Abstract
This article examines the influence of the, social environment on adolescents' connectedness to the internet in East Asia, one of the most wired regions in the world. Connectedness is a qualitative conceptualization of an individuals relationship with the internet, taking into consideration the breadth, depth, and the importance of individuals' internet experience. This study seeks to situate adolescents' internet connectedness in three spheres of social environment: (1) the general social support measured by how easy it is to get help when adolescents encounter problems in using the internet; (2) the parents, where we examine parents' socioeconomic status and their internet use; and (3) the peer group, where we look into the proportion of friends who connect to the internet. The results from a survey of 1303 adolescents in Seoul, Singapore and Taipei support our major hypothesis that among the internet-using adolescents, their internet connectedness patterns differ by the nature of their social environments.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 64-88 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | New Media and Society |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2005 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Adolescents
- Digital divide
- East Asia
- Internet connectedness
- Internet use
- Parents
- Peers
- Social environment
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Sociology and Political Science