For this study, 441 grade 11 students at nine schools in low-income areas in Cape Town, South Africa were surveyed about their use of mobile phones. These young South Africans have adopted a number of ways to use the Web and mobile Instant Messaging. They also commonly access, produce, and share digital media via their phones and the Internet.
Access to the Web has, until recently, only been available to the wealthiest fraction of South African society (less than 10% of the population), making this a highly significant development. Until now, little quantitative data has been available to describe exactly to what extent and how this cohort is beginning to access and use the Internet and digital media on mobile phones.
The students reported intensive use of mobile phones to access mobile Internet applications, at a far greater level than they report using desktop computers to access the Web. Mobile Internet is considerably more accessible to these students than computer-based Internet access, and they are choosing to use the Internet primarily for mobile instant messaging and other characteristic forms of mobile media use.
This suggests that these students encounter a distinct, mobile version of the Internet. Their experience of Internet access and digital media may consequently be quite different to that of their computer-using peers.
For this study, 441 grade 11 students at nine schools in low-income areas in Cape Town, South Africa were surveyed about their use of mobile phones. These young South Africans have adopted a number of ways to use the Web and mobile Instant Messaging. They also commonly access, produce, and share digital media via their phones and the Internet.
Access to the Web has, until recently, only been available to the wealthiest fraction of South African society (less than 10% of the population), making this a highly significant development. Until now, little quantitative data has been available to describe exactly to what extent and how this cohort is beginning to access and use the Internet and digital media on mobile phones.
The students reported intensive use of mobile phones to access mobile Internet applications, at a far greater level than they report using desktop computers to access the Web. Mobile Internet is considerably more accessible to these students than computer-based Internet access, and they are choosing to use the Internet primarily for mobile instant messaging and other characteristic forms of mobile media use.
This suggests that these students encounter a distinct, mobile version of the Internet. Their experience of Internet access and digital media may consequently be quite different to that of their computer-using peers.
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