Netizen

Abstract: We argue that the global digital divide, as measured by cross-national differences in Internet use, is the result of the economic, regulatory and sociopolitical characteristics of countries and their evolution over time. We predict Internet use to increase with worldsystem status, privatization and competition in the telecommunications sector, democracy and cosmopolitanism. Using data on 118 countries from 1997 through 2001, we find relatively robust support for each of our hypotheses. We conclude by exploring the implications of this new, powerful communication medium for the global political economy and for the spread of democracy around the world. The Internet has developed unevenly throughout the world, creating what has become known as the “global digital divide” (Castells 2001; Kirkman et al. 2002; Mosaic Group 1998; Norris 2001; Rogers 2001). The number of Internet users is one of the most widely used indicators of development of this emerging medium of communication. Less than 10 percent of the world’s population uses the Internet, and the gap between developed and developing countries has continued to widen since the early 1990s (see Figure 1). Differences by country are remarkable. Statistics compiled by the International Telecommunication Union as of the end of 2002 indicate that Internet use as a proportion of the population ranges from less than one percent in many underdeveloped African, Central American, and South Asian countries to between 50 and 60 percent in Iceland, the United States, Scandinavia, Singapore or South Korea (ITU 2003).1 The growth of the Internet has captured the imagination of users, policymakers, entrepreneurs, corporate managers, military strategists, social commentators, scholars, and journalists. Some early optimistic analyses envisioned the Internet as a “decentralizing, globalizing, harmonizing, and empowering” medium (Negroponte 1995:229), as a new communication technology that would bring about a “smaller, more open world.” (Tapscott and Caston 1993:313) The most enthusiastic visionaries have argued that the Internet means the “triumph over time and space,” the rise of the “netizen,” and the crowning of the “customer as sovereign” (Gilder 2000). According to the cyber-optimists, the Internet can create a public sphere in Habermas’s (1989) sense, one that is not regulated by the state or by commercial interests but rather owned and controlled by the participants themselves (Schneider 1996). While some of the cyber-optimists recognized the looming issue of inequality in access to the Internet (e.g. Tapscott and Caston 1993:312), it was not until the late 1990s that international organizations, governments, think tanks, and universities started to warn about the existence of a yawning digital divide, both within and across countries (e.g., U.S.

Abstract: To what extent do frame-building and frame-setting processes manifest themselves in the interplay between online public discourse and traditional (offline) media discourse? Employing a content analysis of 206 online posts and 114 news reports regarding a sociopolitical incident in China, we test the associations and causal relationships between the salience of opinion frames and media frames. Online public opinion plays an important role in transforming the original local event into a nationally prominent issue. It also exerts a significant frame-building impact on subsequent media reports but only in the early stage of coverage. However, the media are not passive in this two-way process and adapt online frames as necessary. Although media coverage is the primary source of information for netizens, it does not set frames for online discourse. Noticeably, significant associations between concurrent opinion frames and media frames lend strong support to frame-interacting effects. Discussion focuses on governmental influences in the frame-building process and the potential of netizen autonomy to attenuate frame-setting effects.

Abstract: This article addresses a long-standing question: What are the political consequences of the rise of the Internet and the attendant emergence of netizens in China, particularly in terms of China's democratic prospects? Given the Chinese state's firm control in the realm of traditional media, the Internet has been expected to bring about political and social change in China since its introduction. Although scholars have had divergent views on what this change might look like, there has been no systematic effort to produce representative evidence to address the debate. Examining a nationwide representative survey data set, this study finds that Chinese netizens, as opposed to traditional media users and non-media users, are more politically opinionated. In addition, they are more likely to be simultaneously supportive of the norms of democracy and critical about the party-state and the political conditions in China, while also being potential and active participants in collective action. This article argues ...

Abstract: This study aims to find out to what extent the Internet users in line with media literacy. According to Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association (APJII) and BPS Statistic Indonesia, it was found that Internet users in Indonesia have grown since three years ago up to 13% or become 71.19 million people until the end of 2013. According to research survey MarkPlus Insight, “netizen” or Internet users who spend more than three hours per day on Internet. Moreover, they are increasing from 24,2 Million people in 2012 and become 31,7 million people in 2013. This research used qualitative method by gathering the data through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to private university students who spent for Internet 5 hours per day and less than 5 hours per day. The theory used in this research was media literacy. The result of this research stated that students who accessed the Internet below 5 hours per day were already busy with work and not too intense in using the Internet either via smartphone or a computer. Different findings came up from the students who accessed the Internet over 5 hours per day. Most of the time, they used the Internet for social media and instant messaging (instant messenger) through smartphones. Critical attitude towards the media message depends on the informants’ interest toward the information.