Does it speak to me? Visual aesthetics and the digital divide

Abstract

New media research suggests a significant disconnect between the life experience of minorities and the content, information and services they find available with an Internet experience. The HomeNetToo project was a three-year study that focused on understanding how communities of people on the ‘other side’ of this digital divide make sense of the Internet when access is introduced into their homes. Guided by Brenda Dervin's (1989) sense-making framework, the research looked at the Internet as a social practice and sought to identify strategies with which these communities engaged and integrated this cultural form. Ethnographic interviewing and observations in respondent's homes allowed access to meanings within the experience of their everyday lives. As a whole, findings lend support to the notion that the digital divide is more a design issue than it is a socio-economic phenomenon and they provide avenues to pursue for improving the cultural diversity of interface design. The patterns reported here focus on issues of interest to visual communication research and visual design.

Notes

Gretchen Barbatsis is Professor of Telecommunication, and consulting faculty in African Studies and the Center for Advanced Study in International Development at Michigan State University. She has published widely in the field of media communication, and was co-principal investigator on the HomeNetToo project. Recent work also includes projects in Nigeria, where she served as the Director of Formative Media Research and creative consultant for an ‘edutainment’ radio drama developed by and for urban youth.

Melissa Camacho is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University in the Department of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts. Her primary teaching and research interests include feminist media criticism as well as qualitative ethnographic research designed to uncover reasons beyond technology access that explain the lack of Internet use among members of various underserved communities.

Linda Jackson is Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University and Principal Investigator for the HomeNetToo project. Her research interests include cultural and social-psychological factors surrounding the use of information and communication technology (ICT); children's use of ICT and cultural factors that influence its impact on developmental outcomes; culture, cognition and learning in ICT environments; and gendered cultural influences on ICT use and career choice.

¹Spatial maps noted the sights, sounds and activities of the living space as a way to capture contextual meanings associated with using the Internet (Collier 1967). Visual characteristics described included art work, souvenirs, crafts, style, photos, collections, magazines, colours, pets, decor, books and posters. Activities noted included sports equipment, games, trophies, cooking and eating, socializing, and entertainment. Sounds included people, radio, television, stereo, phone, appliances, animals and musical instruments inside the home as well as traffic, sirens, people, animal and nature sounds from the outside environment. Attention to the location of the computer also focused on surrounding activity, flow in and out of the area, whether it was a public or private space, as well as work or play space. Interview summaries noted contingencies associated with the data-generating process, such as time limitations, the informant's interpersonal style and sense of commitment, the informant's and interviewer's perceptions of each other, and potential sources of distortion (Schatzman and Strauss 1973).

²The Interview Guide was structured by an outline of three topic areas for exploration, which at the same time allowed flexibility in the way that they were sequenced in any given interview. To ensure consistency in questioning and, thus, improved analysis, the Interview Guide followed a ‘questioning route’ format of questions in complete sentences (Krueger and Casey 2000) and included questions of various types to provide basic descriptive information, follow-up, experiential examples, clarification, explanations and comparisons ( Janesick 1998; Mishler 1986; Spradley 1979). Interview questions, as well as the overall interview protocol, were reviewed by people similar to the intended participants to make sure that the interview was phrased in words that they would use.

³HomeNetToo is a longitudinal research project designed to examine the antecedents and consequences of home Internet use by low-income families in the United States (www.HomeNetToo.org; e.g., Jackson et al. in press (a)). An additional objective of the project is to determine whether variations in interface design influence learning in virtual environments (see Jackson et al. 2003a, 2003b, in press (b); Lim et al. 2003).

⁴Project members selected to participate in the ethnographic interview were contacted by phone. The request was accompanied by the incentive of a $25 gift certificate for use at a local mall. Interviews were scheduled at the convenience of the participants, and included day time, evening and weekends. Two researchers conducted the 30 interviews over a one-month period. In an effort to prepare researchers for the context of the ethnographic interview, members of the technical support staff were also asked to provide a brief description of each family's living space in their three-month home visit log. They described the visual and sound environment as well as the location selected for Internet access within the home. For the interview, a small, unobtrusive digital recorder was used to maintain the sense of a conversational relationship between the researcher and the Internet user. Interviews typically lasted a little over two hours. Observational notes including spatial maps of the home and interview contingencies were prepared as close to the time of the interview as possible.

