• Resources:
• FAQ |
• Tutorials |
• Case Studies |
• White Papers |
• Articles
•  

International Internet Use 2

The Internet can be viewed as a new medium that takes time from the old media or other activities. In 2000, people across cultures had different views on what activities would be replaced by the Internet. In the various countries, these were the activities on which people already spent relatively little time.

An example is Internet usage replacing book reading in collectivistic cultures, where people anyway read fewer books than in individualistic cultures. In masculine and collectivistic cultures, where people generally participate less in active sports anyway, people expected that the Internet would reduce time spent on sport or physical activity. In the United States and in the United Kingdom, where people traditionally have read newspapers and magazines, there are indications that time spent on the Internet will come primarily from time spent watching television rather than from reading newspapers or magazines.

In Latin America (mostly collectivistic and polychronic cultures), where people are used to doing more things at the same time, Internet usage and TV viewing are not mutually exclusive activities. In the home, the TV is placed next to the computer monitor so that people can watch the two things at the same time. This is multitasking, or parallel processing.

The Internet can be used for various applications: for e-mail and communication, for educational and scientific purposes, for business, for leisure, for banking, or for e-commerce. From various sources, we found that most differences in usage are explained by uncertainty avoidance and masculinity. Low uncertainty avoidance is the main explaining variable of use of the Internet for e-mail. Variance of use for leisure and personal reasons is explained by low masculinity.

Receive your free quote for technical translation or interpreting services today.

Get specialized help for documents: