Study Of Internet Use Research Articles

Growing old in the digital era: a qualitative study of internet use and outcomes among urban Indian older adults

PurposeThis study acknowledges the existing digital divide in India, particularly for marginalised populations, and highlights the need for exceptional attention to address their unique needs, challenges and demands. Although previous research and policies have primarily focused on physical access and internet skills, this study shifts the focus to the outcomes of internet use. By understanding how older adults in marginalised communities incorporate the internet into their daily routines, this study aims to contribute to the development of an operational framework that charts the disadvantages of the digital divide.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws from Helsper’s (2015) internet outcomes framework to identify the outcomes that older adults can derive from being online. By using a qualitative approach, the study seeks to understand how educational and economic backgrounds influence internet usage among older adults and how this can promote advantageous internet use.FindingsThe findings indicate that highly educated individuals are more likely to experience positive outcomes across various societal domains than their less educated counterparts. However, it was observed that the highly educated participants also try to limit the impact of internet use on their personal lives by intentionally disconnecting from the internet whenever possible.Research limitations/implicationsBy offering programmes and interventions to encourage internet use and improve digital skills, as well as by enhancing digital accessibility and incentive systems, the government should go forward with its plan to close the outcomes gap in internet use among older adults. For policymakers, it turns the spotlight on creating an environment conducive to the digital inclusion of older adults, consistent with sociocultural structures.Originality/valueThis study contributes to understanding the nuanced dynamics of internet use among older adults, shedding light on the role of educational background and sociocultural factors in shaping internet outcomes. It highlights the need to consider qualitative approaches in digital inequality research to capture the complexities underlying the digital divide.

Converging cultures of communication: A comparative study of Internet use in China, Europe, and the United States

Global Internet use is circumscribed by local political and economic institutions and inscribed in distinctive cultural practices. This article presents a comparative study of Internet use in China, the United States, and five European countries. The empirical findings suggest a convergence of cultures, specifically regarding interpersonal communication, alongside characteristic national and sociodemographic configurations of different prototypes of human communication. Drawing on the classic understanding of communication as a cultural process producing, maintaining, repairing, and transforming a shared reality, we interpret such configurations as cultures of communication, which can be seen to differ, overlap, and converge across regions in distinctive ways. Looking beyond traditional media systems, we call for further cross-cultural research on the Internet as a generic communication system joining global and local forms of interaction.

Mainframes and mandarins: The impact of internet use on institutional trust in East Asia

The roles of contextual determinants such as culture and political regime in existing studies of Internet use and institutional trust remain underexplored. Adopting a cultural-institutional perspective, we ask: How does Internet use relate to institutional trust? Under what conditions is the impact of Internet use on institutional trust most potent? Do authoritarian orientation and perceived institutional responsiveness mediate the relationship? Is this mediating process moderated by the degree of democratic freedom? A total of 20,667 respondents from 14 East Asian countries/territories completed questionnaires. Our results show that the indirect effect of Internet use on institutional trust via authoritarian orientation was stronger for countries/territories with a low degree of democratic freedom, while the indirect effect of Internet use on institutional trust via perceived institutional responsiveness was stronger for countries/territories with a higher degree of democratic freedom.

Religious-Social Shaping of Technology Approach to Internet Use by an Urban Islamic Group in Indonesia

The perspective of religious groups about the internet in general can be arranged into two dichotomous categories, first, religious groups see the internet as something that must be rejected because it is identical with modernity that tends to be secular; second, is the opposite, that internet technology can be accepted by religious groups to support their various religious goals. Through the Religious-Social Shaping of Technology approach, this article observes that religious groups use and negotiate with technology for their religious purposes. This study applies a qualitative approach with in-depth interviews with administrators and members of religious groups. Based on the use of the internet by the Majelis Rasulullah, an urban Islamic group in Indonesia, this article discovers that the principles and values of group beliefs, as well as the group's goals and discourse about the internet influence the group's decision to accept the internet as part of group activities. In addition, this article also shows that internet use by religious groups has succeeded in changing group communication between group leaders and members from predominantly one-way and very limited into an interactive one. In addition, through internet use, the group has succeeded in building an online transaction system, showing that religious groups are no longer merely a religious discussion forum, but also a business entity. This article significantly enriches the study of internet use by religious groups in the Indonesian context. Keywords: Technology, Internet, religious, group, religious-social shaping of technology.

LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF INTERNET USE PATTERNS AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN THE U.S.

AbstractAnalyses of internet use patterns among older adults using cross-sectional data have found that the rate of internet use is less with age. It is not clear, however, if older adults reduced internet use as they aged or they never used internet to begin with. Factors that affect technology adoption such as accessibility (cost and complexity of use) and social influences could change over time and influence internet use patterns. To investigate these issues we conducted a longitudinal study of internet use among older adults aged 50 and above from 2002–2014. We analyzed longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study using mixed effects logistic regression model to estimate the effect that various factors have on the likelihood of using internet in a given year. Rate of internet use in the sample increased from 30% in 2002 to 51% in 2014. After accounting for socio-demographic variables and several health and functional limitation indicators, we found significant cohort effects. Rate of internet use among younger age groups (50–69) was significantly higher in the baseline year and it also increased at a significant rate over time. Age groups 70 and older have significantly lower baseline rate of internet use and the change over time is mostly insignificant or small. Decline in internet use was associated with increasing impairments in vision, cognition, mobility and fine motor skills. Results inform researchers about internet use patterns in their target population and help determine when efforts will be required to ensure effective utilization of technology-based interventions.

インターネット利用に関する日韓大学生比較研究 : 利用動機・効用の分析を中心に

インターネット利用に関する日韓大学生比較研究 : 利用動機・効用の分析を中心に

The Study of Internet Use and Academic Achievement of Elementary Students in Bangkok

<p>The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between internet usage behavior and academic achievement among elementary school students from grade 4-6 in Bangkok. The researcher employed Multi-stage Sampling to recruit 297 samples. The data was gathered via the following tests: 1) Intelligence tests, namely Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) for students aged 5-11 year old or Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) for 12 year old and above, and 2) Academic achievement test, namely Wide Range Achievement Test Thai Edition: WRAT-Thai. The findings revealed that time spent on the internet is negatively correlated to student’s reading achievement (r = -.24, p < .001), spelling achievement (r = -.26, p < .001), and math achievement (r = -.20, p = .001). More surprisingly, academic related internet usage was also found to be negatively correlated to math achievement (r = -.20, p < 0.05). Meanwhile, internet usage for social media has a correlation with academic achievement in math and reading, (r = -.20, p = .001) and (r = -.13, p < .05), respectively. Moreover, internet usage for entertainment was found to have a negative correlation with academic achievement in reading, spelling and math, (r = -.25, p < .001), (r = -.27, p < .001) and (r = -.21, p < .001), respectively. Internet usage for online business, however, yielded no correlation to academic achievement. The study concluded that daily internet usage does have an effect on academic achievement in math. Moreover, when used for entertainment and social media, internet usage can pose a negative effect on academic achievement in reading and writing.</p>

Psychological adaptation in the info-communication society: The revised version of Technology-Related Psychological Consequences Questionnaire

