Level Of Internet Use Research Articles

Internet use and well-being in older adults.

The Internet has become an important social context in the lives of older adults. Extant research has focused on the use of the Internet and how it influences well-being. However, conflicting findings exist. The purpose of the study was to develop an integrative research model in order to determine the nature of the relationships among Internet use, loneliness, social support, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Specifically, loneliness and social support were tested as potential mediators that may modify the relationship between Internet use and indicators of well-being. Data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were used, and the association among Internet use, social support, loneliness, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being was explored. The sample consisted of 5,203 older adults (aged 65 years and older). The results indicated that higher levels of Internet use were significant predictors of higher levels of social support, reduced loneliness, and better life satisfaction and psychological well-being among older adults.

A Social Informatics Analysis of Refugee Mobile Phone Use: A Case Study of Zaaatari Syrian Refugee Camp

Given the scourge of armed conflict and increasing incidents of severe weather, the numbers of displaced persons around the globe is at all-time high. For those fleeing armed conflict, they may arrive in their new location with a mobile phone and in some cases well-developed internet skills. This changing landscape and skill sets of refugees are creating challenges and opportunities alike for the United Nations agencies (e.g. UNHCR, World Food Program, UNICEF) and implementation partners tasked with meeting their needs. Also, as globally the average length of stay in a refugee camp is 17 years, this scenario represents an interesting use case at the intersection of the traditional information and communication technologies for development (ICTD) and crisis informatics disciplines.In particular, this research seeks to understand: What level of mobile phone ownership and use is typical among refugee camp youth? How has their use changed (if at all) between the pre-conflict and refugee lives? What types of internet-based services might interest refugee youth and what are service providers likely to make available? Data for this exploratory research were collected via pen-and-paper survey in the Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan in January 2015. Za’atari is an outlier among refugee camps, with its wealthier and more IT-savvy refugee population. Hence, this analysis helps understand mobile phone use in what is now the state-of-art refugee context, but is likely to reflect future conditions in other camps around the world. Based on data from 174 youth, the research finds 86% of youth own mobile handsets and 83% own SIM cards. Even with reasonably high levels of SIM card ownership, 79% of youth also borrow SIM cards from friends and family. Unsurprisingly, mobile phones are the most popular medium for accessing the internet. This was true in Syria as well, but is even more so in the camp. In the camp, over half of youth access the internet one or more times per day.In terms of communication services, WhatsApp was the most frequently used to communicate to those in both Jordan and Syria, while mobile voice was used more frequently for communicating within Jordan.When asked about favorite online information sources, the six most frequently mentioned were: Google, Facebook, YouTube, Skype, TV and Wikipedia, with Google being significantly more popular. Without resource constraints, the youth indicated they would like more access to Instant Messaging/WhatsApp, news sources and increased opportunities to communicate with people via social media.Like many youth around the globe, the Za’atari youth frequently help family and friends as well as receive help to use the internet. A multivariate analysis examining predictors of camp-based internet use found education, sex and previous experience, respectively, are the most significant predictors. These results are in line with findings on internet use from studies in a variety of contexts. Given the high level of internet use among refugees, they appear to be likely candidates for online programming. However, youth have less computer as compared to mobile phone experience than the adults. Hence, basic computer training may be necessary prior to successful online program implementation. Additionally, our experience and observations in the camp suggest the UN agencies and their implementation partners have the skills to successfully implement such a program. These results provide interesting evidence of the use of mobile phones as an important source of information for displaced persons. It also provides insights into the transition from a crisis to the recovery phase of a disaster. As Za’atari camp continues to grow and develop from a temporary to a somewhat permanent residence, the diversity and complexity of ICT-based services evolves as well.

