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The New Wave: Who connects to the Internet in South Africa, HOW they connect and what they do when they connect.
Abstract
This report presents findings of the 2012 South African Network Society Survey conducted by the Network Society Project at the University of Witwatersrand in association with Research ICT Africa. The results demonstrate that South Africans want to participate in the information society. In the face of the high cost of calls, they want to make use of cheap and powerful ways of communicating to maintain their social relationships. They want to use the net to learn – informally and formally. They need it in their work or business and they want to use it to improve their prospects.
But our findings also identify not one digital divide – this New Wave is not static – but many digital divisions. We identify divisions in how people connect, how often they connect, in what they do online and of course in who is and is not connected at all. Half of those who don’t use the Internet say they don’t know what it is. Indeed we found that around 10% of Internet users were not aware they were using it.
This has economic, social and political implications. As more and more of the South Africa’s – and the world’s - communications converges on the Internet, the implications of being ‘disconnected’ for individuals and for groups of individuals is changing.
Government, retailers, media businesses and professionals, regulators, telecommunications providers, educators, activists and many others should be interested in understanding this New Wave better. There is nothing inevitable about what happens next. This report aims to inform these decision makers and the rest of us who are able to influence them.
... Commonly mentioned positive usages of digital technology among adolescents include communicating with friends and family [15][16][17], identity building [10,18,19], educational purposes [9,20], finding information [21,22], entertainment [16,17], and job hunting [15,23]. Lesser mentioned positives include spreading awareness of world issues and increased activism [24,25] and promoting tourism in their countries [26]. ...
... Commonly mentioned positive usages of digital technology among adolescents include communicating with friends and family [15][16][17], identity building [10,18,19], educational purposes [9,20], finding information [21,22], entertainment [16,17], and job hunting [15,23]. Lesser mentioned positives include spreading awareness of world issues and increased activism [24,25] and promoting tourism in their countries [26]. ...
... Although most countries in Africa are reporting large gender gaps, South Africa appears to be the one country in the region that is closing the gender gap [19,23]. Furthermore, a higher proportion of people living in urban areas of African countries reported usage of digital technologies, compared with those living in rural areas [16,17,32]. ...
Digital technology plays an important role in achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, access is uneven, with 80% of those in high-income countries being online compared to 20% of those in the 47 least developed countries. This study aimed to describe and analyse adolescents’ access to and usage of digital technology in Guinea-Bissau and its implications. In June 2017, a survey with a locally adapted Planet Youth questionnaire was implemented in the capital, Bissau, whereby classes in 16 secondary schools were surveyed on a variety of issues. In total, 2039 randomly selected students participated; the survey included ten questions specifically on the access to and use of digital technology. Half of the respondents had access to desktop/laptops, and one-third used mobile internet daily; about two-thirds had an experience of social media. Explanatory variables included educational institution, parental education, economic situation, and gender. Furthermore, students’ experience of social media was significantly linked to bullying, anxiety, depression, smoking and alcohol consumption. Many adolescents in Bissau have no experience of using digital technology, including for schoolwork. Access improvements are necessary so that young Bissau-Guineans are not to be left behind in developing their capabilities and can benefit from proficiency in the use of digital technologies. At the same time, potential harmful usage of the media requires the implementation of preventive measures.
... In the same vein, managing of an internet café demands the manager/owner to be knowledgeable about computers and to have general English language proficiency. English language literacy is possibly considered the most important predictor of internet use -more significant than age, income, gender or where people live (De Lanerolle & Orkin, 2012). Literature suggests that effective use and management of internet café resources demands social access, that is, a mix of professional knowledge, economic resources and technical skills required for the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) (Kling, 1999;Furuholt et al., 2005). ...
... Since internet usage is for competence development such as seeking information, conducting of research, sending e-mails, reading news, downloading information and software for professional use, managing an internet café may contain important elements of competence building (Furuholt & Kristiansen, 2007), one of which is possession and effective use of English language for engaging with web content. In a study that examined the use of the internet in South Africa, about a third (33%) of non-users noted that they cannot easily read and write in English, suggesting that their English language literacy may prove to be an insurmountable barrier unless the languages of content online changes (De Lanerolle & Orkin, 2012). ...
