellers use the Internet before, during, and after a trip, and suggests the concept of the liminal gaze¡ªin which an individual chooses between different directions to look at and different spheres to focus on¡ªas a tool to examine smartphone-mediated interaction between people, and between people and place
%K mobile communication
%K power
%K privilege
%K social web
%K tourist¨Chost relationship
%K traveller behaviour
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2050157918772858