Kuwaiti Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of ICT in Writing Classes

This study sets out to explore students' perceptions of a web-based instruction tool at a private higher education institute in Kuwait. The tool comprises a database of articles enriched with various reading and writing activities, and is the first attempt to integrate Internet Communication Technologies (ICT) in the university. Student perceptions were measured with qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative strand of the study, 42 undergraduate students filled in a survey with short answers regarding their general attitudes towards web-based instruction, its advantages and disadvantages, and opinions about its contribution to their own learning. The quantitative strand used a questionnaire, which was completed online by 117 students. The data analyses reveal that students think the online program has contributed to the development of their English skills. Most of the students think the online tool is a rich resource which provides them with the flexibility and independence to learn on their own. Perceived disadvantages include the workload, difficult questions, long articles and technical problems. Variables such as gender and years in the university are linked to some differences in perceptions, but students' discipline and level of internet use were not linked to a significant difference in perceptions.

Internet Use Among Patients with Psychotic Disorder

Introduction Our knowledge about the effect of internet use on patients with psychotic disorder has not been fully investigated. Objectives The main objective was to investigate the psychological characteristics associated with Internet use in chronically mentally ill, compared to the general population. Aims To explore the levelsof internet use in patients with psychosis and their association with self-esteemand interpersonal relationships. Methods The study involved 101 participants of which 30 were psychotic outpatients (meanage 39 years, SD = 11) and 71 (mean age 34 years, SD = 8) from the generalpopulation. Participants filled out a questionnaire of a) social-demographicand clinical parameters b) Diagnostic criteria Young's Internet addiction, c) Internet Addiction Test (IAT) questionnaire for the diagnosis of Internet addiction, d) The Scale in Interpersonal Relationships (ECRI) and e) The Greek version of Self-esteem Questionnaire (SES, Self-Esteem Scale). Results We found significant statistical differences in terms of internetaddiction (Young's diagnostic criteria: 5/25 vs 6/65, p Conclusions Our results found that a psychotic patient with difficulty ininterpersonal relationships and with low self-esteem is more likely to adopt an addictive behavior in the use of internet in comparison to the general population.

Relationship between levels of problematic Internet usage and motivation to study in university students

This study explored the relationship between problematic levels of Internet use and motivation to study in a university sample. One hundred and sixty-two participants were recruited online and completed four questionnaires: Internet Addiction Test, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Emotional–Social Loneliness Scale, and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Participants’ scores were analysed to determine the presence of problematic levels of Internet use and any relationship between this factor and motivation to study. The results demonstrated that levels of problematic Internet use were negatively associated with several aspects of motivation to study (intrinsic goal orientation, control over learning, and learning self-efficacy). These relationships were over and above any impact that depression, anxiety, and social isolation had on motivation to study. The results suggest that increasing employment of digital learning technologies in higher education may be generating problems for some students, which may negatively impact their academic experience and outcomes in higher education.

Health and wellbeing in students with very high psychological distress from a regional Australian university

Health and wellbeing in students from a regional Australian university was assessed. The aim of the study was to explore the health profile of students with very high levels of psychological distress compared to students with low distress levels. Through an online survey, health and wellbeing characteristics were determined. Very high psychological distress (Kessler-10) was reported by 16.5% of students; items contributing most to distress related to feeling tired, nervous and ‘everything being an effort’. Students with very high levels of distress were, over the previous 30 days, unable to work or study for 10 days and needed to cut down on work for an additional 12 days. Forty-eight percent reported very high financial stress while 83% could not find $2,000 within a week for something important. Twenty-seven percent reported a disability; 63% of these reported a mental health disorder. Twenty-two percent felt bullied within the university while 64% felt bullied outside the university. Ninety-six percent reported low mental wellbeing, while just over 50% ‘rarely’ or ‘none of the time’ liked themselves, felt close to others, or felt confident. They reported the lowest level of help-seeking from friends and family and the highest level of internet use. In conclusion, these students, representing nearly one-sixth of all students from the university reviewed, were a highly vulnerable cohort requiring significant care and support.