The traditional focus of psychological studies of adaptation in the info-communication society is on problematic use or misuse (e.g., Bianchi, Phillips, 2005) and technology addiction (Griffiths, 2000, 2005). However even in the addiction studies, it remains clear that there are a plenty of technology-related psychological and social changes (e.g., in beliefs, expectations, personality, communication) that should be taken into account (How technology..., 2009, Larkin et al., 2006, Byun et al., 2009, Tian et al., 2009). The behavioral consequences are sometimes ambiguous allow one distinguish between adaptation disorder and benign or beneficial adaptation, which raises questions with respect the qualitative analysis of the psychological experience (Griffiths, 2010, Madell, Muncher, 2004). Population studies of Internet use in the EU (Livingstone, Haddon, 2009, Livingstone, Helsper, 2008) and in Russia (Soldatova et al., 2013, Soldatova, Zotova, 2012) have demonstrated a clear need for a shift in attention from the likelihood of risks connected with Internet use the psychological (e.g., emotions, coping etc.) and social (e.g., parental mediation) factors underlying reactions, feelings and behavior.The aim of this paper is consider technology-related changes in psychological needs and boundaries that could affect personal adaptation the info-communication society beyond and in interaction with problematic or addictive use. Based on the psychological model of the consequences of technology use (Emelin et al., 2012a), we have developed a revised version of the Technology-Related Psychological Consequences Questionnaire (Emelin et al., 2012b) and suggest some ways in which it may be applied the psychological aspects of difficulty adapting new technology.Psychological model of consequences of technology use: a framework for empirical studiesAccording the model (Emelin et al., 2012a) there are technology-related psychological transformations that are typical for a population which can mediate subjective well-being, technology use and technology-related emotional and behavioral problems. One possible transformation is the perception that gadgets or a new technology are or even too necessary for a person. This hypothesis is in concordance with the data (Walsh, White, 2007) that technology use is closely related subjective appraisals of its controllability and the development of a technology-related identity (self-identity, similarity with the prototype, emotional appraisal of the prototype). A similar idea was suggested by L. Srivastava (2005) in the concept of personalization. One criteria of excessive use is when people al- low themselves develop a mindset where personal gadgets (e.g., mobile phones) are indispensable and perceived as always necessary. Another technology-related change involves one's perceived sphere of needs (e.g., Srivastava, 2005). Both technology and gadgets obtain some additional meaning for a person (e.g., to have an expensive mobile phone means to look decent), and the transformation of existing or creation of new needs (e.g., the need own an impressive mobile phone). The third transformation was described by Marshall McLuhan (McLuhan, 1964) as a subjective extension of human boundaries. In the previous study, we suggested that a distinction be made between two aspects of this component. Due a new technology, a person may reach and control many more objects and people thanearlier (boundaries extension) but has far more potential be reachable by others(boundaries violation).Measurement of technology-related changes in needs and psychological boundariesIn accordance with the theoretical paradigm, methodological studies either focus on the measurement of the epidemiology of technology use, technology-related risks and factors that decrease them (Livingstone, Haddon, 2009) or on problematic use or technology addiction (Griffiths, 2000, Bianchi, Phillips, 2005, Rutland et al. …

Agreeing in Ignorance: Mapping the Routinisation of Consent in ICT-Services

Many ICT services require that users explicitly consent to conditions of use and policies for the protection of personal information. This consent may become 'routinised'. We define the concept of routinisation and investigate to what extent routinisation occurs as well as the factors influencing routinisation in a survey study of internet use. We show that routinisation is common and that it is influenced by factors including gender, age, educational level and average daily internet use. We further explore the reasons users provide for not reading conditions and policies and show that they can be grouped in meaningful ways that may delineate different types of routinsation.

A Study of Internet Use in EFL Teaching and Learning in Northwest China

Internet has been researched and employed as an educational tool by teachers and researchers in many countries in recent years. This paper explores Internet use in EFL teaching and learning in universities in Northwest China. A quantitive research was conducted among college teachers and students. The result indicates that both teachers and students are not well prepared for the use of Internet in EFL teaching and learning. Based on the result, this paper presents three suggests: developing an EFL teaching and learning website; sharing the various English resources; cultivating teacher and learner autonomy.

