internet usage research paper

• Open access
• Published: 27 March 2023

Internet use, users, and cognition: on the cognitive relationships between Internet-based technology and Internet users

• Vishruth M. Nagam 1  

BMC Psychology volume  11 , Article number:  82 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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This study aims to investigate growing Internet use in relation to memory and cognition. Though literature reveals human capability to utilize the Internet as a transactive memory source, the formational mechanisms of such transactive memory systems are not extensively explored. The Internet’s comparative effects on transactive memory and semantic memory are also relatively unknown.

This study comprises two experimental memory task survey phases utilizing null hypothesis and standard error tests to assess significance of results.

When information is expected to be saved and accessible, recall rates are lower, regardless of explicit instructions to remember (Phase 1, N = 20). Phase 2 suggests the importance of order of attempted recall: depending on whether users first attempt to recall (1) desired information or (2) the information’s location, subsequent successful cognitive retrieval is more likely to occur for (1) only desired information or both desired information and location thereof or (2) only desired information’s location, respectively (N = 22).

Conclusions

This study yields several theoretical advances in memory research. The notion of information being saved online and accessible in the future negatively affects semantic memory. Phase 2 reveals an adaptive dynamic—(1) as Internet users often have a vague idea of desired information before searching for it on the Internet, first accessing semantic memory serves as an aid for subsequent transactive memory use and (2) if transactive memory access is successful, the need to retrieve desired information from semantic memory is inherently eliminated. By repeatedly defaulting to first accessing semantic memory and then transactive memory or to accessing transactive memory only, Internet users may form and reinforce transactive memory systems with the Internet, or may refrain from enhancing and decrease reliance on transactive memory systems by repeatedly defaulting to access only semantic memory; the formation and permanence of transactive memory systems are subject to users’ will. Future research spans the domains of psychology and philosophy.

Peer Review reports

The Internet is a relatively recent invention, having been established in 1983, yet its reach has extended across the globe [ 1 ]. Over the past 2 decades, the world has seen a distinct increase in the number of people connected to the Internet (from 5 to 58.7%) [ 2 ]. Furthermore, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many in-person activities have been shifted to virtual Internet-based mediums. The Internet has become a part of daily life for many individuals, and thus it is necessary to investigate the Internet’s potential cognitive implications.

“I don’t know; ‘Google’ it!” has become a common household remark in response to a question that cannot be answered at the moment. With the Internet being accessible through various means of technology, people often utilize search engines with complex algorithms to find any needed information. Regardless of whether people have to recall the precise quantities of ingredients in a recipe or how many points a basketball player scored in a game, they instantly search for it on the Internet using smart devices. People may experience withdrawal symptoms when they cannot instantly gratify themselves with the information they need, and thus some have even been led to believe that modern students, surrounded by various ways to access the Internet, are declining in intelligence and memory [ 3 ].

Throughout history and civilization, humans have relied on each other to share the burden of a cognitive task (e.g. remembering complex information), which has resulted in specialization in society and within relationships. Transactive memory refers to the idea that people develop a “system of encoding, storage, and retrieval of information from different knowledge domains.” This type of memory includes both the source of the information along with knowing the process of how to access or ask for that information when it is needed [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Thus, the “transactions” among individuals, as well as among the knowledge bases themselves, make up a transactive memory system.

In contrast, semantic memory is the long-term declarative memory of general facts and data. It consists of “cultural knowledge, ideas, and concepts” that have been accumulated throughout one’s lifetime [ 4 , 8 ]. Some examples of information falling under semantic memory may include the names of the most populous cities, the historical significance of a certain war, or basic multiplication and division rules. Though one may be able to store the same kind of information in working memory (i.e. short-term memory), the oft-ignored difference between working memory and semantic memory is that the latter allows for the long-term storage (more than a few seconds) of the information, which involves not only the hippocampus but also a vast network of cortical regions [ 4 ].

