Conceptualizing the (non) users of the internet

Most studies about internet use examine how usage differs among users and why. Less attention has been paid to the varied degrees of non-use or low levels of use. Non-adopters of digital media are usually understood as not having access to digital media. However, there is a considerable variation among them with regards to how and why they lack the connectivity. Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge those who do have access but use the internet only in a limited capacity. Digital exclusion does not only occur among those who do not have access but expands to those who cannot use the internet effectively. A new type of digital exclusion is emerging due to this variation of usage and appropriation. We propose a nuanced approach in defining the various levels of internet non-and low use. Rather than highlighting how social exclusion, therefore the lack of connectivity, leads to digital exclusion, this paper looks at the various contexts in which people might be digital disengaged and therefore digitally excluded.

2013

This paper examines digital engagement through local e-government. Drawing from a local government case study, it suggests that limitations to online civic involvement are often the result of insufficient government reception of, and responses to, citizens’ views. Interviews with local representatives illustrate inadequate digital education and broad reluctance towards civic inclusion in political processes. Nevertheless, the local government established a consultation website to facilitate increased citizen discussion and participation in decision-making. Examination of this website reveals intermittent and generic government responses, with little feedback on how civic views inform the actions undertaken. Citizens’ posts demonstrate disenchantment due to scarce government involvement and identify that the website may be a tokenistic attempt to placate the community. In addition to providing frameworks for online participation, e-government engagement requires governments to consid...

Policy & Internet, 2010

As the Internet, and broadband in particular, becomes a platform for social and political engagement, researchers investigate more carefully both the factors that drive broadband adoption and the barriers that constrain it. This paper reports on one of the only large-scale qualitative studies of the barriers to broadband adoption in the United States, where 30% of the population lack broadband access. The primary research question asks: how can we qualitatively understand barriers to broadband adoption among low-income communities? The study's community-based approach, undertaken in four regions of the country, reveals the complex equilibrium of broadband adoption. Drawing from 170 interviews with broadband non-adopters as well as community access providers and other intermediaries, this study finds that price is only one factor shaping home broadband adoption, and that libraries and other community organizations fill the gap between low home adoption and high demand for broadband. These intermediaries compensate for shortages in digital skills that also constitute barriers to adoption in a context where broadband is essential for gaining access to jobs, education, and e-government. These three main findings suggest that low-income people like our research participants are playing roles as actors in an ecology of broadband access games ). In particular, they are overcoming barriers to being online in order to participate in accessing services and gaining education. This is part of the process of defining broadband as an infrastructure for e-democracy. The paper recommends a renewed focus on factors that sustain home access rather than drive demand, as well as support for community intermediaries in provisioning public broadband access within a context of skill shortages. It recommends further qualitative research to -161 -© 2010 Policy Studies Organization better understand the role of diverse populations in framing the value of broadband access.

Information, Communication and …, 2008

Research into reasons for Internet non-use has been mostly based on one-off cohort studies and focused on single-country contexts. This article shows that motivations for being offline changed between 2005 and 2013 among non-and ex-users in two high-diffusion European countries. Analyses of Swedish and British data demonstrate that non-user populations have become more concentrated in vulnerable groups. While traditional digital divide reasons related to a lack of access and skills remain important, motivational reasons increased in importance over time. The ways in which these reasons gain importance for non-and ex-user groups vary, as do explanations for digital exclusion in the different countries. Effective interventions aimed at tackling digital exclusion need to take into consideration national contexts, changing non-user characteristics, and individual experience with the Internet. What worked a decade ago in a particular country might not work currently in a different or even the same country.

Digital exclusion is a phenomenon which nearly impacts all sectors of society, causes inequalities, compromises civic engagement networks and that may lead to social exclusion. This work proposes a debate about the research conducted by Celestino & Valente (2022) on digital exclusion, and aims to identify its nuances within a time period of two decades (2000-2021), as well as its involvements in social, cultural and democratic issues. The phenomenon of digital exclusion has been researched in an holistic approach and geared towards certain groups and specific contexts, but the infrastructural issue is still a major factor in the development of policies and projects for digital inclusion.

papers.ssrn.com

After years of collective indecision, Britain shifted to become a full participant in an increasingly networked world. This paper compares Britain with other European nations and the wider world in its adoption and use of the internet. After years of collective indecision, Britain shifted to become a full participant in an increasingly networked world; supporting the diffusion of the Internet, broadband access, and its use for an increasingly wide range of activities. This paper compares Britain with other European nations and the wider world in its adoption and use of the internet. It draws from the Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) and the World Internet Project (WIP), along with other publicly available data to compare and contrast patterns of adoption, use and impact. Comparative research places Britain in the mainstream of other networked nations. Britons were not early adopters, nor were they laggards. Most have integrated the Internet into their everyday life and work complementing interpersonal communication and other media. In several important respects, Britons have become fuller participants in the network society than many others, such as in using the Internet more often for a wider range of activities. Similar to most developed nations, Britain faces enduring issues over digital inclusion, and in whether to keep pace with global developments in high-speed Internet access and mobile broadband Internet use, in the face of calls for greater regulation of content.

2012

Internet non-users as well as their reasons for being offline. The rich qualitative data are conceptualized and presented according to various reasons for non-use, positive and negative feelings regarding non-use, and the positive as well as negative influence of and dependence on social networks. The comparison shows both unique and common perceptions of the British and Swedish respondents, some of which can be attributed to social, economic, or socio-economic factors. However, it also displays vast differences between middle-aged nonusers in both countries. The analysis paints a complex picture of decisions for and against the use of the Internet and the need for more research to understand these highly complex phenomena, which cannot simply be attributed to socio-economic backgrounds as has been done in most previous research. The analysis shows that more complex reasons, such as lack of interest or discomfort with technologies, as well as the somewhat surprising finding that social networks can prevent non-users from learning how to use the Internet, as it is more convenient to stay a proxy-user, should be considered in future research and policies regarding digital inequalities.

Proceedings of the 48th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2015

Despite many policy interventions, Australia’s rural areas continue to be at a digital disadvantage. With the increasing penetration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into all public and private realms, there is a need to examine the deeply rooted digital divide and how it relates to multiple dimensions of infrastructure, services and demand in rural communities. This paper reports findings from a workshop with seven rural local governments from the State of New South Wales, Australia. The findings suggest that rural digital exclusion results from a multi-layered divide where elements of infrastructure, connectivity and digital engagement are intertwined.

Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications

This chapter examines whether government officials’ deployment of resources to broaden Internet access and participation is influenced by officials’ communication preferences and socioeconomic factors. The concern that the Internet explosion has alienated and marginalized some citizens from the democratic process and civic life has generated intellectual debate and led governments and other sectors to take measures to bridge the gap created by the digital divide. Although several studies have been conducted on the subject, few are yet to be done on the influence of government officials’ communication preferences and socioeconomic factors on resource deployment to broaden access and participation. Drawing on the theories of technological diffusion and determinism, as well as developmental and democratic theories, we argue that officials’ communication preferences and socioeconomic factors will be important in broadening Internet access and participation. Survey data, local government...