Technology hype versus enduring uses: A longitudinal study of Internet use among early adopters in an African city

This paper considers a set of early adopters of the Internet first encountered by the author in the Internet cafés of Accra, Ghana. The analysis draws from long–term ethnographic research and paired interviews with key informants separated by a six–year interval to identify and explain different trajectories of changing use of the Internet over time. Changes in use followed one of three general patterns: (1) intensification, (2) reorientation, or (3) discontinuance. These changes were linked to the life circumstances of individual users, their immediate social context of use, as well as broader societal shifts in the perception of the Internet in Ghana. This article critiques an implicit theory of technology in society in socio–economic development work targeting low–income countries like Ghana by showing how assessments of technology’s efficacy by users are culturally shaped and prone to change over time.

An Empirical Study of Internet Use in Saudian's Small and Mediums Enterprises

Employing the Internet as a tool can help address some of the critical issues affecting SMEs in Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, such as increased global competition, increased consumer demand for quality, increased partnerships between large/intermediate and small businesses, rapidly changing market environment, growing need for immediate access to current business information from a variety of sources, The purpose of this study was to assess the current level of Internet usage as a business tool by SMEs that formed the basis for an earlier study, The small companies have experienced a variety of difficulties in their adoption of the Internet as a business tool, and there have been a variety of benefits realized by small companies. Lastly, they have experienced problems such as cost increases since their adoption of the Internet as a business tool.

Digital Prefigurative Participation: The Entwinement of Online Communication and Offline Participation in Protest Events

This article reviews the main findings of a three-year empirical study that examined the possible contribution of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to participation in offline social movement protest events. Participation was examined as manifest in mobilization, identity building and organizational transformation. Digital prefigurative participation is a tentative construct that attempts to capture the CMC aspect of engagement in the three processes. The participatory processes were probed in the contrasting circumstances of high- and low-risk protest events. This distinction has revealed some important differences in the structural factors that foster participation, primary among which has been organizational affiliation. Yet, it has remained largely unexplored in studies of internet use in protest politics. Findings from two case studies of environmental protests in Romania and the UK suggest that digital prefigurative participation may be extensive among unaffiliated participants at a low-risk event and the affiliated at a high-risk one.

Digital prefigurative participation: The entwinement of online communication and offline participation in protest events

This article reviews the main findings of a three-year empirical study that examined the possible contribution of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to participation in offline social movement protest events. Participation was examined as manifest in mobilization, identity building and organizational transformation. Digital prefigurative participation is a tentative construct that attempts to capture the CMC aspect of engagement in the three processes. The participatory processes were probed in the contrasting circumstances of high- and low-risk protest events. This distinction has revealed some important differences in the structural factors that foster participation, primary among which has been organizational affiliation. Yet, it has remained largely unexplored in studies of internet use in protest politics. Findings from two case studies of environmental protests in Romania and the UK suggest that digital prefigurative participation may be extensive among unaffiliated participants at a low-risk event and the affiliated at a high-risk one.

Representação social do idoso do Distrito Federal e sua inserção social no mundo contemporâneo a partir da Internet

Sendo o estudo do uso da internet pelos idosos um tema recente na gerontologia, este artigo relata uma pesquisa que levou em consideração a inserção dos idosos na sociedade das tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TIC) a partir da teoria da representação social dos idosos, que residem no Distrito Federal e acessam a internet. Tem como objetivo discutir e analisar a construção das representações sociais dos idosos residentes no Distrito Federal sobre a internet, na busca de verificar se os idosos estão acompanhando as profundas transformações da sociedade das tecnologias informacionais e comunicacionais. Como procedimento metodológico adotou-se a observação, a entrevista semi-estruturada, o programa ALCESTE para a análise de conteúdo, que conta a quantidade de unidades de contexto elementares (UCE), que correspondem à idéia de frase mais calibrada em função do tamanho do texto, avaliada em número de palavras analisadas e conforme a ordem de prioridade. Verificou-se que há um rompimento da visão negativa de que a velhice é uma fatalidade e um tempo de solidão, porque novas possibilidades se abrem para os idosos com a internet, que pode inseri-los no mundo contemporâneo, permitindo-lhes criar novos laços de amizade e novas interações sociais.

The Internet: every good thing has a dark side.

