Understanding internet use and dependency

Since the 1950s, the Uses and Gratifications approach has been widely applied to explaining the use of the media, such as the radio and newspapers. Recently, this framework has also been applied to the Internet, a new media and has helped in the understanding of how the motivations of individuals af...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Soh, Ch.-H., Murali, R.
Format: Article
Published: 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/2067/
_version_ 1848789955409608704
author Soh, Ch.-H.
Murali, R.
author_facet Soh, Ch.-H.
Murali, R.
author_sort Soh, Ch.-H.
building MMU Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Since the 1950s, the Uses and Gratifications approach has been widely applied to explaining the use of the media, such as the radio and newspapers. Recently, this framework has also been applied to the Internet, a new media and has helped in the understanding of how the motivations of individuals affect their Internet usage patterns and their consequences. The Internet is arguably very different from the conventional media, with salient features like interactivity, anonymity, chameleon of features, rich multimedia, censorship, the wide breadth and depth of information provided. More importantly, the Internet is a medium used mostly by the young and hence, the role of supervision should perhaps not be ignored. However, only limited, if any empirical studies on the role of supervision on internet usage and dependency. On the other hand, studies that have been conducted on parental supervision and adolescent behaviour such as delinquency, alcohol and drug use and these have concluded that parental supervision is an important factor in deterring deviant adolescent behaviour. This paper proposes a modification of the widely supported Uses and Gratification framework to better understand Internet usage and the dependency of adolescents. The proposed framework could help raise the awareness on risk mitigation on the Internet.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T18:04:56Z
format Article
id mmu-2067
institution Multimedia University
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T18:04:56Z
publishDate 2006
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling mmu-20672011-08-10T07:07:00Z http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/2067/ Understanding internet use and dependency Soh, Ch.-H. Murali, R. QA75.5-76.95 Electronic computers. Computer science Since the 1950s, the Uses and Gratifications approach has been widely applied to explaining the use of the media, such as the radio and newspapers. Recently, this framework has also been applied to the Internet, a new media and has helped in the understanding of how the motivations of individuals affect their Internet usage patterns and their consequences. The Internet is arguably very different from the conventional media, with salient features like interactivity, anonymity, chameleon of features, rich multimedia, censorship, the wide breadth and depth of information provided. More importantly, the Internet is a medium used mostly by the young and hence, the role of supervision should perhaps not be ignored. However, only limited, if any empirical studies on the role of supervision on internet usage and dependency. On the other hand, studies that have been conducted on parental supervision and adolescent behaviour such as delinquency, alcohol and drug use and these have concluded that parental supervision is an important factor in deterring deviant adolescent behaviour. This paper proposes a modification of the widely supported Uses and Gratification framework to better understand Internet usage and the dependency of adolescents. The proposed framework could help raise the awareness on risk mitigation on the Internet. 2006 Article NonPeerReviewed Soh, Ch.-H. and Murali, R. (2006) Understanding internet use and dependency. Internet Society II: Advances in Education, Commerce & Governance , 1. pp. 145-153. ISSN 1746-4463 http://dx.doi.org/10.2495/IS060151 doi:10.2495/IS060151 doi:10.2495/IS060151
spellingShingle QA75.5-76.95 Electronic computers. Computer science
Soh, Ch.-H.
Murali, R.
Understanding internet use and dependency
title Understanding internet use and dependency
title_full Understanding internet use and dependency
title_fullStr Understanding internet use and dependency
title_full_unstemmed Understanding internet use and dependency
title_short Understanding internet use and dependency
title_sort understanding internet use and dependency
topic QA75.5-76.95 Electronic computers. Computer science
url http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/2067/
http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/2067/
http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/2067/