In previous studies, it has been determined that humans are capable of forming transactive memory systems, or collective storages of information outside of themselves, with the Internet [ 3 , 7 ]. However, the Internet’s effects on transactive memory in comparison to semantic memory have not been extensively explored; in addition, the mechanisms of how transactive memory systems with the Internet are established and strengthened are relatively unknown (see “ Hypothesis ” Section for further elaboration). This study investigates how the Internet plays a role in a transactive memory system with Internet users of the modern generation, the Internet’s comparative effects on transactive memory and semantic memory, and whether the cognitive implications of the aforementioned effects can help explain how transactive memory systems are formed and established. It was around these central aims that the hypothesis was framed.

The author’s hypothesis about human cognitive relationships with the Internet can be summarized in four parts to be tested in two experimental phases (Phases 1 and 2): (1) if it is expected that information will be saved and accessible in the future, people are less likely to recall the information (tested in Phase 1), (2) if it is expected that information will be saved in a known location, the memory of the location where the information is saved (transactive memory) is more enhanced than the memory of the information itself (semantic memory), as the location (e.g. a website name or a short folder name) may be more memorable (tested in Phase 2), (3) explicit instructions to remember do not have a significant effect on memory and recall (tested in Phase 1), and 4) if it is expected that information will be saved in a known location, the order of attempted recall may not have a significant effect on memory, if the memory questions are worded such that attempting to recall information does not influence attempts to recall the information’s location and vice versa (tested in Phase 2).

Hypothesis Parts 1, 2, and 3 are based on and serve to validate the findings of previous transactive memory research and theory and of the Internet’s known comparative effects on transactive memory and semantic memory [ 7 , 9 ]. In particular, Sparrow et al. show that transactive memory is enhanced in comparison to semantic memory, but only test access of transactive memory following prior access of semantic memory [ 9 ]. Thus, as an unexplored point of experimentation, Hypothesis Part 4 (testing order of attempted recall) was included in this study to potentially yield greater insight into the comparative effects of Internet use on transactive memory and semantic memory and into the formational mechanisms of transactive memory systems. Hypothesis Part 4 assumes the null hypothesis, as a sufficient base of evidence suggesting otherwise was not found.

Materials and methods

Twenty and twenty-two human volunteers participated in Phase 1 and Phase 2, respectively. All participants had a means of digitally accessing Google Forms (via Internet-connected devices). A stopwatch was used to ensure participants completed each step of the experiment in the allotted times. A calculator and spreadsheets software were used to perform data analysis.

Twenty-two students enrolled in Folsom Cordova Unified School District middle schools were administered the experimental memory task surveys. Parents and/or legal guardians of the students completed the Human Informed Consent Form, which contained brief information on the study. Phase 1 data was not available for two students.

All the participants first read thirty trivia-style statements on a Google Form (refer to Additional file 1 : Appendix B.1 for a digital copy). The participants were divided into two groups: half were told to remember the statements while the other half was not given any explicit memory instructions, in order to simulate attempting to recall information found on the Internet with and without anticipating that the information will be needed and/or tested in the future, respectively (refer to Additional file 1 :Appendix F for a participant flow diagram depicting how the hypothesis was addressed in the steps of Phase 1) [ 3 , 7 ].

Half of the statements were labeled as “Will Be Saved” and the other half as “Will Be Erased” on the Google Form. A ten-minute reading period was given for the participants to memorize the statements. By mentioning that only the “Will Be Saved” statements would be accessible later, the perception was created that the “Will Be Saved” statements would be available for future reference and that the “Will Be Erased” statements would not be accessible after the reading period (see Additional file 1 : Appendix B.3).

After the reading period, the participants were tested on their memory of the statements in an uncued recall format, which was chosen to prevent wording bias. The participants had ten minutes to type as many statements as they could remember into the Google Form (see Additional file 1 : Appendix B.2). Such quantification of memory of both groups of participants allows for an assessment of the first two parts of the hypothesis [ 7 ]. For example, to quantify the memory of saved statements (statements labeled as “Will Be Saved”) for the participants who were given explicit memory instructions, the calculation “(number of saved statements remembered by the participants with explicit memory instructions)/(total number of saved statements)” would be performed. The control in this experiment is the memory of the saved statements for the participants without any explicit memory instructions, as normally when using the Internet, people do not make conscious efforts to remember, and they know that the information they view is saved online, for instance, in a web page.

