TY - GEN
T1 - Internet usage among arab adolescents
T2 - 6th European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems, EMCIS 2009
AU - Shen, Kathy Ning
AU - Shakir, Maha
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Internet has profoundly transformed almost all aspects of our society. As a global phenomenon, Internet also bears distinct regional and cultural profiles. Much research has documented the Internet usage in Western world and its impacts on individuals. However evidence in this regards is dearth in Arab world, which represents an important but unique cultural region. In this study, we take an exploratory approach to examine the Internet usage patterns among young Arabic people, and the impact of Internet usage on their identity development. With surveys and structured interviews with 74 students from two universities in the UAE, one public and the other private, our results provide some preliminary results of the first generation of Arab youth exposed to the Internet. We found that Internet usage patterns were diverse however five main activities, searching, emailing, chatting, entertainment, and online discussions, form 75% of Internet usage time. Furthermore, a signification positive impact on self-perception of young Arabic students in the Middle East was observed.
AB - Internet has profoundly transformed almost all aspects of our society. As a global phenomenon, Internet also bears distinct regional and cultural profiles. Much research has documented the Internet usage in Western world and its impacts on individuals. However evidence in this regards is dearth in Arab world, which represents an important but unique cultural region. In this study, we take an exploratory approach to examine the Internet usage patterns among young Arabic people, and the impact of Internet usage on their identity development. With surveys and structured interviews with 74 students from two universities in the UAE, one public and the other private, our results provide some preliminary results of the first generation of Arab youth exposed to the Internet. We found that Internet usage patterns were diverse however five main activities, searching, emailing, chatting, entertainment, and online discussions, form 75% of Internet usage time. Furthermore, a signification positive impact on self-perception of young Arabic students in the Middle East was observed.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Internet usage
KW - Middle east
KW - Self-perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84857717913&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84857717913&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84857717913
SN - 9781902316697
T3 - Proceedings of the European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems, EMCIS 2009
BT - Proceedings of the European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems, EMCIS 2009
Y2 - 13 July 2009 through 14 July 2009
ER -