Darja Groselj

Dimensions of Internet use: amount, variety, and types

We examine the dimensions of Internet use based on a representative sample of the population of the UK, making three important contributions. First, we clarify theoretical dimensions of Internet use that have been conflated in prior work. We argue that the property space of Internet use has three main dimensions: amount of use, variety of different uses, and types of use. Second, the Oxford Internet Survey 2011 data set contains a comprehensive set of 48 activities ranging from email to online banking to gambling. Using the principal components analysis, we identify 10 distinctive types of Internet activities. This is the first typology of Internet uses to be based on such a comprehensive set of activities. We use regression analyses to validate the three dimensions and to identify the characteristics of the users of each type. Each type has a distinctive and different kind of user. The Internet is an extremely diverse medium. We cannot discuss ‘Internet use’ as a general phenomenon; instead, researchers must specify what kind of use they examine.

Internet (Non-)Use Types and Motivational Access: Implications for Digital Inequalities Research

Research into digital inequalities has shifted from a binary view of Internet use versus non-use to studying gradations in Internet use. However, this research has mostly compared categories of users only. In addition, the role of attitudes in digital inequalities has been largely overlooked. This article addresses these limitations by performing a systematic analysis of factors that distinguish low Internet users from non-users, regular users, and broad users. In addition to socio-demographic characteristics, we examine attitudinal variables. Results drawn from multinomial regressions indicate that attitudes play at least as large a role as socio-economic factors in determining the likelihood of belonging to specific (non-)user categories. This identifies positive attitudes toward technologies and the Internet as a crucial step toward Internet adoption. Hence, digital inequality research needs to consider factors other than traditional socio-economic ones to draw a complete picture.

A webometric analysis of online health information: sponsorship, platform type and link structures

Purpose – This study aims to map the information landscape as it unfolds to users when they search for health topics on general search engines. Website sponsorship, platform type and linking patterns were analysed in order to advance the understanding of the provision of health information online. Design/methodology/approach – The landscape was sampled by ten very different search queries and crawled with VOSON software. Drawing on Rogers framework of information politics on the web, the landscape is described on two levels. The front-end is examined qualitatively by assessing website sponsorship and platform type. On the back-end, linking patterns are analysed using hyperlink network analysis. Findings – A vast majority of the websites have commercial and organisational sponsorship. The analysis of the platform type shows that health information is provided mainly on static homepages, informational portals and general news sites. A comparison of ten different health domains revealed substantial differen...

The role of social support networks in proxy Internet use from the intergenerational solidarity perspective

Abstract Digital inequalities research has documented a set of practices related to people’s Internet use that questions the binary division between Internet users and non-users. In particular, among older adults, a considerably large group of individuals has been identified as not using the Internet by themselves; rather, they ask members of their personal networks to do things online for them—they “use” the Internet by proxy. Since previous research shows that children and grandchildren are important sources of help when it comes to Internet use, the current paper indicates that the notion of intergenerational solidarity is a sound conceptual basis for understanding the relationship between social support networks and proxy Internet use among Internet non-users. Notably, the concept of functional solidarity as a dimension of intergenerational solidarity is advanced, as this relates to the frequency of the intergenerational exchange of resources and services encompassing various types of assistance and support offered between two generations. Empirically, this paper investigates how the two types of social support networks and their characteristics are associated with proxy Internet use. The results from multivariate analyses of survey data from a nation-wide representative sample show that when comparing emotional support and socializing networks, only the latter is associated with proxy Internet use: Internet non-users who have (grand-)children in their socializing support network are more likely to engage in proxy Internet use. The results also indicate that non-users who are younger, more educated, have children, and live in urban areas are more inclined to engage in proxy Internet use, regardless of the type of social support. The findings indicate the importance of empirical investigation related to different aspects of functional solidarity, as the effects on proxy Internet use depend on the type of social support.

Digital divides, usability, and social inclusion: Evidence from the field of E-services in the United Kingdom

Advances in ICT have changed, and continue to change, interactions between service providers and customers. Service industries like health care or consulting traditionally relied on interpersonal “high touch, low tech” (Bitner, Brown, and Meuter 2000: 138) exchanges. Today, however, service providers and customers increasingly interact through virtual, rather than physical interfaces (Breidbach, Kolb, and Srinivasan 2013a). But, service research to date has focused predominantly on face-to-face settings (e.g., Froehle and Roth 2004), while technology-enabled value co-creation processes remain largely unexplored and misunderstood (Breidbach and Maglio 2015). Consequently, the understanding of ICT-enabled service is incomplete, and exploring the broader role and implications of ICT in service represents a key research priority for service science (e.g., Srinivasan, Breidbach, and Kolb 2015) and IS scholars alike (Maglio and Breidbach 2014).This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services on October 2017, available online at: https://www.routledge.com/Social-Inclusion-and-Usability-of-ICT-enabled-Services/Choudrie-Kurnia-Tsatsou/p/book/9781138935556. Under embargo until 30 April 2019.

Mobile Communication Today and Tomorrow

The evolution of mobile is reshaping the future of communication in the digital age. This report identifies emerging patterns of mobile communication and the factors that are shaping its future, including its societal implications. This analysis is used to speculate on alternative scenarios for the future of mobile communication and key developments on which these futures depend. The analyses of trends, and the emerging scenarios they support, are based on a critical overview of existing literature, empirical data on mobile adoption and use, and interviews with experts in mobile and related technologies, communication, and information services. While this review is limited, both with respect to the data available and the range of interviews conducted, it suggests fruitful directions for further research on the future of one of the most important areas of innovation in our digital world.

For what it's worth: digital inequalities, attitudes and a typology of internet (non-)users

This paper addresses limitations of previous digital inequality research through a systematic analysis of factors that distinguish Internet non-users from low users of the Internet, and in turn low users from regular and broad Internet users. In addition to socio-demographic characteristics, we examine the role of attitudes toward technologies and the Internet in gradations of Internet (non)use. Results indicate that apart from socio-demographic characteristics attitudes play a strong role in determining who is online and offline, and also how much and how broadly Internet users engage with these technologies.