The purpose of explicitly telling only half of the participants to remember the statements and refraining from any memory instruction for the other half of the participants is to simulate attempts to remember online information when expecting or not expecting, respectively, the information will be needed and/or tested in the future. Thus, Phase 1 determines how the expectation of information being saved online and accessible in the future via Internet-based technology, as well as how being explicitly asked to remember, may influence semantic memory.

Phase 2 sought to determine if, with the expectation that the information will be saved in a known location, participants are more likely to remember where the information can be found (transactive memory) rather than the information itself (semantic memory). Phase 2 also investigates if the order of attempted recall (attempting to recall the information before its location, or vice versa) would have a significant effect on the participants’ memory (refer to Additional file 1 : Appendix F for a participant flow diagram depicting how the hypothesis was addressed in the steps of Phase 2).

Participants first read a list of thirty trivia-style statements (different from the list used in Phase 1) in random order on a Google Form (see Additional file 1 : Appendix D.1 for a digital copy). The statements were already randomly saved to one of four folders, all of which were similarly named (“Information,” “Facts,” “Points,” “Figures”), or saved in no specific folder (the phrases “generically saved” and “saved in no specific folder” will be used interchangeably in the rest of this paper). The trivia-style statements will be randomly distributed across the total five information storage locations, and each storage location would thus have six—an equal number of—statements. The purpose of generically saving a portion of the statements was to eliminate the effects of the added memory toll of having to remember a statement and its folder location [ 4 , 7 ]. A screenshot of all the folder locations in which these statements would be saved was given in the Google Form to ensure that the participants gained the perception that four-fifths of the statements are saved in their assigned folders and one-fifth of the statements are generically saved.

After a ten-minute reading period, participants were given another ten minutes to answer questions about all the statements and their folder locations phrased in a cued recall format on a Google Form (refer to Additional file 1 : Appendix D.2). The cued recall format was used to simulate Internet use, as, when people try to recall information, or the location thereof, that they know is saved on the Internet, they generally tend to have at least a vague idea of the information at hand [ 5 , 7 ]. In addition, the cued recall format for both semantic memory and transactive memory more accurately reflects real-world Internet use compared to previous Internet cognition studies, which only explore uncued recall with semantic memory and cued recall for transactive memory and thus exhibit implicit bias towards transactive memory [ 9 ]. Due to time constraints, the participants were tested on their memory of ten randomly selected statements and their folder locations (see Additional file 1 : Appendix D.3), yielding a total of twenty questions (ten statement questions and ten folder location questions).

The questions about the exact statements were free-response (answers with slightly different wordings that still convey the same meaning were accepted). For example, if the statement “A bolt of lightning contains enough energy to toast 100,000 slices of bread” was saved in the “Points” folder, a question about the statement might be structured like the following: “Enter the statement about lightning to the best of your ability.” The average proportion of statements remembered by each participant was calculated with the following expression: “(average number of correct statements / total number of statements tested)”. A question about a statement’s folder location might be structured like the following: “In which folder was the statement about lightning saved?” Each folder location question would require a short answer, such as “Figures” or “No specific folder.” In the case of the lightning question, the participant would have to type “Points” to correctly answer the question. The average proportion of folder locations remembered by each participant was calculated with the following expression: “(average number of correct folder locations / total number of folder location questions tested)”.

However, the average proportions of remembered statements and folder locations can be somewhat misleading, as a participant may have a higher chance of recalling the folder location of a statement due to the previous recalling of the statement or vice versa. To investigate further, on the Google Form, half of the folder location questions preceded the exact statement questions, and the other half of the folder location questions followed the exact statement questions. For example, for the lightning statement above, the folder location question follows the exact statement question, but for another statement, the folder location question may precede the exact statement question. This would help determine if order matters in recalling the statement and its folder location, simulating how the order of one’s attempted recall of information’s online location versus the information itself may influence transactive and/or semantic memory.

