Mobile phones are recognized as important new tools for rural development in the Global South, but few studies have examined how phones can shape social networks. This study documents a new type of social tie, enabled by mobile phones, that to our knowledge has not previously been discussed in academic literature. In 2018, we discovered that Maasai pastoralists in northern Tanzania create new social ties through wrong numbers, a phenomenon with implications for theory on social networks and path dependency. We used a mixed ethnographic and survey-based design to examine the following: (1) the conditions under which wrong number connections (WNCs) are made; (2) the incidence of these connections in the study area; and (3) the association between WNCs and multiple livelihood strategies. Working in 10 rural communities in Tanzania, we conducted 16 group interviews with men about their phone use and found that WNCs are diverse and can provide households with important information, resources, and opportunities from an expansive geographic area. (Nine separate interviews with groups of women revealed that women do not create WNCs.) Based on early qualitative findings, we designed and conducted a standardized survey with 317 household heads. We found that 46% of respondents have had WNCs. Furthermore, multivariate regression models show a significant association between WNCs and the controversial practice of leasing land in one district. Taken together, our findings show that WNCs can be seen as innovations in social networking that reduce path dependency, increase the range of potential outcomes, and hold important implications for rural livelihoods in East Africa.

中文翻译：

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手机和错误号码：马赛农牧民如何在东非形成和使用偶然的社会联系

手机被认为是全球南方农村发展的重要新工具，但很少有研究探讨手机如何塑造社交网络。这项研究记录了一种由手机实现的新型社会联系，据我们所知，以前在学术文献中没有讨论过这种联系。2018 年，我们发现坦桑尼亚北部的马赛牧民通过错误的数字创造了新的社会联系，这一现象对社会网络和路径依赖的理论有影响。我们使用混合人种学和基于调查的设计来检查以下内容：（1）错误号码连接（WNC）发生的条件；(2) 这些连接在研究区域的发生率；(3) WNCs 与多种生计策略之间的关联。在坦桑尼亚的 10 个农村社区工作，我们对男性进行了 16 次关于他们电话使用情况的小组访谈，发现 WNC 是多种多样的，可以为家庭提供来自广阔地理区域的重要信息、资源和机会。（对女性群体的九次单独访谈显示，女性不会创造 WNC。）根据早期的定性调查结果，我们设计并开展了一项对 317 位户主的标准化调查。我们发现 46% 的受访者拥有 WNC。此外，多元回归模型显示 WNC 与有争议的在一个地区租赁土地的做法之间存在显着关联。综上所述，我们的研究结果表明，WNC 可以被视为社交网络的创新，它减少了路径依赖，增加了潜在结果的范围，并对东非的农村生计产生了重要影响。