Most of the research on the implications of mobile communication for social networks has focused on its uses and
consequences in the intimate realm of close friends, family, and loved ones. A number of scholars have also become
interested in ways that mobile communication helps and hinders the broader realm of network connectivity, including
diverse, weak, and new ties. A collection of theoretical perspectives on mobile communication and diverse, weak,
and new ties proposes that heightened connectivity in the intimate realm can come at the expense of being engaged
more broadly – a scenario I characterize as network privatism. At the same time, the available empirical research in
the literature tends to tell a different story, or rather stories. This analysis brings theory and empirical findings into
closer conversation with one another by reviewing and synthesizing the literature in this area. Observed patterns in
the literature offer new insight into questions of mobile communication and network privatism, while also pointing
to opportunities for refinement of theory, analysis, and measurement as this line of inquiry further develops.