In addition, with just the average proportions of remembered statements and folder locations, an accurate conclusion cannot be made about the memory of a specific piece of information, as a participant may remember the statement but not its location or vice versa. To compare the participants’ memories of each statement and its folder location, the author calculated the proportions of statements for which the participants recalled (1) neither the statement nor folder location, (2) the folder location but not the statement, (3) the statement but not the folder location, and (4) both the statement and its folder location. These four cases were analyzed for both the group of statements that had the exact statement questions given first and the group of statements that had the folder location questions given first, resulting in eight total statistical cases. For example, to calculate the participants’ memory of case 2 statements (only folder location of those statements were remembered) that had the preceding folder location question, the expression “(number of case 2 statements with the preceding folder location question/total number of statements with the preceding folder location question)” was used. The control in this experiment would be the case 1 statements with the preceding statement question, as usually people tend to attempt recalling the saved information first before resorting to searching it on the Internet and because the memory of the case 1 statements would serve as a comparison to the statements in case 2, 3, and 4.

In this way, Phase 2 will help to conclude how the expectation that the desired information’s digital location affects memory of the information (semantic memory) in comparison to memory of the information’s location (transactive memory). Phase 2 will also help to determine if attempting to recall a statement or its folder location first affects the recall of the other.

Statistical analysis

Null hypothesis statistical tests were used to assess the statistical significance of the results of both Phases 1 and 2 to 95% confidence. One-tailed and two-tailed inferential t-tests were used depending on the nature of the hypothesis tested (e.g., as Hypothesis Part 1 poses significantly less recall when information is known to be saved, assessment of results pertaining to Hypothesis Part 1 warrants one-tailed statistical analyses. Assessments of Hypothesis Part 4 as the null hypothesis warrant two-tailed statistical analyses).

The analysis of the results of Phase 1 (refer to Fig.  1 ; see Additional file 1 : Appendix C for raw data), with Saved and Erased statement groups as well as explicit memory instructions and no memory instructions groups, showed that participants with explicit memory instructions (EMS) remembered the statements they believed to be erased (Erased/EMS M = 0.24, SE = 0.046) significantly better (t(14.235) = 1.775, p  < 0.05, one-tailed unpooled t-test) than the statements they believed to be saved (Saved/EMS M = 0.147, SE = 0.026). Participants with no explicit memory instructions (NEMS) also remembered the Erased statements (Erased/NEMS M = 0.26, SE = 0.057) significantly better (t(16.016) = 1.81, p  < 0.05, one-tailed unpooled t-test) than the Saved statements (Saved/NEMS M = 0.133, SE = 0.040). There were no significant differences in the memory of participants who received EMS and those who did not.

Proportion of “Will be Erased” and “Will be Saved” statements recalled, by the presence of explicit memory instructions.“Will be Erased” and “Will be Saved” statements are abbreviated as “Erased” and “Saved,” respectively. Error bars represent ± 1 SE X

In Phase 2 (refer to Fig.  2 ), the participants correctly recalled on average 30.9% of the statements (SE = 0.037) and 35.4% of the folder locations (SE = 0.044); the difference between these values not being significant. Due to aforementioned reasons pertaining to the procedural steps of Phase 2 (refer to Procedural Steps for elaboration), the proportions of each of the four cases for the statements, both with the preceding statement question (PSQ) and the preceding folder location question (PFLQ), were calculated as well (refer to Fig.  3 ; see Additional file 1 : Appendix E for raw data).

Overall proportions of statements and folder locations recalled. Error bars represent ± 1 SE X

Proportion of statements and folder locations recalled, by order of recall and type of information recalled. Error bars represent ± 1 SE X

Participants were able to correctly recall both the statement and folder location (Both/PSQ M = 0.164, SE = 0.036) or only the folder location, but not the statement (Folder/PSQ M = 0.164, SE = 0.043) for relatively few statements with the PSQ. Participants were more likely to be able to recall only the statement, and not the folder location, (Statement/PSQ M = 0.291, SE = 0.043) or nothing at all (Nothing/PSQ M = 0.364, SE = 0.054) about the statements with the PSQ. The difference between the participants recalling only the statement and recalling only the folder location for the statements with the PSQ was significant (t(41.999) = − 2.090, p  < 0.05, one-tailed unpooled t-test).

