What is Networked Individualism

Keitai, Japanese mobile phones, have thoroughly permeated the lives of adolescent Japanese. This article describes the connection between adolescents and keitai by discussing the ways that keitai technology has been shaped by youth, how keitai have been used by teenagers for social empowerment, and how the autonomy afforded by keitai has supported new digital creative and expressive forms. These topics are discussed through a review of the English language scholarship about keitai that first emerged in the early 2000s. This article concludes by discussing possible directions of future research.