In an increasingly competitive, technology-driven world, the pressure for small, technology-oriented firms in developing countries to be productive and efficient has never been more intense. For technology-oriented firms such as internet cafés, which are now in constant competition with inexpensive, low threshold, ubiquitous technologies such as mobile phones and social media for availing internet resources and providing personalised learning environments respectively, the need to understand the critical determinants of the establishment and sustenance of small technology-oriented ventures demands rigorous investigation. Despite the central place of internet cafés as the dominant points-of-access of internet resources for low socio-economic groups in South Africa, there is paucity of in-depth knowledge on the critical variables influencing the establishment of such technology-oriented ventures. This research gap is attributed to the independent and fragmented examination of micro-level (personal demographic variables such as gender, age, income and language of manager/owners), institutional (such as family role models, family entrepreneurial values and support) and macro-level variables (as manager/owner’s prior scientific literacy such as their participation in STEM subjects, social prejudice) that shape and influence the creation of technology-oriented ventures. The thesis of this theoretical paper, therefore, is that an integrated perspective that combines these micro-level, institutional and macro level factors would provide a more inclusive, authentic view of the process of establishing small internet cafés in emerging economies. The contribution of this paper is an integrated conceptual framework premised on the combined influences of determinants of technology-oriented ventures and their implications for technology oriented venture creation.
... This high mobile access usage trend is confirmed by both international ( Barker et al., 2013;Hardwick et al., 2014;Pescher et al., 2014) and local (Andrews, 2014;Bevan-Dye & Dondolo, 2014;Swanepoel, 2015) research among Millennials. Table 1 offers a comprehensive overview of the usage and demographic characteristics of Millennial respondents who use social media in SA. in life in comparison to their international counterparts, and some only gain access to a computer for the first time when they embark on tertiary education studies or when they become employed (De Lanerolle, 2012;Lesame, 2013;Petzer & Meyer, 2013). ...
... African (De Lanerolle, 2012;Dlodlo & Dhurup, 2013;Wronski & Goldstruck, 2013) studies. ...
Online interpersonal interaction and communication has become an important aspect of social activities, especially among Millennials (young adults). However, the African continent has the lowest Internet access across the globe, but the development and rapid adoption of mobile technology has led to a major increase in the usage of Internet and new online Information and Communications Technology (ICT) channels, which are collectively referred to as social media. Social media platforms have become an integral part of everyday life and marketing communications via these digital channels has become one of the latest trends in South Africa (SA). The most commonly used social medium in the world is Facebook, whereas Mxit is the largest locally established online ICT conduit. However, not much is known about Millennials’ attitudes towards social media as an advertising medium. Therefore, several surveys were used to investigate the effect of social media (Facebook and Mxit) marketing communications have on each of the hierarchy response model attitude stages among Millennials in SA. The results confirm that social media marketing communications have a significant influence on all of the hierarchy response model attitude stages, but on a declining degree as South African Millennials progress to the higher stages. Furthermore, the findings also reveal that several online usage and demographic characteristics have a significant influence on attitudes towards these new interactive ICT conduits.
... This is a rational result, since younger adolescents would have been utilizing SNS for a shorter time frame owing to age restrictions on SNS such as Facebook (Facebook, 2016). Furthermore, a majority of the South population is categorized as previously disadvantaged individuals (PDIs) (Black, Colored and Indian/Asian), because of apartheid and, therefore, many PDI Generation Z only gain access to the Internet and social media later in life owing to financial constraints (De Lanerolle, 2012;Lesame, 2013;Petzer and Meyer, 2013). Generation Z primarily logged on to social media daily or several times a week (83.1%), which is equivalent to other global (Lukka and James, 2014;Murphy, 2014;Benhamou, 2015) and local (Dlodlo and Dhurup, 2013;Wronski, 2015) research. ...
Purpose – This article examines the influence of interactive social media marketing communications on teenagers’ cognitive, affective and behavioral attitude components in South Africa. The study also considers the impact of a number of additional factors such as usage (access, length of usage, log-on frequency, log-on duration and profile update incidence) and demographic (gender, age and population group) variables on young consumers’ attitudes towards social media marketing communications.
