Browsing by Author "Reece, Cathryn"

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    The digital divide in South Africa : identifying emerging inequalities in Internet access and online public spheres
    (2008) Reece, Cathryn
    This thesis is an investigation into the digital divide in South Africa. Its main aim is to present for the first time an analysis of South African Internet access and Internet users, in the context of existing digital divide theory. Four possible models of digital divides will be tested by assessing Internet access, Internet users and Internet user behaviour. The first part of this thesis sheds light on how changes over time in the number of people Internet access in South Africa can be understood. In an effort to evaluate four possible models from literature on digital divides, statistics on Internet access in South Africa are scrutinised in ways that have not yet been done in academic literature. Information on how Internet access may be increasing or decreasing within the population will also be assessed. This is so as to demonstrate how Internet access in South Africa may be experiencing a far more complex set of changes than access statistics alone may suggest. The second part of this thesis will investigate the Internet users who participate in debate and discussion on MyNews24, a South African "citizen journalism" portal on News24. The four possible models of the digital divide will be further evaluated based on the results of these findings. It is here where MyNews24 will also be evaluated as a possible online public sphere, which will demonstrate how inclusion of exclusion from public spaces such as MyNews24 may be of previously unrecognised consequence.The third and final part of this thesis will investigate how the digital divide is manifesting in the online commentary on MyNews24, and will demonstrate what kinds of interactions and conversations are talking place in this space. This will also demonstrate ways in which the digital divide may be affecting the nature of online debate in these possible online public spheres.