scholarly journals Undesigning the Internet: An exploratory study of reducing everyday Internet connectivity

10.29007/s221 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Widdicks ◽  
Tina Ringenson ◽  
Daniel Pargman ◽  
Vishnupriya Kuppusamy ◽  
Patricia Lago

Internet connectivity is seamlessly integrated into many of our everyday habits and activities. Despite this, previous research has highlighted that our rather excessive Internet use is not sustainable or even always socially beneficial. In this paper, we carried out an exploratory study on how Internet disconnection affects our everyday lives and whether such disconnection is even possible in today’s society. Through daily surveys, we captured what Internet use means for ten participants and how this varies when they are asked to disconnect by default, and re-connect only when their Internet use is deemed as necessary. From our study, we found that our participants could disconnect from the Internet for certain activities (particularly leisure focused), yet they developed adaptations in their lives to address the necessity of their Internet use. We elicit these adaptations into five themes that encompass how the participants did, or did not, use the Internet based on their necessities. Drawing on these five themes, we conclude with ways in which our study can inspire future research surrounding: Internet infrastructure limits; the promotion of slow values; Internet non-use; and the undesign of Internet services.

First Monday ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petter Bae Brandtzaeg ◽  
Marika Lüders

No studies we are aware of have explored youth’s experiences of the association between their Internet use and well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown. To fill this void, we used survey data of a representative sample (N = 734) of young Norwegians (16–26 years) collected a few weeks into the lockdown in May 2020. Findings show a substantial increase in use of several Internet activities—in particular, video calls and streaming services. Snapchat and Messenger were the most important services to keep in touch with friends. Online social support significantly predicts higher well-being, while heavy Internet use during a regular lockdown day significantly predicts low well-being, particularly among the older females. Analysis of free text responses shows that excessive Internet use during lockdown has led to poor well-being among many, both mentally (38 percent) and physically (17 percent). Many describe purposeless online scrolling or interactions as problematic. We conclude that future research on online well-being should focus more on perceived level of meaningful online activity.


2022 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Kyle Crichton ◽  
Nicolas Christin ◽  
Lorrie Faith Cranor

With the ubiquity of web tracking, information on how people navigate the internet is abundantly collected yet, due to its proprietary nature, rarely distributed. As a result, our understanding of user browsing primarily derives from small-scale studies conducted more than a decade ago. To provide an broader updated perspective, we analyze data from 257 participants who consented to have their home computer and browsing behavior monitored through the Security Behavior Observatory. Compared to previous work, we find a substantial increase in tabbed browsing and demonstrate the need to include tab information for accurate web measurements. Our results confirm that user browsing is highly centralized, with 50% of internet use spent on 1% of visited websites. However, we also find that users spend a disproportionate amount of time on low-visited websites, areas with a greater likelihood of containing risky content. We then identify the primary gateways to these sites and discuss implications for future research.


First Monday ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Mersereau

This paper presents highlights of research conducted into the Internet supported household activities of residents at the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). The routines of residents in five distinct basic needs activity areas were examined in an effort to identify the role of the Internet in supporting these undertakings. The results indicate that the Internet can be characterized as an essential technical resource that supports the stability of TCHC households by helping to multiply and interconnect the activities that constitute household routines. By providing an explanatory model of the Internet’s role in supporting the stability of TCHC households, this research advances an argument for public intercession in the provisioning of household Internet services to help redress the digital divide in Canada’s most populous city.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S326-S326
Author(s):  
Ronald W Berkowsky

Abstract Previous work focusing on the relationship between Internet use and quality of life among older adults (aged 65+) has found evidence of various positive impacts. This project expands upon this work by examining the relationship between Internet use and measures of psychological well-being (PWB) including autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The analytic sample is derived from two waves of data (Time 1 = 2004, Time 2 = 2011) taken from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and includes a sample of older adults aged~65 at Time 1 (N = 4943). Participants were separated into four categories: those who did not use the Internet at Time 1 or 2, those who used the Internet at Time 1 only, those who used the Internet at Time 2 only, and those who used the Internet at both Time 1 and 2. Regression analyses were performed with the Time 2 PWB measures as the outcomes and the Internet use categories as the primary predictors. Results indicate that while continuous Internet users typically reported higher PWB scores compared to non-users, those who stopped use between Time 1 and 2 also reported higher scores and those who started use between Time 1 and 2 reported lower scores. These results generally held when introducing Time 1 PWB measures as controls, suggesting changes in Internet use may affect PWB but not necessarily in the predicted directions. Additional control variables, potential explanations, and implications for future research are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S404-S404
Author(s):  
V. Voros ◽  
P. Osvath ◽  
Z. Szabo ◽  
Z. Nagy ◽  
S. Fekete

IntroductionNowadays, mobile and Internet communication is widely used and has a special role in mental health prevention. Besides, websites targeting suicide prevention, pro-suicide contents (methods for suicide, suicide pacts) are also easily available, which may increase the risk for suicide in vulnerable people.AimsOur aim was to assess the relation between Internet use and suicidal behaviour among university students and also to assess online activity regarding suicidal contents and help-seeking behaviour.MethodsSelf-administered questionnaires were completed by university students.ResultsMost of the 101 students who completed the survey use the Internet 3 hours or more a day. They are facing suicidal contents numerous times. Professional websites providing information and the common popular sites were mainly visited, sites providing help were less screened (10%). More than quarter of the students felt discomfort when looking at sites dealing with suicide. Almost one-third of the subjects had suicidal thoughts during their lives and 15% already planned suicide. In case of suicidal thoughts, subjects would seek help mainly from friends and family, but online help-seeking was not preferred.ConclusionsDespite of the extensive Internet use, students rarely seek help for emotional problems on the Internet. Development of websites controlled by professionals is essential, especially for those who would not benefit from traditional psychological/psychiatric care. Future research is needed regarding the characteristics of Internet use and the potentials and limits of help-seeking via the Internet in order to prevent people from pro-suicide websites and to improve professional websites.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