Design/methodology/approach - A survey was employed via three self-administered questionnaires, which were distributed to over thirteen thousand 13 – 18 years old learners (Generation Z cohort) at colleges and high schools in South Africa. A generalized linear model (GLM) was employed for the statistical data analysis.
Findings – The study ascertained that social media marketing communications had a positive on each attitude component among adolescents, but on a declining scale, which correlates to the purchase funnel. The results also revealed that teenagers who used social media for long time periods; updated their profiles frequently; and were from the Colored and Black population groups, displayed the most favorable attitudinal responses to social media marketing communications.
Research limitations/implications – Social media was collectively analyzed and did not consider the number of different social media types, which could be examined individually. This investigation only considered the Generation Z cohort, but other cohorts to attitudes towards social media marketing communications could also be assessed.
Practical implications – Companies and their brands should consider employing and/or adapting their strategies based on the declining impact of social media marketing communications on attitude components among young consumers’ and the divergent influence on usage and demographic variables when targeting the lucrative and technologically advanced, but capricious, Generation Z consumers.
Originality/value – This research established that social media marketing communications had a favorable influence on cognitive, affective and behavioral attitude components among young consumers, but on a declining scale, which is in congruence with the purchase funnel model. This investigation also makes an important contribution to attitudinal research in developing countries, where there is a lack of research in social media marketing communications.
... Mobile phones were reported to be the most widely used device for activism and community development work. However, airtime tariffs are particularly high in South Africa and only 62% of South Africans use a mobile every day; far fewer, just 22%, report using the Internet on a daily basis (de Lanerolle 2012). This is compounded by the fact that to get a mobile, it is necessary to have a registered address and identification, which poses a large barrier to undocumented migrants from neighbouring countries. ...
This paper synthesises reflections and learnings from two studies, in Kenya and South Africa, about how marginalised communities – lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people in Nairobi, Kenya, and economically marginalised housing and urban development rights activists in Johannesburg, South Africa – use technologies commonly applied in transparency and accountability work, and the limits of their use of these technologies.
... 22% of the community uses Internet and the data shows R12.15 expenditure of airtime on data bundles. In both cases, the overhead people pay for airtime has been added to the resultant totals. in the community, as it is doing elsewhere in South Africa [52], and so more margin can be obtained. However those calculations, as well as the pricing for anchor tenants which would further increase the margin, are outside the scope of this doctoral thesis. ...
The effort that mobile network operators have made in the last years for increasing access to communications in rural areas of developing countries is undeniable. Despite of this, the development outcomes that increased connectivity promises to bring to underprivileged areas remain unmet, as digital communications technologies are not affordable for most. However, this has not stopped them from purchasing phone time, to the point that some studies describe that cost of mobile services represents a large proportion of their monthly income. This represents both a hazard in terms of health, food security and the well-being of children, and a drain on resources which could be used for investments in assets and entrepreneurial activities. Finding sustainable ways in which this cost can be reduced and the developmental return on the investment in ICTs be enhanced is thus a worthwhile research objective.
This PhD presents the results of a case study situated in Mankosi, a rural community in one of the most disadvantaged areas of South Africa, to study the acceptability for rural villages to become sustainable telecommunications operators to reduce these cost of communications. The initiative, which has been implemented along the guidelines to create sustainable ICT4D projects, has been studied by means of Ethnographic Action Research. For assessing the acceptability, a multidimensional framework developed by the doctoral student has been used. It contains four dimensions: legal, technical, financial and socio-cultural. For each of the dimensions specific methods have been used: understanding thoroughly the regulatory framework in South Africa; measuring the network performance and co-designing solutions with the community; studying in detail the financial management of the initiative; developing and applying a framework to operationalise the sense of ownership that manifested in Mankosi. The impact has been measured via both a longitudinal stratified random sample survey of the households in each village in Mankosi, and the ethnography and participant observation of the doctoral student.
An analysis of the communication expenditures and usage patters of the people from Mankosi is presented first. Results show that while a high ratio of people have access to mobile phone services weekly, they spend a high proportion of their disposable income on a very constrained set of services.
