Description
Book SynopsisThe contemporary internet focuses on user experiences of more recent developments on the internet, specifically with the spread of broadband, the audio-visual applications it has enabled, Web2.0 uptake more generally and the growth of eGovernment. The Contemporary Internet is comparative in two senses. The first is at the cross-national level, examining factors affecting different countries’ experiences of the internet, with a particular, but not a sole, interest in what may be termed ‘cultural influences on perceptions, adoption and use’. Second, the book is comparative within countries, examining the, sometimes very, uneven experiences of the internet’s possibilities. One question that pervades several chapters is how the digital divide is evolving in the light of the more contemporary developments outlined above.
Trade Review«The Contemporary Internet is a useful addition to the growing literature on the impact and significant of the new communication technology. (...) The volume is recommended for both undergraduate and general readership.» (Raul Pertierra, International Journal of Communication)
Table of ContentsContents: Leslie Haddon: Introduction – Frank Thomas/Leslie Haddon: Cultural factors shaping the experience of informati on and communication technologies – Giovanna Mascheroni/Francesca Pasquali/Barbara Scifo/Anna Sfardini/Matteo Stefanelli/Nicoletta Vittadini: Young Italians’ crossmedia cultures – Frank Thomas/Nicoletta Vittadini/Pedro Gómez-Fernández: Cultural influences on the adoption of web 2.0 services – Robert Pinter/Fruzsina Gyenes/Francesca Pasquali/Annika Bergström/Leslie Haddon: Cross-cultural differences in press coverage of the internet – Leslie Haddon/Peter Heinzmann: Implications of the variation in broadband speeds over time – Vesna Dolničar/Charalambos Christou/Rosemarie Gannon/Leslie Haddon/Soulla Louca/Pedro Puga/Jorge Vieira: Cross-national broadband digital divides – Pedro Puga: eGovernment and the digital divide – Jorge Vieira: The take-up of music 2.0 – Leslie Haddon: Methodological issues in the cross-national analysis of contextual data – Vesna Dolničar: Measuring the dynamics of cross-national digital divides.