Worry about problematic effects of communication technology is not new. “When the ingenious Sumerian who invented writing first carved those cuneiform symbols in stone along the Tigris river some 6000 years ago, a skeptic standing nearby predicted with concerned countenance that people would soon stop talking to each other” 1. Other forms of communication have been seen as problematic, either by replacing earlier venerable and valuable communications or causing vulnerable souls to suffer from a surfeit of the new technology. Printing presses displaced scribes and, as widespread reading became possible, probably produced some problematic excessive readers. The telegraph sped communication and may have created a few compulsive Morse coders amongst the small cadre of telegraphers. Certainly telephoning in its rapid evolution has captured some so completely that they are the butt of jokes about their affliction and certifiable dangers when phoning while driving. The Internet, with its myriad media – text, voice, video, graphics, etc. – and made ever easier to use even in a hand held device, is surely a candidate for problematic use. Internet non-users are denied its many benefits; at some level, increased use becomes excessive and problematic. It is to these individuals that Aboujaoude’s skillful overview directs our attention through descriptions and definitions of problematic use, its diagnosis, prevalence, comorbidities, and treatment. Many human behaviors can be characterized under a bell shaped curve, with the majority distributed normally under the large middle of the bell and extreme deviations from the normal distribution extruded into the tails at the periphery. While the concept of problematic human behaviors at the tails of a normal distribution is longstanding, it is early days in our study of Internet use. Some doubt there is any Internet problem. But clinicians have begun to see and report patients who are obviously troubled, falling clearly within the broad definition of a clinical disorder causing distress, dysfunction or both. Early observers have described the phenomenon as excessive Internet use (EIU), Internet addiction (IA), pathological Internet use (PIU), compulsive Internet use (CIU), and impulsive compulsive Internet usage disorder (IC-IUD). Since Internet use causing distress/dysfunction exhibits elements of addiction, impulsivity, compulsivity, and obsessionality, with their implied underlying pathophysiologies as well as other descriptors (e.g., ego syntonic and ego dystonic), the choice of the broader “problematic Internet use” (also PIU) is appropriate at this time. As course, prognosis, temporal stability, pathophysiology and response to treatment are better understood, a more accurate diagnostic label may be possible. Faced with an incomplete understanding of problematic Internet use, clinicians must still treat those with distress/dysfunction. While diagnosis should precede treatment, precise diagnosis may be impossible. Even with a diagnostic model that appears to explain a disorder, we are not greatly surprised when an expected efficacious treatment does not work. Some dogs have lice, some dogs have fleas and some have lice and fleas. Honest uncertainty leads to empirical trials until a treatment is found that works, spontaneous remission occurs, or the patient or therapist dies. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors have shown some benefit in PIU, perhaps addressing elements of obsessive-compulsive disorder, impulse control disorders or comorbid depression. Still, Osler’s aphorism rings true: “if many drugs are used for a disease, all are insufficient”. Cognitive behavior therapy with emphasis on exposure and ritual prevention, daily record keeping, time management skills, assertive communication, and cognitive restructuring appears at least as helpful as medications. Exercise, with demonstrated benefit in depression and when substituted as another healthier addiction, may prove helpful for PIU. That “no horse has ever run itself to death without a man on its back” reminds us that rapidly increased frequency and duration of exercise often causes injuries, confirming that every effective treatment is a double-edged sword. One cartoon caricatured clinician declaimed to a forlorn patient: “Modern medical science has no explanation or cure for your malady. Fortunately for you, I happen to be a quack”. Alternative therapies such as acupuncture, hypnosis, eye movement desensitization and herbal remedies will be bought by desperate and gullible souls suffering many maladies based on testimonials and in the absence of sound evidence. Aboujaoude properly concludes by emphasizing the “dramatic changes that our society is undergoing as a result of the Internet revolution” and encourages us “to try to bridge the gap” between what little is known and our clinical need to know about the “pathological use of electronic media” (PUEM – one final acronym).

