INTERNET APPLICATIONS IN THE THIRD WORLD

Internet applications in the Third World



Internet applications in the Third World

Introduction

By the beginning of the 21st century, Internet use had become an established part of the media landscape for young people in many parts of the world. In 2005, an estimated 77 million persons under the age of 18 were online. Whereas English remains the dominant language on the Internet, and the vast majority of young people in North America and the United Kingdom have Internet access, the Asia Pacific region (especially India and China) has experienced the largest growth in Internet use among young people in recent years, followed by an increase in the number of young users in European, Scandinavian, South American, African, and Middle Eastern countries. Most access to the Internet remains disproportionately in the hands of the wealthiest citizens of each of the world's countries, and at this relatively early stage in the life of the Internet, the bulk of the research on young people online has been conducted in the English-speaking countries of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. (Research on mobile media, including Internet access through cell phones, has been especially strong in Scandinavian and Asian countries, however). This entry relies heavily upon research reports about Internet use in regions where it is most common.

Body: Discussion and Analysis

Like their counterparts in other nations, Internet communities in third world exhibit characteristics of two types of virtual community structures. Since the mid1980s, communities of Internet users in China, Japan, and South Korea have emerged from traditional, geographically bounded communities that addressed local, regional or national issues. These communities followed the lead of early geographically based cybercommunities such as The Well in San Francisco and digital communities in Europe. Also as in the West, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean Internet communities have formed through common interests or to address certain issues. Groups of users with common personal interests and the desire to discuss social, political, and cultural issues have also appeared. The number and range of these groups has grown exponentially as Internet user populations dramatically increased in Southeast Asia since the mid-1990s.

However, in comparing the development of Internet communities in China, Japan, and South Korea with those in Western countries, a number of important differences surface. The particular economic, political, social, and cultural environments in each nation have greatly influenced Internet utilization by various Internet communities. Until the mid- to late 1990s, a combination of high hardware costs and low levels of computer literacy hindered Internet penetration in many areas in Southeast Asia. Strict political control of the use of the Internet as a mass medium and mass communications channel, particularly in China, has also influenced Internet utilization.

Furthermore, transferring social, cultural, and linguistic norms to the Internet has resulted in an intriguing glimpse into social relations in China, Japan, and South Korea. Tightly knit communities emphasizing face-to-face relationships have traditionally played important roles in defining social relations and supporting cultural ties in these ...