Slides from a talk to the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford in 2005 on the social dynamics of the Internet. It covered key findings from the first years of the Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS).

1. The Social Dynamics of the Internet
William Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
www.oii.ox.ac.uk
Presentation for post-graduate students in Sociology, University of Oxford,
Manor Road Building, 24 January 2005.

2. Societal Implications
• No Particular Significance?
• Transformational Bias?
• Reinforcement?
----------------------- v.
‘Reconfiguring Access’

3. • Oxford Internet Surveys
• World Internet Project
• Qualitative Research
The Internet and Everyday Life

4. OxIS 2003
• Probability sample, projectable to
England, Wales and Scotland
• 14 years and older
• June-July 2003 [February-March 2005]
• Face to face interviews
• 2,030 respondents
• 66% response rate

5. • 5th Year
• Initiated 2000
• 15 nations (and expanding)
• Oxford 2003 (WIP Conference)
World Internet Project (WIP)

6. • Large N, longitudinal panels
• Multi-disciplinary
• Independent -- multi-client
• Common core questions
• Unique national questions
WIP Strategy

7. • Diffusion of the Internet
• Culture of the Net -- Cybertrust
• Societal Implications
Themes Across Areas

8. • Tracking ‘Digital Divides’
Dynamics of Diffusion

9. Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of Britons
aged 14 and older, 23 May- 28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.
Use in Britain, 2003
Users
Dropouts
Non-users
35%
59%
Source: OxIS
6%
N= 2,030

10. Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Cross-National Use, circa 2003

11. Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Percent Who Use the Internet:
Lowest and Highest Economic Quartiles

12. Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Gender and Internet Use, circa 2003

13. Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Gender and Hours Users Spend Online per Week

14. New Broadband Divides in Britain,
2003
Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of Britons
aged 14 and older, 23 May- 28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.
User already on
broadband 11%
User probably
going on
broadband 24%
Non-
user
41%
User not thinking
of broadband 24%

15. Dynamics of Diffusion
• Tracking ‘Digital Divides’
• The ‘Digital Choice’

16. 98%
67%
22%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pupils Working Age Retired
INTERNET USE IN BRITAIN BY LIFE STAGE
Q. Do you yourself use the Internet at home, work, school, college, or
elsewhere ?
Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of
Britons aged 14 and older, 23 May-28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.
(% Users)
Pupils: age 14-22 years and in full time education.
Working age: employed of any age and all other persons not in employment up to age 55.
Retired: 55 or over and are not in employment.

17. Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Internet Use by Age, circa 2003

18. Trust in the Internet
• Tracking trends in cybertrust

19. Dimensions of Trust
• Net-confidence: reliability of information
on the net, confidence in ‘people
running the Internet’, people you can
communicate with on the Internet.
• Net-risks: perceived risks to privacy,
security of information, accurately
judging quality of products

20. Trust: Confidence

21. Trust: Perceived Risk
Table 6. Net Risks
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Broadband
N
arrow
band
PastU
ser
N
on-user
PercentDisagree
Puts privacy at risk
People get personal
information
Difficult to assess
products

22. Society and the Net
• Tracking Trends in Cybertrust
• Net as an ‘Experience’ Technology

23. Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Percent of Users Who Purchase Online by
Experience

24. Internet Users by Experience
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

25. Bad Experience
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Too much SPAM
Obscene, abusive e-
mail
Virus
Likely fraud
PercentExperiencing
Experiences of E-Mail Users in Britain, 2003 (N= 1,045)
18%
47%
17%
23%

26. Impact: Sociability
• Isolating,Connecting, Reconfiguring?

27. Average Hours per Week Spent Socializing with
Friends: Users vs. Non-users
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

28. “Has the use of Internet increased or decreased
your contact with your family and friends?”
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

29. Average Number of Online Friends Met in Person
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

30. Number of Online Friends Never Met in Person
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

31. Average Number of Online Friends Met in Person:
by User Category
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.org/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

32. Average Number of Online Friends Never Met in
Person by User Category
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

33. • Information: what you read, hear, see; what you
know
• People: who you know; with whom you communicate
– who is in? who is out?
• Services: what you consume; who pays what to
whom
• Technologies: access to other information and
communication technologies (ICTs)
Reconfiguring Access to:
Dutton, W. (1999), Society on the Line (Oxford: Oxford Un Press).

34. Reconfiguring Access
• Isolating, Connecting, Reconfiguring?
• Reshaping Media Use?

35. Average Hours per Week Spent Reading Books:
Users vs. Non-users
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

36. Average Hours per Week Spent Watching
Television: Users vs. Non-users
Source: http://www.worldinternetproject.net/
____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

37. Reconfiguring Access
• Isolating, Connecting, Reconfiguring?
• Reshaping Media Use?
• Reshaping Access to Public Services

38. I nternet for Public Services, Britain 2003
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Doctor, hospital, health service
Get tax info, or pay
Get info about schools
Other public services
Any of these uses
Percent of I nternet Users ( N = 1,201)
Nearly 40% of Britons online use public information services
Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of Britons
aged 14 and older, 23 May- 28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.

39. Social Class and e- Public S ervices
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
A
B
C1
C2
D
E
All
SocialClass
Percent of I nternet Users ( N = 1201)
Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of Britons
aged 14 and older, 23 May- 28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.
Social Class Shapes Use of Public Information

40. Education and Use of e- Public Services
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
GCSC/O-level/CSE
Vocational
A-level, equiv.
Un BA or equiv.
Higher Degree
Education
Percent of I nternet Users ( N= 1201)
Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of Britons
aged 14 and older, 23 May- 28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.
Education is Positively Associated with Use

41. Age and Use of e- P ublic S ervices
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
14-15
16-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Age
Percent of I nternet Users ( N= 1201)
Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of Britons
aged 14 and older, 23 May- 28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.
Public Information Accessed More by Older Citizens

42. Experience and Use for Public I nformation
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Less than one
1-2 years
2-3 years
3-4 years
4-5 years
Over 5
Experience
Percent of I nternet Users, N= 1201
Source: Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), results of a nationwide representative survey of Britons
aged 14 and older, 23 May- 28 June 2003. Number of respondents: 2,030.
Proximity to the Internet: Experience Shapes Use

45. Emerging Themes:
• Diffusion: Digital Choices and Divides
• Dimensions of Cybertrust
• Experience Technology
• Transformative Impact: Reconfiguring
Access