Problematic use in context

Problematic use in context

Letter

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article LetterFull AccessLetterJoanne Nicholson Ph.D.Armando J. Rotondi Ph.D.Joanne Nicholson Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorArmando J. Rotondi Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Jan 2010https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2010.61.1.96aAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail The Internet, Health Promotion, and Community ParticipationTo the Editor: Health, wellness, and full participation in life activities take on new meaning in the 21st century, when community is no longer simply defined by neighborhood boundaries, racial or ethnic background, or social class and when health care is no longer characterized by a visit to the doctor or the hospital. New media technologies, Web environments, and mobile devices provide access to virtual opportunities for active information seeking and shaping, real-time interaction and relationship building, and collaborative community involvement ( 1 ). Although the Internet and the participatory media culture provide support for patient-driven health care, innovative patient communities, and the development of new health care models ( 2 ), these media may present additional barriers and thus contribute to emerging disparities in health and health care and further community disenfranchisement for individuals with serious mental illness. These individuals, who are at high risk of health conditions that shorten their lives considerably, may benefit most from access to online health education information, treatment guidelines, advocacy materials, and peer support and networking opportunities. However, as Borzekowski and colleagues ( 3 ) reported in the September 2009 issue, only a third of the 100 participants with serious mental illness in their study used the Internet, and only a small percentage had ever gone online to find pertinent health information. Data for the study, which were obtained from patients at community treatment sites, are consistent with earlier findings from the Pew Internet and American Life Project that only half of persons who were living with a disability or chronic disease had gone online, compared with 74% of those with no chronic condition ( 4 ). The Pew study found that far fewer individuals with disabilities had searched for mental health-related information (30%) than for information about a specific disease or general medical problem (73%). Taken together, these findings suggest that individuals disabled by serious mental illness may be least likely among persons living with disability or chronic disease to use the Internet as a tool for health promotion. We applaud Borzekowski and colleagues' conclusion that challenges such as the cost of access and lack of training must be overcome for people with serious mental illness to take full advantage of the Internet ( 3 ). However, we would like to underscore further, as the authors briefly suggest, that individuals with serious mental illness are particularly disadvantaged by the lack of accommodations in Web design that would allow them to overcome barriers to Internet use that result from possible illness-related impairments in cognition, concentration, executive function, and motor control. The work of Rotondi and colleagues ( 5 ) suggests that Web applications must be developed with the needs and challenges of individuals with serious mental illness in mind. Design considerations include the benefits of a flat hierarchy, explicit labeling, lower-level modules, familiar phrasing, and text presented at a lower reading level ( 5 ). Findings from studies of Internet use suggest the need for design accommodations if further disparities in access to health information, intervention resources, and peer supports are to be avoided. As Web-based applications involve increasingly more complex skills, opportunities for health promotion may be lost. Individuals with serious mental illness may become even less able or less likely to participate in the community provided by the world online.Dr. Nicholson is affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Family Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester. Dr. Rotondi is with the Department of Critical care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, and the Veterans Affairs Integrated Service Network 4 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Pittsburgh.

Election Campaigns on the Internet

This article investigates whether political use of the Internet affects users politically. Using a combination of log- and survey data from a study of Internet use during the Danish 2007 parliamentary election, a number of hypotheses are tested. The investigation finds that 30% of the survey respondents say they are influenced politically by their Internet use. However, they are only modestly influenced when it comes to “core values” such as party choice or important political issues, while respondents are affected more in terms of general political opinions and opinions on different candidates. Political interest is found to act as an important determinant for political activity on the Internet, and certain types of uses are found to have more profound political effects than others. Somewhat paradoxically—but in line with Zaller (1992) — those indicating they are “little” or “somewhat” interested in politics are found to be the most politically affected.

59: Multicenter Study of Internet Use by Emergency Department Patients in Boston

The Internet is an important source of health information. We sought to examine emergency department patients' Internet use for health information and its relation with ED utilization. We also sought to determine patients' willingness to use the Internet for participation in future research.