Apart from the high costs of airtime, factors like mobile phone charging and the mark-up of products in
rural areas account for a considerable part of the total expenditure. The assessment of the acceptability of the intervention shows that major steps have been made in all four dimensions considered to the point that the community continues to be actively engaged with the initiative more than three years after it started. Still, for the long-term sustainability of this and similar initiatives, the creation of a second-level organisation is proposed as a way forward, to provide similar support and services to the ones provided by the doctoral student to Mankosi.
The impact of the intervention might have been limited with regards to modifying the communication expenditures and usage patterns of the people from Mankosi, but the acceptability of the intervention described above, and reflected in some of the unexpected effects, sheds a different light on the future. Having unveiled the complexities behind this limited impact enables continued exploration of ways of designing more locally acceptable solutions that have a positive impact on the communication expenditures and usage patterns of the people from Mankosi. Additionally, the results obtained are key to influencing industry, government and civil society to partner in making this a reality in other communities.
Mobile technologies and in particular the mobile phone have
changed our lives fundamentally. They shape how we interact
with each other and how we organise friends and family as well
as broader networks. In essence, they have become the digital
fabric of our lives. The present study sets out to investigate the
different levels and types of impact that mobile technologies
have on individuals, society and economy.
A long-standing focus of research in higher education has been on monitoring the degree of student access to information and communications technology (ICT). Recent debates have moved towards a more nuanced understanding of students’ technological experiences and behaviour. As the world changes, so does higher education and expectations regarding the role of technology within this environment. Universities, which continuously strive to improve teaching and learning, need to accommodate students’ increased use of technology and enhance their proficiency and fluency in accessing and using ICT as these skills are required to succeed in education and in life after graduation. This paper proposes that access to ICT constitutes only one dimension of a more complex and elaborate construct, namely that of ICT sophistication, which concerns students’ level of ICT use, and their experience of and engagement and fluency in ICT. As a basis to evaluate the ICT sophistication of students at the University of South Africa, the researchers drew on the findings of the said university’s surveys conducted in 2011 and 2014. This evaluation also served as a method for segmenting the student body to inform interventions. The results obtained supported findings in the literature that “access” could not be fully understood by drawing a one-dimensional distinction between access and non-access.
The social media have grown at an exponential rate in recent years, especially amongst the youth (known as Millennials) in South Africa, who access social media primarily via mobile devices; these have served as an additional catalyst to fuel this growth. The rapid advancement of social media is also attributed to the Millennials’ desires for social interaction connectedness, information, entertainment and convenience. Millennials portray a difficult market to reach with advertising due to the large fragmentation of media, diverse range of interests and demographical differences, but this lucrative market cannot be ignored owing to their huge purchasing power. Mxit is a popular social medium in South Africa and provides numerous advertising opportunities for organisations and their brands. The purpose of this study was to examine Millennials’ cognitive attitudes towards advertising on Mxit, and assess the influence of certain usage and demographic factors. The research surveyed 1858 young adults in the Western Cape who were between the ages of 18 and 30 years. Millennials maintained favourable cognitive responses towards Mxit advertising. All of the usage elements and a demographic factor, gender, were also found to have a significant influence. The results provide both academia and organisations with fresh insights and a greater understanding of social network advertising.
The tremendous proliferation of social media (such as Facebook) has provided digital information and communications technology (ICT) platforms that enable Generation Z to instantaneously and uninterruptedly interactive one another and the rest of the globe. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the influence of Facebook commercial communications (FCC) on the hierarchy-of-effects model attitude stages amongst Generation Z, and to establish whether several usage (access, usage length, log-on rate, log-on duration and profile update incidence) and demographic (gender, age and population group) factors had an effect on the attitudinal responses. A survey was used to sample over 6 200 teenagers through structured self-administered questionnaires in South Africa (SA). A generalised linear model was utilised for the data analysis. This paper determined that FCC had a positive effect on cognitive, affective and behavioural attitudes amid South African adolescents, which is in correlation with the communications effects pyramid model. This study also makes a notable contribution to attitudinal discourse in emerging nations, where there is a paucity of research on FCC. South African organisations should consider implementing and/or adapting their FCC strategies based on the varying impact of usage and demographic factors, which were disclosed in this study, when targeting the increasingly profitable and technologically savvy, but unpredictable Generation Z.
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