Internet use in the contemporary media environment

TLDR

Much research has focused on traditional media and some new media, yet studies have either neglected the Internet or were conducted before its recent popularity. This study explores how individuals use three Internet functions—information retrieval, information giving, and conversation—in relation to other communication media. The authors examine individuals' use of these Internet functions alongside other communication media. Data from 684 participants show that the Internet is a multidimensional technology used similarly to traditional media, with conversation features aligning with mediated interpersonal technologies and information retrieval/giving features resembling mass media channels, and that needs fulfilled by these channels cluster consistently across technologies.

Abstract

Although a significant amount of research has focused on traditional media choice and use, and even on some 'new' media, these studies have either neglected the Internet and World Wide Web or were conducted prior to their recent popularity. This study offers a novel exploration of individuals' use of three Internet functions (information retrieval, information giving, and conversation capabilities) in the context of the use of other communication media. Data from 684 individuals demonstrate that the Internet is a multidimensional technology used in a manner similar to other, more traditional media. Specifically, conversation features of the Internet align with mediated interpersonal technologies (the telephone and electronic mail), whereas the Internet's information-retrieval and information-giving features are used in ways similar to mass media channels (newspapers, television, and books and magazines). In addition, needs fulfilled by these channels cluster in ways consistent with past research, regardless of the technologies employed to meet them.