Author(s):  
Mister Gidion Maru ◽  
Chris Caesar Pikirang ◽  
Slamet Setiawan ◽  
Elisabeth Z Oroh Oroh ◽  
Noldy Pelenkahu

<p class="0abstract">The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has brought the dependence on the online activities as new behaviors in various aspects of society including education. It defines the reliance upon internet access for learning practices and the tendency toward learning autonomy. Yet, the sudden emergence of the pandemic causes problematic circumstances for learners. Not all learners are ready to be autonomous and to have internet infrastructure. Within this context, the current study addresses learners’ attitudes toward learning autonomy and examines what hinder them to be autonomous. As a descriptive research, this study involves 101 respondents living in Bitung city, a fast growing and harbor city in North Sulawesi, Eastern Indonesia. They are asked to fill the kind of Likert questionnaire which constitutes the source of data which are statistically analyzed. The results indicates that learners dominantly show positive attitude toward the idea of being autonomous in this pandemic era. In addition, several factors such as bad signal, distraction, self-discipline and lack of motivation occupy the dominant factors hinder learners to establish learning autonomy. <strong></strong></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 3743-3746
Author(s):  
Perez-Siguas Rosa

Currently, the internet use in conjunction with mobile devices is one of the resources that is increasingly used in the population, however its excess consumption can generate consequences at the mental level of the person. The research objective is to determine the Excessive Internet Use during the COVID-19 pandemic in a population of North Lima. In the results, we observe that, excessive internet use during the COVID-19 pandemic, 67 (59.3%) of the participants have a mild addiction to the internet use and 46 (40.7%) have a moderate addiction to internet use. It is concluded that strategies should be sought to guide parents towards proper management of the Internet use in their children and thus reduce dependence on the Internet use.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (38) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Nimra Nawaz

It is impossible to ignore the fact that the internet is the basic need of today’s technological world. Different research shows that individuals across the globe are using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to get the most up-to-date information from the internet. Similarly, university students also spend a lot of time on the internet researching and collecting material relevant to their research topics. Although different research has been conducted on the usage of the internet in different countries, research about Pakistani students is still limited. The major goal of this research was to see how internet usage affects students' academic performance particularly when it comes to increasing their grades. The objective of this research was to determine the type of internet use and the impact of the internet on students' academic achievement. Arts faculty from the University of Punjab Pakistan was selected as the universe of the study and 5 departments of arts were selected by simple random sampling and a sample of 100 students was taken through systematic sampling. The study adopted a survey research design. A questionnaire was developed by the researchers as a tool for data collection. The data was analyzed statistically, which led to the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis. Statistical results are also presented and discussed, and implications for future research are also provided. According to the findings, internet use has a positive impact on student's academic achievement.


Author(s):  
Ευαγγελία Kαραμανώλη ◽  
Σπυρίδων Τάνταρος ◽  
Βασίλης Παυλόπουλος

Over the past two decades, internet use has been increased significantly worldwide. The present study aims at examining the associations between internet use in emerging adulthood and crucial developmental dimensions during this age period, namely life satisfaction, identity development, and attachment style. Previous studies have shown that there is a high risk of excessive internet use during emerging adulthood. Five hundred men and women aged 18 to 25 years participated in the study. They completed (a) The Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1998), (b) The Life Satisfaction Scale (Diener et al.,, 1985), (c) The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (Luyckx et al., 2008), and (d) The Relationship Scales Questionnaire (Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994). Hours of daily use, specific online activities and socio-demographic variables were also assessed. The results of the research showed that the excessive use of the internet is significantly related to hours of daily use and to specific online activities. Men made significantly more use of the internet than women. Those who were not satisfied with their current life conditions, were engaged in exploration in breadth, ruminative exploration and avoided or felt uncomfortable with close interpersonal relationships, were more likely to resort to excessive internet use. These results have implications for future studies regarding excessive internet use in relation to young people’s quality of life.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Hoda M. Nafee ◽  
Boshra A. Mohammed ◽  
Ahlam Y. Al-Hamdan

Using of the internet today is a growing part of any society. Teenagers are the most users of the internet at their home and/or school. Therefore, it changes their daily lives in terms of physical, social, and psychological status that may exaggerated to be an internet addiction disorder or a physical problem. The aim of the study was to recognize the effects of excessive internet use in Saudi and Egyptian teenagers’ health. The design used to conduct the present study was a descriptive correlation design, a convenient sample of 668 teenagers who were recruited from intermediate and secondary school from both countries, 331 teenagers from King Saudi Arabia (KSA) and 337 from Arab Republic of Egypt (ARE). Three tools were used for data collection: the first one was a questionnaire including demographic background of the participants and their families. The second was Internet Addiction Test (IAT) Young (1998) and the third pain rating scale to assess the intensity of musculoskeletal pain that encountered by the students. Results show that 86.6% of KSA teenagers used the internet daily compared to 69.6% in ARE. Regarding internet addiction, in teenagers, 0.9% were severe, 45.3% moderate and 47.7% mild compared to 0.3%, 46.3% and 44.2% in ARE one, 67.3% of KSA teenagers have musculoskeletal pain with internet usage compared to 74.3% in ARE teenagers. No significant relation was found between both groups in relation to internet addiction. A significant relations were found in Saudi students’ socio-demographic data and their level of internet addiction in the area of academic level (p ≤ .001), and level of academic achievement (p = .037). No significant relation was found in the same area for Egyptian students. The researchers suggest further studies to be conducted in this field on larger sample size for both genders to identify the other factors related to excessive internet use.


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