Multimodal connectedness and communication patterns: A comparative study across Europe, the United States, and China

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships between social connectedness and communication patterns from seven countries across the globe. In contrast to most existing studies, which focus on either single medium use or ICT-mediated multimodal connectedness, the study considers how people select and combine a set of communication modes for social connectedness. With survey data from the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and the Chinese mainland, the study examines the complexity of multimodal connectedness, that is, the diversity and the frequency of multiple communication modes and media through which people maintain their connections with different social relations. A latent class analysis identifies six clusters in the diversity and the frequency to illustrate the similarities and differences of communication patterns. Sociodemographic and country variables play distinct roles in predicting the clusters in the diversity and frequency dimensions, respectively. The theoretical and practical implications of this comparative study are discussed.