Stories, spaces, and bodies: The production of embodied space through mobile media storytelling

The rise of mobile media – which are now the most pervasive digital technologies on the planet – has caused a reexamination of our spatial practices of everyday life. One vital element of the production of space is the ways we use media to tell the social stories of a place and, ultimately, orient our bodies toward (or against) the narratives of these locations. Positioning mobile media and location-aware technologies among the long history of site-specific storytelling, this article looks at a range of mobile story projects that offer insights into the social practices of embodiment, identity, and community in the digital age. These storytelling projects demonstrate ways of recuperating the materiality and infrastructure of digital media; they highlight the importance of location and proximity for contemporary computing culture; and they offer important examinations into the ways in which media ecologies address certain bodies while excluding others.