Internet for Development? Patterns of use among Internet café customers in Indonesia

Abstract

Internet cafés are important for people's access to the Internet in poor countries. These venues offer a potential gateway to valuable information, meaningful communication, and political participation for ordinary citizens. They may also represent a possible threat to traditions and cultural values. In this paper, we analyse the use of the Internet among Internet café customers in the city of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A main objective is to assess the importance of Internet use for human resource development. Three main categories of use are identified, namely communication, instrumental, and recreational. The two first mentioned are by far the most important in our sample. Those who use the Internet mainly for instrumental purposes, i.e. seeking information, reading online news, and research, are generally older and more highly educated with a higher personal and financial capability. This fact points in the direction of increased individual usefulness of Internet access over time.

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