The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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PAPER The Drum Beat - 24 - Ohio University - Internet

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The Drum Beat - 24 - Ohio University - Internet
Additional Information and Commentary - Please contact the student identified for a full copy of their paper.


By Irma Larrea-Ona
International Student of Ohio University
July 1999
il349191@oak.cats.ohiou.edu


6. The Internet: A New Barrier between Developed and Developing Countries?

ABSTRACT

The development of the Internet in the last five years has produced multiple changes in the traditional ways of understanding and thinking about the mass media. Today, the Internet has emerged as one of the major communication technologies in the world, with present estimates of Internet users' ranging between 40 million and 60 million in more than 130 countries worldwide.
It is impossible to disregard all the possibilities that the Internet offers, but we also have to consider that its rapid development and understanding is easier to accomplish in developed countries. Developing countries are many steps behind in the use and the evolution of the Internet because of the levels of illiteracy, poverty, economic resources, and many other political, social and technological factors that contribute to the situation. The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) a different understanding of the Internet as a mass medium between developed and developing countries; and (2) how the use of the Internet can open or close links between developed and developing countries.

The real impact that the Internet is currently producing in society cannot be measured in all its extension, until now. However, the real impact caused by the Internet is not exclusively in people's senses but fundamentally in the whole society. The Internet is not only a mass medium, but it is also a cultural phenomenon. The Internet's rapid growth creates a dilemma inside society because it represents a new space where language, politics, identity and many other elements are includes and discussed worldwide, without any direction, and apparently without any specific objective. That means that many theoretical models and social interchange strategies need to be discovered and developed to deal with the current and future impact that the Internet will have on the world. The difficulties and the limitations experienced by developing countries concerning the massive use of the Internet are constantly surpassed using creative ways to do it. One of the most significant of those is the understanding of the Internet as a new tool for social development.
However, it is important to understand that technology is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for national development. Other elements must be taken into account: natural resources, human skills, political will, and a desire of self-reliance. But without technology, development could be slow or nonexistent. Thus, the Internet could help developing countries to achieve their sustainable development goals if it is utilized with prosocial objectives.