New Forms of Interaction in the Digital Age: The Use of the Telephone

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Overall, the article's structure is acceptable. The introductory section is informative and acceptable, but the last paragraph of the article needs to be rewritten because it reduces the topic of interaction in the digital society to the widespread use of mobile phones: the topic is much broader and needs to be explored in more depth.

Author Response

Dear reviewer, I really appreciate your comment for the revision of my paper. I have tried to follow your advice, so I have rewritten the paragraph and added the following:

In analyzing the birth of virtual communities, Rheingold does not hide his enthusiasm for these new spaces, emphasizing how modern societies increasingly characterized themselves with hectic and formal rhythms of life that did not allow the establishment and cultivation of various types of relationships. According to Rheingold (2002), virtual communities solve this problem by laying the foundation for more democratic communication, integrating into the social fabric. In his well-known book, "Smart Mobs," the American scholar not only analyzes the use of mobile phones but defines smart mobs as intelligent crowds, i.e., crowds that move through small media such as mobile phones. Through these technological tools that become entirely personal, small virtual communities are formed, according to the scholar. His vision, in a sense, overturns the idea that the mass, in the traditional view, was incapable of taking specific positions and implementing intelligent behaviors. There is the physical world, then [...] where pedestrians must avoid colliding when crossing the street near the traffic light. Around the crowd, there is the artificial but concrete world of the city, a totalizing environment, a container of commercial propaganda, and [...] the private communication channels of SMS-dependent tribes, a third sphere in which bursts of concise phrases connect people in physical space and in real-time.  The mobile phone, called Keitai in Japanese, constituted new relational environments at a stage of growth when adolescents wanted to share certain topics and conversations only with their peers. Rheingold underscores, referencing anthropologist Mizuko Ito's study, that through mobile phones, teenagers had the opportunity to build an intimate space of sociability, escaping parental control that monitored their conversations through the home phone. The mobile phone ends up revolutionizing both the relationships between parents and children and intimacy with peers, as well as the daily habits of those who use it. Rheingold's analysis anticipates what would happen later with the advent of social media, applications like WhatsApp, Telegram, etc., which have built a medial space of social interactions, far more complex than what happened with early mobile phones. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors, the work presented does not reflect the structure required for an article. It also cannot be considered a systematic literature review, as we do not have access to this methodology, nor can it be considered a simple review, as no clues for future studies are indicated. According to the MDPI guidelines, and according to my interpretation, we are dealing with an Essay. Therefore, authors should, unless they feel better, resubmit their work, with a classification other than that of an article.

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Author Response

Dear reviewer, I really appreciate your comment for the revision of my paper. I have tried to improve the paper and give it a different strututra, so thanks to your advice, I have rewritten several paragraphs, considering that this is a qualitative and enunciative paper. For that reason I did not follow the classical outline of a research paper. Specifically, the structure was modified in this way:

Introduction
Interaction to social analysis
Classics of sociological thought
New forms of social interaction
Conclusions

I hope this work of mine can be accepted

Reviewer 3 Report

Despite advertising in the abstract that this article will focus on re-theorizing relationships in contemporary societies where the digital is a key sphere of interaction the article actually seems like an early draft of a literature review into the history of theories of communication as related to various forms of media from the 15th & 16th centuries (line 221), through telephones and letters (231) until the period  from around 2008 -2012. I was interested to read on after the abstract but there is insufficient correspondence between the abstract and the article.

While you have done considerable reading into communications theories and write well in terms of syntax the article has been presented for publication prematurely and shows a lack of care in many areas.

1) as above the article is only occasionally about the stated topic. I noted for instance that the points at 221 -224 (Thompson on the reception of information other than from the people one encounters personally) and around 252-256 (Meyrowtiz on the reconfiguration of  perceptions distance) are relevant to the supposed theme.

2) There is no stated Research Question in the article and therefore no clear line of argument.  Therefore there is insufficient indication of how the sources you discuss relate to the argument that is presaged in the abstract.

3) The formatting is unfriendly to the reader. You often appear to be engaging in an academic version of stream-of-consciousness writing, where, as above, there are few signposts to the reader as to the significance of the sources and theories you are presenting. Having more paragraphs and sub-headings would help since from page 3 onwards there are 3 unbroken pages of text, which I have never encountered in any other article I have reviewed.

