New Research on Internet use in South Africa - The New Wave

Over the last two years I have been working on researching Internet use in South Africa in a project I started called the South African Network Society project. Working with Alison Gillwald and Christopher Stork at Research ICT Africa in Cape Town, we developed a range of questions on Internet use that were incorporated into a major survey on communications and ICTs.

 The survey was nationally representative of South African adults (if you anything about surveys you will know that this is a big deal and requires randomly selecting areas, households and individuals across the country).

For some months I've been analysing the results - with the help of Dr Mark Orkin, the former head of Statistics South Africa and a brilliant social scientist. On Tuesday we launch the report at the Wits Art Museum in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. I hope it will make a contribution to understanding who now uses the Internet, where they use it and what they use it for.

Here are some of the questions we offer some answers on:

Is the Internet more popular than newspapers in South Africa?
Are most Internet users still english speaking whites?
Is the mobile Internet really the future for South Africa?
Is the Internet reaching rural areas?
Where do people connect and what do they do when they do?
How social is the South African Internet?
What are the most important factors stopping non-users getting online?


The research was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Open Society Foundation of South Africa.

I'll be posting some of the findings here next week after the launch. If you would like to attend the launch please contact Judi Mafika  journinfo AT wits DOT ac DOT za