London School of Economics and Political Science

Internet use by young people in London

The aim of this research project is to study how changes in social and physical context influence the young people's internet experience. It intends to investigate the existing differences in internet use, evaluation of internet skills (internet self-efficacy) and the importance of the internet for individuals from socially excluded groups. It is hypothesized that an individual's self perception changes according to different contexts and that this in turn will cause variations in the use, evaluation and perception of the internet. Circumstances might influence the way in which an individual represents him or herself on the internet, it might relate to different information seeking patterns and it might change the perception of this person in relation to his or her abilities to use the internet. These concepts will be tested through a survey and in a face to face setting, monitoring internet use directly and getting direct feedback from the users.

Keywords: internet use, social status, internet self-efficacy, internet confidence, centrality, marginal groups, self-categorisation, internet Connectedness Index, Computer mediated communication, Social Individuation/Deindividuation theory.