ICT and society : an exploratory survey on the role of internet on knowledge acquisition among Nairobi youth

Abstract

Internet is integral in society is un-debatable, it was on this premise that this research sought to find out how the youth use the internet and how it has impacted on them with a bias on knowledge acquisition. The project was based on two key theories that is: Uses and gratification theory and Social Learning theory. Previous studies on the internet and youths also helped guide this study. There was a general assumption that the internet has a negative effect on the youths before carrying out this study. The study focused on youths between the ages of 15 and 25. This age represent youths who are in secondary school, colleges or have finished their schooling. The project also wanted to identify any differences in terms of consumption of the media by youths from different social cadres. 100 youths were to participate III answenng the questionnaire. While thirty were interviewed, out of the 100, 91 responded and returned the filled questionnaire while all the 30 were duly interviewed. The research demonstrated that the internet has tremendously increased the youths' social networks, the youth interact more often and even the very shy ones have been offered an opportunity to socialize and this they did through e-mail services, chat rooms where incidentally they relish conversing with strangers and people from all over the world. This has made them more informed and are in better positions to articulate issues.