First Time-Users of the Mobile Internet in the Global South

Jeffrey James ()
Additional contact information
Jeffrey James: Tilburg University

Chapter Chapter 2 in Gender, Internet Use, and Covid-19 in the Global South, 2022, pp 9-20 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract First-time users of the mobile Internet have not received much attention in studies of the adoption and diffusion of the technology in the Global South. This would not much matter if such users comprised only a small fraction of the total number or if they behaved in a similar way to other users in the region. The evidence provided, however, suggests that neither of these alternatives carry much weight. For, not only do very large numbers of persons use the mobile Internet for the first time in any given year, but they also undergo a very different learning process from those who have used the technology for a longer period of time. In short, those in the former category tend to suffer from a relative paucity of digital skills, that results in a narrow choice of Internet uses, based heavily on entertainment rather than development. In the concluding policy section, I emphasize that an important tool for imparting skills to first-time users involves one-on-one-contact with mobile agents or street vendors. Two cases are cited in which this form of contact appears to have a marked, positive impact.

Keywords: Singularity of first-time users; Learning processes; Digital skills; Mobile agents: one-on-one contact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:spbchp:978-3-031-15576-5_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031155765

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-15576-5_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in SpringerBriefs in Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().