Kuwaiti Undergraduate Studentss Perceptions of ICT in Writing Classes

This study sets out to explore students' perceptions of a web-based instruction tool at a private higher education institute in Kuwait. The tool comprises a database of articles enriched with various reading and writing activities, and is the first attempt to integrate Internet Communication Technologies (ICT) in the university. Student perceptions were measured with qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative strand of the study, 42 undergraduate students filled in a survey with short answers regarding their general attitudes towards web-based instruction, its advantages and disadvantages, and opinions about its contribution to their own learning. The quantitative strand used a questionnaire, which was completed online by 117 students. The data analyses reveal that students think the online program has contributed to the development of their English skills. Most of the students think the online tool is a rich resource which provides them with the flexibility and independence to learn on their own. Perceived disadvantages include the workload, difficult questions, long articles and technical problems. Variables such as gender and years in the university are linked to some differences in perceptions, but students' discipline and level of internet use were not linked to a significant difference in perceptions.

The Relative Importance of Social Media for Accessing, Finding, and Engaging with News

The growing use of social media like Facebook and Twitter is in the process of changing how news is produced, disseminated, and discussed. But so far, we have only a preliminary understanding of (1) how important social media are as sources of news relative to other media, (2) the extent to which people use them to find news, (3) how many use them to engage in more participatory forms of news use, and (4) whether these developments are similar within countries with otherwise comparable levels of technological development. Based on data from a cross-country online survey of news media use, we present a comparative analysis of the relative importance of social media for news in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, covering eight developed democracies with different media systems. We show that television remains both the most widely used and most important source of news in all these countries, and that even print newspapers are still more widely used and seen as more important sources of news than social media. We identify a set of similarities in terms of the growing importance of social media as part of people’s cross-media news habits, but also important country-to-country differences, in particular in terms of how widespread the more active and participatory forms of media use are. Surprisingly, these differences do not correspond to differences in levels of internet use, suggesting that more than mere availability shapes the role of social media as parts of people’s news habits.

Assessment of the digital competence in Russian adolescents and parents: Digital Competence Index

European population studies of the online risks in adolescents clearly demonstrate (Livingstone & Haddon, 2009) that high level of Internet use in modern children does not indicate that they are skilled enough to feel safe online. In the Russian part of this study (Soldatova et al., 2013), it was shown that Russian children had more frequently online risks, but neither adolescents nor their parents were well- informed and well-skilled to cope with them (Soldatova & Zotova, 2012). Therefore, the problem of online children safety in Russia is more urgent compared with Western Europe, which has a long history of development and implementation of social psychological programs aimed to improve and to regulate online risks. Many approaches are being actively developed in Russia currently to overcome the situation (Kuz'min & Parshakova, 2013; Media and informational literacy..., 2012), but they typically do not suggest reliable assessment strategies and are not based on empirical data. The aim of the study was to develop a psychological model of competence and an instrument for its assessment that would be feasible, reliable and valid for evaluating not only the efficacy of the social programs but also their impacts (Prochaska et al, 2008).Digital and competenceThe term literacy gained popularity because of a book by Pol Gilster (1997), who defined it as the capability to critically understand and use information that is received by a computer in various formats and from various sources. This definition was confirmed by Allan Martin (Martin & Madigan, 2006) as the consciousness, attitudes and capability of a person to appropriately use instruments as well as instruments of identification, access, management, integration, appraisal, analysis and synthesis of the resources both for creating new systems of knowledge and communication with others.Further extension of this definition as a competence (Ilomaki et al., 2011) is explained by two main factors. First, rapid increase in the Internet use and popularity in children and adolescents changes its role as a specific activity to the role of the whole world, with the opportunities and activities that are as diverse as in the offline world. Under these conditions, analysis of the critical relationship to the information should include not only knowledge and skills but also motivation, values, and online activity type. Second, the list of social relationships and roles that could be maintained using the Internet became much wider than and programmer. In this context, some authors suggest analyzing the Internet as a place of special culture and citizenship (Mossberger et al., 2008), emphasizing the importance of understanding social relationships on the Internet. Based on these ideas, we considered competence as a part of social competence (Asmolov & Soldatova, 2006) that should be analyzed through understanding knowledge, skills, beliefs, motivation and behavior on the Internet.Psychological model of competenceWe define competence as a personal capability and readiness to make confident, effective, critical and safe choices and the implementation of the info- communication technologies in various domains (informational environment, communication, consumption and techno-sphere) that is based on continuous learning competencies (system of knowledge, skills, motivation and responsibility). In other words, competence is not only the amount of general user and professional knowledge and skills, which are presented in various models of ICT competence and information competence, but also the emphasis on the effective activity and personal relationship to this activity based on a sense of responsibility.Consideration of responsibility as a component of competence requires an understanding of the rights and duties of the digital citizen, as well as rules of behavior in the world. …

