Cultural divide and the Internet

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to Study the relationship between Culture and Internet usage. In the light of studies showing the existence of subcultures within a Country, an experiment was designed and conducted based on the Hofstede Cultural model and Tiwana's expert knowledge model to determine how social differences affect the Internet usage of first-year University Students. Data-mining techniques were then used to find relationships between culture and Internet usage. We conclude that abilities and performance relating to Internet use differs among subcultures not only because of the digital divide but also because of cultural differences. We also show that subcultures tend to converge over time when placed in the same context. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.