Relationships and Connectedness: Weak Ties that Help Social Inclusion Through Public Access Computing

Abstract

Of all the benefits public access to computers (PAC) offer users, the most valued by users are having more information for stronger relationships, better learning, and effective transactions. This article analyzes the most salient benefit, more information for stronger relationships with friends and family. Results of a qualitative study among users of libraries, telecenters, and cybercafés in Colombia, South America, show that social media and personal relationships can also have an important community and sociopolitical dimension. By fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness to community and to a larger world, PAC usage often leads to feelings of empowerment and development of social capital, two intangible factors that are critical for community development. This study used a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys and interviews in five regions of the country, to uncover the benefits of PAC for underserved communities. Its findings contribute new insight about the impact of information and communication technologies on community development and social inclusion.

Keywords:

• development issues
• ICT dialogues and discourses
• implications for developed and transition economies

Acknowledgements

Authors wish to thank graduate students Sarah Caldwell, Monica Barba, Joel Turner, Philip Fawcett, Gary Gao, and Adam Taplin for their contributions and comments to this article. We also thank Leonardo Alvarez for his support translating and reviewing the English versions of some interviews, field notes and analysis. This article draws from findings reported earlier at two conferences (Baron & Gomez 2012a, 2012b).

Notes on contributors

Luis Fernando Baron is Lecturer at Icesi University in Colombia and a Ph.D. Candidate of Information Sciences at the University of Washington (UW). He has been leader in the study of relations of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and social movements in the field of human rights and peacebuilding in Colombia. His research spans such diverse areas as memories, public opinion and audiences studies on violence and peace processes in Colombia, uses of media for social change, and alternative processes of organization for development. His current dissertation work investigates how Social Media has been embedded into the daily practices of three Social Movement Organizations that work on immigration issues within Hispanic communities in Washington State.

Ricardo Gomez is Assistant Professor and Chair of the Information & Society Center at University of Washington's Information School. He specializes in the social impacts of communication technologies, especially in community development settings. He is also interested in qualitative research methods, and in group facilitation and process design. He seeks creative ways to communicate complex ideas and research results in everyday language. He has worked with private, public and non-profit sectors around the world, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining the University of Washington he worked with Microsoft Community Affairs, and with the International Development Research Center in Canada. He holds an MA from Université du Québec à Montréal (1992) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (1997).

Notes

1. http://www.bibliotecanacional.gov.co/?idcategoria=27552

2. Based on Quarterly report of Ministry of ICT, first quarter of 2010 (http://www.mintic.gov.co/mincom/faces/index.jsp?id=14580), which cites number of broadband connections to the Internet for shared access, separate from home and business access, and subtracting the known totals for libraries and telecenters.

3. See more in Mager (2009, p. 1130).

4. See http://bit.ly/pWoddm for more details about the Facebook-started anti-kidnapping movement in Colombia.