A pilot study examining depressive symptoms, Internet use, and sexual risk behaviour among Asian men who have sex with men

In the present paper, we present a preliminary examination of the association of depression level, internet use, meeting sexual partners online, and unprotected sexual activity among Asian men who have sex with men (MSM). Because depression level has been previously linked to increased levels of sexual risk behavior, and heightened levels of Internet use has been linked to greater depressive symptoms, the present pilot research jointly examines these factors. We found that those with higher levels of depression, measured using the CES-D, spent more time online, met significantly more sexual partners online, and reported a significantly higher number of unprotected sexual acts. Based on this initial evidence, we conclude that incorporating CES-D to screen for depression can serve as an important tool for addressing underlying dynamics of sexual risk behaviors.

Internet use in an orthopaedic outpatient population

Background Over 60% of people nationally now have internet access. We aimed to assess the level of access to the internet within our practice population and gauge the level of internet use by these patients. Methods This was a questionnaire-based study. Patients attending a mixture of trauma and elective outpatient clinics were invited to complete a questionnaire collecting basic demographic details and history of information seeking. Results Two-hundred and nintey-two patients completed the questionnaire (146 men, 146 women). Seventeen were incomplete and excluded from final analysis. Multiple logistic regression found younger age (O.R. 2.22 in 20-35 age group), possession of health insurance (O.R. 2.65) and higher levels of education (O.R. 8.22 for tertiary education) all were significantly associated with a higher level of access to the internet. Among patients with internet access, a second regression analysis showed that a positive history of surgery (O.R. 2.82) and possession of a trade qualification (O.R. 5.15) were the best predictors of internet use to research a patient’s orthopaedic condition. Conclusions Our study was consistent with previous studies showing that younger and better educated patients had greater access to the internet. We believe there is a niche for increased information provision for those patients who require surgery, but we must be aware that access is not available to everyone in the community.

Travel and Social Media in China: From Transit Hubs to Stardom

This paper investigates how the concept of self-organized travel in China is shaped by travellers' engagement with social media. The investigation reveals some of the dynamics behind travel-related postings on the Internet and how the understanding of the Chinese traveller is deepened. The article is intentionally descriptive, and it presupposes two things. First, that an evolvement towards a more advance and sophisticated level of Internet use in China starts around the millennium, and second, that the Chinese reform period had not existed for more than a few years before short distance self-organized travelling within the larger cities became very popular. This form of travelling was often in small groups and centred around local transit hubs. Locals with knowledge about a certain area became self-appointed tour organizers and a self-organized travel phenomenon slowly emerged. This article uses a famous trial from 2006 to exemplify how the bulletin board system (BBS) played a decisive role in creating self-organized travel in China and thus describes how Chinese self-organized travel developed on the Internet. By proving a link between the BBS and self-organized travelling the groundwork is laid for describing how social media and self-organized travel are related. The article follows the concept of donkey friends to show that postings on a BBS were a premature form of social media postings and that the period between the first BBS travel postings and the first Sina blogs can be classified as the origin of an Internet-based travel community in China. The users of these blogs and BBS developed into celebrities who excelled in self-organized travel. They used travelling as a way to distinguish themselves from other bloggers. The article then investigates how social media is used to promote travelling by different agents in the travel market. Again the trendsetting bloggers provide a link between promotion and social media. There will be a short introduction of the statistics on Chinese social media and a prediction of future trends followed by some concluding remarks.