Participants were seldom able to recall both the statement and the folder location (Both/PFLQ M = 0.055, SE = 0.019) or only the statement, but not the folder location (Statement/PFLQ M = 0.109, SE = 0.029) for statements with the PFLQ. Participants were relatively more likely to be able to recall only the folder location, not the statement (Folder/PFLQ M = 0.327, SE = 0.064) or nothing at all (Nothing/PFLQ M = 0.527, SE = 0.047). The difference between the participants recalling only the folder location and recalling only the statement was significant (t(29.109) = − 3.121, p  < 0.05, one-tailed unpooled t-test).

A comparison between the participants’ memory of the information about the statements with the PSQ and PFLQ is necessary to assess the fourth part of the hypothesis. Participants were significantly more likely to recall both the statement and the folder location (t(32.052) = 2.650, p  < 0.05, two-tailed unpooled t-test), as well as only the statement and not the folder location (t(36.484) = 3.522, p  < 0.05, two-tailed unpooled t-test), for statements with the PSQ than for the statements with the PFLQ. For statements with the PFLQ compared to statements with the PSQ, participants were significantly more likely to recall only the folder location, but not the statement (t(36.761) = -2.122, p  < 0.05, two-tailed unpooled t-test), as well as nothing at all (t(41.199) = − 2.290, p  < 0.05, two-tailed unpooled t-test).

The results from Phase 1 show that trivia statements believed to be erased were recalled significantly more than statements believed to be saved, regardless of the presence of explicit instructions to remember. People will not recall information they believe to be available to refer to later at the same rate as information believed to be erased; this may be due to the notion that they can look up any desired information using a search engine, thus eliminating the need to remember that piece of information. This result is similar to findings in directed forgetting studies, which have shown that people do not remember information they are told that they can forget as accurately as when they do expect the need to remember the information in the future [ 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Explicit memory instructions did not significantly influence memory; thus, it is reflected that the expectation of information being saved and later accessible affects recall rates more than the anticipation that the information will be needed and/or tested in the future. This finding may correspond to those in previous studies regarding comparisons between incidental and intentional learning of information, which have generally reported that explicit instructions to remember do not significantly influence memory of information [ 7 , 9 , 12 ]. Phase 1 thus supports Hypothesis Parts 1 and 3.

In Phase 2, there was not a significant difference between the overall recall rates of statements and folder locations. However, the analysis of the four cases of statements reveals that participants were more likely to recall both the statement and its folder location or only the statement, if the statement question preceded the folder location question. Conversely, if the folder location question preceded the statement question, participants were more likely to recall only the folder location or nothing at all. This novel finding reflects the dependence of people’s ability to recall information based on the order of attempted recall. Essentially, when people attempt to recall the “what” first, they are more likely to remember both the “what” and the “where” or only the “what;” when people attempt to recall the “where” first, they are more likely to remember only the “where” or nothing at all. Thus, the results of Phase 2 uphold Hypothesis Part 2 in certain cases (when transactive memory is accessed first), and disprove Hypothesis Part 4.

This study suggests that Internet-based technology may serve as a transactive memory source for the user, similar to how one could ask friends or colleagues to obtain any desired information. Semantic memory may be negatively impacted by the expectation that information will be saved and available for future reference, regardless of whether or not it is anticipated that the information will be needed or tested in the future (Phase 1). This study makes the novel proposition that the order of attempted recall (first attempting to recall the desired information versus its Internet location) affects Internet users’ rates of recall (Phase 2).

As an increasing proportion of our society plugs into the Internet, more and more users are forming interconnected transactive memory systems, not with each other, but with the Internet through various means of technology. Similar to how people remember to ask a friend in case they forget a homework assignment or to reach out to a colleague for the latest updates on a project, people are remembering the sorts of information the Internet holds and how to access it through our devices, rather than the information itself. Phases 1 and 2 together suggest that the common perception of the declining memory of society as a whole may be invalid, as we may simply be more frequently exercising a new type of memory—transactive memory rather than semantic memory [ 8 ]. Internet users are remembering more of how to navigate the Internet and focus on what they need to find, which may prove to be a useful skill in this age of modernization, when people are often bombarded with a constant influx of information from various online sources.

