Tracking the Temporal Flows of Mobile Communication in Daily Life

Prior theoretical perspectives assert that mobile media and communication accelerate time perception. To test this hypothesis, we coupled mobile app logs and experience sampling to capture social app use and time perception in daily life. Participants (N = 132) provided self-reports of time perception (n = 9,081) and recordings of social app use (n = 2,193,655). Although people perceived time as relatively fast on average, results did not support an overall link between social app use and accelerated time perception. Conversely, social media use – but not messaging use – was associated with decelerated time perception. Additionally, person-specific analyses revealed that observed relationships between social app use and time perception were consistent across individuals. We conclude by considering how future mobile communication research will be challenged to measure and model how temporal flows are interwoven with mobile connection in the background of daily life.