⁵This method of generating categories from the data at hand is common in social science research and especially in studies such as this where there is little consensus on theory to guide the selection of standard categories (Holsti 1969).

⁶Paying attention to how frequently subjects occurred should not imply that this is the most important characteristic of the data. Patterns based on frequency provided a general framework within which interpretive work could take into account characteristics of specificity, emotion and extensiveness in the conversational content (Krueger and Casey 2000).

⁷The 30 Strategies of Understanding describe the ways respondents made sense of the Internet. These can be subdivided in terms of four headings. The Internet as a Utility (Functionality): (1) Individualized Information; (2) Interpersonal Communication; (3) Parenting Support; (4) Refuge; (5) Gamemate; (6) Image Maintenance; (7) Predatory; (8) Bad Influence; (9) Perilous; (10) Inadequate Guidance; (11) Faulty Performance; (12) Duplicitous; (13) High Maintenance Learning; (14) Alien; (15) Apprehension; (16) Intimidation. The Internet as a Tool (Friendliness): (17) Cater to Me; (18) Niche Programming; (19) Catchy and Multi-sensory; (20) On-screen Guidance; (21) Straightforward Visual Organization; (22) Its a Machine–Its a Tool. The Internet was as an Interface (Methods or Processes): (23) Making (Constructing) Meaning; (24) Knowledge Gaps; (25) Bridging Gaps; (26) Customizing. The Internet as a Fixture (Intrusiveness): (27) Monitored Space; (28) Integrative Space; (29) Family Conflict; (30) Family Togetherness.

⁸Another area of knowledge important to the study, though not as significant to issues of visual communication, concerns Internet use – what users like or find useful, satisfying and affirming. Assessments of the technology indicate that users think of the computer as a powerful object (Turkle 1999) and appreciate its functionality (Robinson and Godbey 1997), both as a service that helps with daily household activities (Sanyal and Schon 1999) and as a way of making the home a workplace (Darrah et al. 1997). Users attribute improved quality of life (Cole 2000), including enhanced self-esteem (Beamish 1999) and empowerment, to being computer literate (Spooner and Rainie 2000) and to using the Internet for gathering information, education and training (Hara and Kling 2000). Internet users also find surfing a satisfying way to relax and pass time (Perse and Ferguson 2000) and like the variety of communication functions offered by e-mail, chat rooms and instant messaging ( Cole 2000; Hara and Kling 2000; Spooner and Rainie 2000), including participation in online communities ( Jones 1997; Tardieu 1999; Turkle 1999). It is important to note that most of these patterns do not speak for a racial-ethnic and socio-economic diversity of users, or recognize challenges associated with the technology for many users. Expressive and meaningful use of the Internet for most of these pleasures (Resnick et al. 1999; Shaw and Shaw 1999) requires a familiarity and comfort that only comes with mastery of the technology (Tardieu 1999), and is accompanied by concerns about engaging in mindless and isolating activity (Jones 1997; Nielsen 1997a) as well as frustrations with connectivity and response time (Hara and Kling 2000).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Linda Jackson

Gretchen Barbatsis is Professor of Telecommunication, and consulting faculty in African Studies and the Center for Advanced Study in International Development at Michigan State University. She has published widely in the field of media communication, and was co-principal investigator on the HomeNetToo project. Recent work also includes projects in Nigeria, where she served as the Director of Formative Media Research and creative consultant for an ‘edutainment’ radio drama developed by and for urban youth. Melissa Camacho is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University in the Department of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts. Her primary teaching and research interests include feminist media criticism as well as qualitative ethnographic research designed to uncover reasons beyond technology access that explain the lack of Internet use among members of various underserved communities. Linda Jackson is Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University and Principal Investigator for the HomeNetToo project. Her research interests include cultural and social-psychological factors surrounding the use of information and communication technology (ICT); children's use of ICT and cultural factors that influence its impact on developmental outcomes; culture, cognition and learning in ICT environments; and gendered cultural influences on ICT use and career choice.