Phase 2 suggests, when transactive memory is accessed first, subsequent successful retrieval of information is more likely to occur from only transactive memory or not at all. A possible explanation for this phenomenon may lie in proactive interference, by which the activation of the memory system accessed first (transactive memory) disrupts the subsequent activation of and recall of information from another memory system (semantic memory), or an adaptive use of memory (see next paragraph for further elaboration). In addition, Phase 2 suggests that, when semantic memory is first accessed, subsequent successful retrieval of information may be enhanced for only semantic memory or both semantic memory and transactive memory. Thus, by repeatedly defaulting to first access semantic memory then transactive memory or first access only transactive memory, Internet users may build and strengthen transactive memory systems with the Internet—or, by defaulting to semantic memory without subsequently attempting to access transactive memory such that transactive memory is not activated, may refrain from enhancing and decrease reliance on transactive memory systems. This study proposes the novel observation that transactive memory systems with the Internet may be willingly formed and established, but not permanent (see “ Limitations and Future Directions ” Section).

It is also important to specifically note that when semantic memory is activated first, both semantic memory and transactive memory may be enhanced; however, if transactive memory is activated first, semantic memory is not enhanced. This novel finding may reflect an adaptive use of memory. As Internet users tend to have a vague idea of the online information desired before searching for it on the Internet, first attempting to recall the information itself from semantic memory may serve as an aid for subsequently recalling the information’s storage location from transactive memory (refer to Procedural Steps for a similar explanation of why cued recall was used). Conversely, if transactive memory and a transactive memory source are successfully first accessed, the need to access semantic memory for desired information is eliminated, as the desired information is now provided by the transactive memory source.

Limitations and future directions

Limitations are part of the experimental scientific process. As participants were garnered on a voluntary basis (see Additional file 1 : Appendix A for a digital copy of the Human Informed Consent Form), sampling bias may exist due to the possibility of the participants having stronger or weaker memory capacities than those of the majority of the human population of similar backgrounds. The sample size is not considered to be a limitation as the statistical analyses yielded significant findings assessing the fourfold hypothesis and leading to robust conclusions. Further research could study varying participant demographics, investigating how participant backgrounds may impact the formation and/or function of transactive memory systems.

In Phase 1, the participants were randomly split into two groups, with only one group receiving explicit memory instructions. There is a possibility that each of the groups as a whole may not have had similar memory capacities, which might have influenced the conclusion of the statistically insignificant effects of explicit memory instructions. Also, due to the memorable trivia-style nature of the statements in both Phases 1 and 2 (refer to Additional file 1 : Appendices B.1 and D.3, respectively, for all of the statements in both phases), participants might have been able to recall the statements at higher rates than if the statements were less memorable. This can be explored in future studies by having participants read multiple lists of relatively ordinary sentences and testing them on their memory of the sentences and where the sentences can be found.

The results of Phase 2 present significant potential and interest for further research. For example, studies may investigate the degree of permanence of transactive memory systems. From the perspective of cognitive neuroscience, studies could also investigate the neural changes that may potentially contribute to the strengthening or weakening of transactive memory systems. The effect of “relatedness” between desired information and corresponding Internet storage locations could also be explored in future research.

Implications

The philosophical bases for how Internet use is to be understood has been called into question. Yet, notwithstanding the numerous perspectives—including of transactive memory, extended memory, and memory scaffolds—that have been brought into such discussion, this study furthers the understanding of psychological phenomena at play in digital, Internet-based knowledge acquisition [ 8 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. The presented findings would still hold regardless of which perspective is accepted.