4) Quotes are often very long, e.g. from Simmel (195-203), from Auge (278-286), and Turkle (334-346) without adequate page referencing or analysis of how they fit into the broader text and your argument. Referencing generally is not of a professional standard,

5) The article appears to have been submitted in haste without adequate proof reading.  The most egregious example of this is the three-times repetition of several sentences involving 'keitai' in Japan and Rheingold over the span of the lines from 308-328.  Also, the Reference List is still mostly in Italian.

While your initial topic looked timely and interesting, your coverage of it should have started with sources closer to the present day, or else the article be re-framed as a history of conceptual development. To do yourself justice in the future please acquaint yourself with the professional standards that must be met before an article is submitted to a journal.

Not bad but overwhelmed by poor topic-focus, indeterminate structure, inadequate referencing and below-par formatting.

Author Response

Dear reviewer, I really appreciate your comment for the revision of my paper. I have followed your requests and improved the following points:

1) I have deepened aspects of the points indicated within the paragraph renamed "Social interactions through some classics of the social sciences."

2) I made my research question more explicit, namely, how have interactions within the virtual world changed? For these reasons, I have provided a specification within the paragraph "New Forms of Social Interaction in the Digital Society"

3) I improved the writing process by inserting a new paragraph and better structuring several sentences within the paper.

4) I edited this point by rewriting or cutting literary quotations.

5) Thanks for this expedient, I have edited the following:

In analyzing the birth of virtual communities, Rheingold does not hide his enthusiasm for these new spaces, emphasizing how modern societies increasingly characterized themselves with hectic and formal rhythms of life that did not allow the establishment and cultivation of various types of relationships. According to Rheingold (2002), virtual communities solve this problem by laying the foundation for more democratic communication, integrating into the social fabric. In his well-known book, "Smart Mobs," the American scholar not only analyzes the use of mobile phones but defines smart mobs as intelligent crowds, i.e., crowds that move through small media such as mobile phones. Through these technological tools that become entirely personal, small virtual communities are formed, according to the scholar. His vision, in a sense, overturns the idea that the mass, in the traditional view, was incapable of taking specific positions and implementing intelligent behaviors. There is the physical world, then [...] where pedestrians must avoid colliding when crossing the street near the traffic light. Around the crowd, there is the artificial but concrete world of the city, a totalizing environment, a container of commercial propaganda, and [...] the private communication channels of SMS-dependent tribes, a third sphere in which bursts of concise phrases connect people in physical space and in real-time.  The mobile phone, called Keitai in Japanese, constituted new relational environments at a stage of growth when adolescents wanted to share certain topics and conversations only with their peers. Rheingold underscores, referencing anthropologist Mizuko Ito's study, that through mobile phones, teenagers had the opportunity to build an intimate space of sociability, escaping parental control that monitored their conversations through the home phone. The mobile phone ends up revolutionizing both the relationships between parents and children and intimacy with peers, as well as the daily habits of those who use it. Rheingold's analysis anticipates what would happen later with the advent of social media, applications like WhatsApp, Telegram, etc., which have built a medial space of social interactions, far more complex than what happened with early mobile phones. 

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

In substance, not much has changed from the previous version. I suggest at this point, in order to avoid further revisions, to change the title of the article, because the text is not about new forms, but basically about the use of the telephone.
I suggest two possible titles for the article:
 - Telephone use as a new form of interaction in the digital age.
- New forms of interaction in the digital age: the use of the telephone.

Author Response

Dear colleague, thank you for your review work and advice. I accept the proposed title: New forms of interaction in the digital age: the use of the telephone.

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear author, I do not consider that the structure of an article is being followed. In accordance with the journal's guidelines, I understand that this is an Essay.

Good luck.

Author Response

Dear reviewer, thank you for your review work. I proceeded to have the article type changed to Essay

Best regards

Round 3

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors, the reclassification of the work presented makes perfect sense. In my opinion, it is about enforcing the journal's guidelines.

Congratulations on the work presented and I wish you good luck for future work.