Dimensions of Media Access

Masudul Biswas


Studies on psychological and socio-cultural dimensions of media access have identified that technological complexity, cognitive capacity, economic status, cultural orientation and individual characters can affect the adoption of the Internet. The result sections of the studies demonstrated that psychological factors like personality, cognition, emotion and the level of affective arousal of the Internet users are intertwined with social and cultural orientations of individuals. Bucy and Newhagen, however, presented the studies in two separate sections. We also noticed a tendency to generalize the findings. For example, researchers of a study commented, “the Income and education cannot explain race differences in Internet use” (p. 156). By making such comment, the authors avoided the poor socio-economic realities of minorities. The observation may true to some extent in the US (between European Americans and African Americans), but lacks validity at global level. Poor economic condition affects the level of education, and the level of education can affect the adoption of technology. The culture of poverty and racial minorities is different from the culture of privileged classes of any society. So, disparate groups in a society, with different socio-cultural orientations, use new technology with different level of expectations. In this context, I found the discussion on technodispositions and technocapital is important as the concepts are integrated with cultural, psychological and economic factors of media access.

Technodispositions are the manifestation of the values of a community or a social group, which actually determine the nature of the use of technological applications. In the context of media access research, the analysis of technodispositions of lower class and minorities can help us to know the level of technocapital, which refers to “certain competencies and resources to negotiate within the technofield” (p. 115). But technocapital is the product of technodispositions. Vivian Rojas and his colleagues commented, “Techno-competencies, the acquired skills for and knowledge about ICTs, are shaped by the interplay between technocapital on one hand and the other forms of capital (social, cultural, social, symbolic) on the other” (p. 115). In-depth interviews of the study on the "HomeNetToo" project found that poor economic condition prevents the poorest teens from developing positive technodispositions, which means positive attitude to the Internet. In that case, technocapital cannot also be attained. Though the Internet is technically complex and not user-friendly like radio and television, its adoption is also influenced by the support of family and peers when money is not a barrier. So, the study of technodispositions is very important. In that case, combination of qualitative interviews and surveys can be a useful research strategy for analyzing the impact of technodispositions on the Internet use. Analysis of technodispositions can help us to know the economic, cultural and psychological dimensions of media access as they are interrelated.

The “HomeNetToo” project in Michigan has also found that social networking and personal relationships in real life have an impact on the Internet use. Single African American women with low income of the “HomeNetToo” project had weak social tie. When they were given the Internet access, they hardly used e-mail for communication. They mainly used the Internet for information and entertainment purposes. Once again, the relevance of the uses and gratifications theory of media is evident in the Internet studies. The project found that the level of the Internet is lower among the minorities though they mostly believe that the Internet has utilities for searching jobs and doing good results in schools. Again the issue of group culture or the culture of a social category, in other words the technodispositions, appears as the deciding factor in the use of Internet. The “HomeNetToo” project included the individuals who did not have higher level of social connectivity. Most of them were in a situation like social isolation, which actually affects their level of trust and confidence on anything. So, it is expected that that those Internet users do have fear and confusion around the complex structures of computer and the Internet.

Unlike the psychological dimension studies of media access, the cultural dimension studies applied ethnographic and conversational interviews and monitoring techniques alongwith the survey to deeply analyze the social and cultural factors of the Internet use. Survey results can help us to see the trend of the Internet use. At the same time, conversational interviews and monitoring of the Internet use can adequately explain that usage trend. Incorporation of qualitative research method in the Internet studies has revealed that the Internet use is nothing straightforward. Even people with high social connectivity may not always depend on the Internet as their contacts or their heavy use of the Internet may make them susceptible of the credibility of web sources and privacy on the web. The in-depth interview method, applied in the “HomeNetToo” project, had come up with this finding which has rather pushed us to rethink about a positive relationship between the internet use and high cognitive level or higher level of social connectivity. So, it is not wise to generalize any observation on the basis of few facts; instead, the in-depth analytical techniques can show that the Internet use is different and has different effects in case of different individuals even within a community or a social category.

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