The Domestication of Horse Race Betting
The Domestication of Horse Race Betting
This chapter examines the penetration of communication technologies into private space, especially interactive gambling technologies. Technologies of mass entertainment have traditionally met with resistance when crossing the divide into the domestic sphere. As with previous communication technologies, the incursion of the Internet into domestic space has caused concern. To the extent that new in-home communication technologies are used to foster instrumental, network relations in the home, they cross the gendered and largely illusory boundary between public and private, and concerns about the effects that in-home media technologies can have on families emerge. This chapter looks in particular at the "technopanic" caused by online gambling – primarily poker – in the early twenty-first century. It also uses survey data to examine the popularity of interactive, in-home pari-mutuel wagering in the United States and interrogates related domestic practices and relations, discussing their implications.
Keywords: gambling, internet, technopanic, poker, horse racing, domestic sphere, space, gender
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