Patterns of internet use by parents of children attending a pediatric surgical service

The internet has revolutionised the way we search for information. We determined the level of internet use by parents of children attending general surgical services and identified trends in online information-seeking behaviour. A questionnaire based on the work by Boston and Tassone was distributed to parents attending both the day surgical units and surgical outpatients department in a paediatric tertiary referral centre. There were 214 (82.3%) questionnaires returned, with 82 (38.3%) of respondents having searched the internet regarding their child's surgical issue. Access to a smartphone, a university education and private health insurance were factors that positively influenced online searching (p<0.005). Of those respondents who searched the internet, 42 (51%) felt that information they found online was understandable, while only 14 (17%) admitted to online sourced information influencing the treatment decisions they had made for their children. When asked to rank information sources on Likert-type scales in terms of importance; parents ranked the surgeon as most important (mean=4.73), whilst the internet ranked lowest (mean=3.02). We demonstrated significant use of the internet amongst those attending paediatric general surgical services. Clinician sourced information remains important, however we should engage with patients to utilise this vast resource effectively.

Elderly Persons and Internet Use

The inclusion of the elderly in the digital era could positively impact their social and economic welfare. However, their level of Internet use is relatively low in Spain compared to other sectors of the population. The present study aims to explain the Internet use in this segment, capturing the heterogeneity across gender in the technology acceptance model (TAM). A sample of 492 individuals over 50 years old has been analyzed using the multigroup approach of structural equations models. The results show that although TAM is suitable for studying the phenomenon, it is necessary to consider how the gender gap in the Internet use development is real for seniors. Contrary to previous results that pointed to a greater importance of the ease of use for women than men among Internet users, male elders seem to perceive more usefulness due to higher levels of ease of use than woman. This ease of use is also better explained by the level of enjoyment for males. All these results point to unique gender differences for older adults in their Internet use.

Why are children attracted to the Internet? The role of need satisfaction perceived online and perceived in daily real life

From the perspective of self-determination theory, this study investigated the motivations for children’s Internet use by examining how basic psychological need satisfaction, perceived online and perceived in daily real life, affects children’s Internet use outcomes. A total of 637 elementary school students from China took participated in this study. The results from structural equation modeling showed that need satisfaction perceived online predicted higher levels of Internet use and more positive affect experienced online, whereas need satisfaction perceived in daily real life predicted less time spent online, less negative affect, and more positive affect. Both inherent properties of the experiences provided by the Internet and children’s social backgrounds contribute to Internet use outcomes. This study supports self-determination theory in explaining children’s Internet use motivations. Implications for efforts to encourage appropriate Internet use and directions for future research are discussed.

El uso de Internet y las actitudes políticas: Datos cuantitativos y cualitativos de España

In this paper we argue that the widespread use of new technologies may contribute to a change in political attitudes in democracies in industrialized developed countries. The interactivity and cross-cutting nature of new technologies means they allow easier access to information. This can stimulate interest, encourage a sense of political effectiveness, and a preference for direct democracy. This hypothesis is evaluated using original qualitative and quantitative data collected in Spain. Data drawn from a study on the Internet and political participation are used in conjunction with data from a qualitative study of two focus groups comprising young middle-class citizens, segmented by their level of Internet use. We find Internet users to be clearly more interested in politics and to display higher levels of internal efficacy than nonusers, even after controlling for a variety of sociodemographic and attitudinal factors. The focus groups provided insights into the mechanisms underlying the differences detected between Internet users and nonusers.

