Book chapter 463 views
Role of Social Culture in Evaluation of Internet Policies
Panayiota Tsatsou
Handbook of Research on Information Communication Technology Policy, Pages: 631 - 651
Swansea University Author: Panayiota Tsatsou
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DOI (Published version): 10.4018/978-1-61520-847-0.ch040
Abstract
This chapter discusses the role of social culture in the evaluation of ICT policies and specifically ofInternet policies. It draws on the case of the Greek Information Society and on the exceptionally lowlevels of Internet adoption in the country, exploring the role of social culture in the ways in...
| Published in: | Handbook of Research on Information Communication Technology Policy |
|---|---|
| ISBN: | 9781615208470 |
| Published: |
Hershey, New York
IGI Global
2011
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| Online Access: |
http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61520-847-0.ch040 |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa12954 |
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| Abstract: |
This chapter discusses the role of social culture in the evaluation of ICT policies and specifically ofInternet policies. It draws on the case of the Greek Information Society and on the exceptionally lowlevels of Internet adoption in the country, exploring the role of social culture in the ways in which Internetusers and non-users in Greece evaluate Internet policies and the role of these policies in their decisionto adopt the Internet or not. The chapter reports on the findings obtained from surveying 1,000 Greekusers and non-users of the Internet in 2007. It finds that social culture and, more specifically, everydayculture and people’s resistance to Internet technologies influence significantly their evaluation of Internetpolicies, explaining to a certain degree the picture of low Internet adoption in Greece. The first sectionintroduces the scope and aim of the chapter, while background information on the main trends in theGreek Information Society is provided in the section that follows. In the third section, the chapter takesa decision-making perspective and discusses policies in the Information Society of the country, so asto understand better the context in which policy initiatives receive evaluations that derive from socialculture. Then, the chapter reports on the main empirical findings obtained from a survey. The surveyfinds that a culture of resistance is dominant in Greece, with non-users uninterested and in no need touse the Internet. Non-users in particular seem to identify themselves with established traditions andsettings of life, thinking that the Internet may put their work, personal and moral status at risk. On theother hand, the survey finds that Greek people are generally dissatisfied with national Internet policies.The modelling analysis shows that social culture and specifically people’s values and culturally-drivenperceptions of Internet technologies do influence the ways in which Internet users and non-users evaluateInternet policies. These findings can provide recommendations for policy-makers in the field aswell as insights for researchers who aim to conduct comparative research or envisage looking at othercountries’ ICT policies and social cultures. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Start Page: |
631 |
| End Page: |
651 |