The changing role of librarians in the digital world

PurposeThe aim of this study was to explore the pattern and extent of the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies by Pakistani librarians.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted using web‐based surveying software (SurveyMonkey) and Pakistan based LIS e‐mail discussion groups. Professional librarians serving in all types of libraries participated in the study.FindingsInstant messaging, blogs, social networking and wikis were the most popular Web 2.0 technologies. Librarians adopted such technologies in their professional and personal lives. Gender, length of professional experience and place of work have no effect on the frequency of use, while perceived skill level of internet use and perceived ease of Web 2.0 use have a significant effect on the frequency. Lack of computer literacy, and lower availability of computers and internet facilities were the major hindrances of Web 2.0 adoption by librarians. Awareness and training programs could enable librarians to cope with Web 2.0 technologies.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the use of a non‐probability/non‐representative sampling method, the results cannot be generalized.Practical implicationsThis study will create awareness among LIS professionals toward the use of advanced technology in their professional environment. The findings of this study will contribute to the successful adoption of Web 2.0 in libraries.Originality/valueThis is the first study on the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in Pakistani librarianship.

Internet use by parents of children attending a dedicated scoliosis outpatient clinic

No information exists on the level of internet use among parents of pediatric patients with scoliosis. The internet may represent a medium through which to provide information to augment the outpatient consultation. The aim of this research was to establish the prevalence of internet use amongst a cohort of parents attending a pediatric scoliosis outpatient clinic. A previously used questionnaire (Baker et al., Eur Spine J, 19:1776-1779, 2010) was distributed to parents attending a dedicated scoliosis outpatient clinic with their children. Demographic data and details about use of the internet were collected. Fifty-eight percent of respondents had used the internet to search for information on scoliosis, and 94% were interested in a local internet provided information provision. A positive history of corrective surgery and possession of health insurance were independent positive predictors of internet use. As surgeons we need to be aware of our patients' use of the internet, and there is the opportunity to use this medium to provide additional education.

Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Information Technologies and the Fuzzy Causes of the Arab Spring

It has been 15 years since the last wave of democratization. In the “third wave” between 1989 and 1995, many remnants of the Soviet Union and failed authoritarian regimes in other parts of the world turned themselves into variously functional electoral democracies. Around the world, roughly three in every five states held a democratic form by 2010. But as a region, North Africa and the Middle East were noticeably devoid of popular democracy movements — until the early months of 2011. Between January and April 2011 public demand for political and economic reform cascaded from Tunis to Cairo, Sanaa, Amman and Manama. Democratization movements had existed long before technologies like mobile phones and the Internet came to these countries. But with these technologies, people sharing an interest in democracy built extensive networks and activated collective action movements for political change. What might have made regimes more susceptible than others to popular uprisings, and what might explain the relative successes of some movements more than others? What role does information technology have in the modern recipe for democratization? Weighing multiple political, economic, and cultural conditions, we find that information infrastructure — especially mobile phone use — consistently appears as one of the key ingredients in parsimonious models for the conjoined combinations of causes behind social movement success during the Arab Spring. Internet use is relevant in some solution sets, but by causal logic it is actually low levels of internet use and internet censorship that results in regime durability. In other words, a relative small population of internet users and low levels of digital censorship makes for a less fragile regime, while relatively high levels of mobile phone use was a causal contributor to social movement success.

Adolescents’ over-use of the cyber world – Internet addiction or identity exploration?

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the Internet can serve as a valuable tool assisting adolescents in pursuing the developmentally-related need for self concept clarity. Participants in the study were 278 adolescents (48.5% girls; 7th–9th graders) who completed questionnaires relating to their levels of Internet use, Internet addiction, ego development, self consciousness, self-concept clarity, and personal demographic data. The study results support the general notion that adolescents’ level of self-clarity is negatively related to Internet addiction and over-use. Hence, it is suggested that future studies on adolescents’ Internet over-use should use qualitative rather than quantitative conceptualization and measurements in order to properly explore such a behavior and its, either positive or negative, implications. A differentiation is proposed between over-users, heavy users, and addicted users. Namely, over-users and heavy users utilize the Internet for age-related and modern-life-related purposes, and hence should not be labeled as addicted. Implications for the measurement, definition, and treatment of Internet over-use are suggested.