The choice to administer experimental memory task surveys via Google Forms reflects the fundamental aims of the study design—to simulate Internet use through the “online” nature of the administered surveys, the use of “Google” services, and a completely digitized study design able to be completed on any Internet-connected device reflecting the Internet’s decentralization. Although transactive memory systems may take varying forms even within Internet use (e.g., cognitive associations with hyperlinks and site maps), the fundamental nature of Internet use in a transactive memory system—associating certain “keywords”, locations, hyperlinks, or website names (rather than URLs) that store and/or which lead to the desired information—is consistent, suggesting applicability of this study’s findings to digital, Internet-based means of knowledge and information exchange [ 16 , 17 ]. Yet, studies have indicated differences in how and when such Internet features effectively improve (semantic) memory of desired information [ 18 ]. This study’s design may be akin to what has been termed by some authors as “site maps” or “knowledge maps” (see Additional file 1 : Appendices B and D for visual tables of statements provided in memory task surveys), providing users a holistic, often visual representation of the Internet information landscape of interest before memory is assessed. Thus the implications of this study’s findings may be relevant for at least such site maps.

This study sheds light on the ethics of psychological research and gives rise to relevant questions for consideration. Ethical and philosophical topics, issues, and dilemmas relevant to the novel findings of this study include but are not limited to: mental health and declining social interaction with human transactive memory sources (friends, colleagues, etc.), causality and impact analysis of disparities in Internet accessibility, impact of Internet-based transactive memory use on sense of self and relevant perspectives (e.g., extended mind perspective), privacy and informed consent in memory modification, cognitive responsibilities (e.g., to remember or forget) in social settings given the default of Internet-based devices to store or “technologically remember” information, permanence of transactive memory systems with the Internet, and humanity in an age of rapid technological progress [ 4 , 8 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].

Such concerns involve careful scientific, ethical, legal, and social judgement [ 4 ]. Considering topics such as those discussed above will be beneficial for the sectors of science, government, and the public to establish strong and agreeable ethical boundaries and ensure equity and social justice as society progresses into the future.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated during this study are included in this article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgements

The author of this study gratefully acknowledges the guidance and support in the experimental design process provided by Dr. Madhu Budamagunta, Ph.D. (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis) and Mrs. Suekyung Baker. Thanks to Dr. Phani Vadarevu, M.D. (Geriatric Medicine, Kaiser Permanente) and Mrs. Daria Muller for reviewing the experimental design and assisting with the paperwork necessary for conducting this study. Many thanks to all of the participants, who made this study possible.

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Nagam, V.M. Internet use, users, and cognition: on the cognitive relationships between Internet-based technology and Internet users. BMC Psychol 11 , 82 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01041-5

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Problematic Internet Use and Resilience: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sergio hidalgo-fuentes.

1 Departamento de Psicología y Salud, Universidad a Distancia de Madrid (UDIMA), Crta. De la Coruña Km. 38,500, vía de Servicio Número 15, Collado Villalba, 28400 Madrid, Spain

2 Departamento de Psicología Básica, Universitat de València, Avgda. Blasco Ibañez 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain

Manuel Martí-Vilar

Yolanda ruiz-ordoñez.

3 Departamento de Psicología Básica, Neuropsicología y Social, Universidad Católica de Valencia, 46100 Burjassot, Spain

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Not applicable.

Problematic Internet use has become a major problem worldwide due to its numerous negative correlates in the field of health, both mental and physical, and its increasing prevalence, making it necessary to study both its risk and protective factors. Several studies have found a negative relationship between resilience and problematic Internet use, although the results are inconsistent. This meta-analysis assesses the relationship between problematic Internet use and resilience, and analyses its possible moderating variables. A systematic search was conducted in PsycInfo, Web of Science and Scopus. A total of 93,859 subjects from 19 studies were included in the analyses. The results show that there is a statistically-significant negative relationship ( r = −0.27 (95% CI [−0.32, −0.22])), without evidence of publication bias. This meta-analysis presents strong evidence of the relationship between the two variables. Limitations and practical implications are discussed.

1. Introduction

Internet use has grown substantially over the last few decades, with the number of users increasing by 1331.9% between 2000 and 2021 [ 1 ], when a total of 4.66 billion users were counted, representing approximately 60% of the world’s population [ 2 ]. The benefits associated with using the Internet, especially concerning information search and communication, have led people to rely more and more on this technology for their work, study, social interaction and access to various entertainment options [ 3 ]. However, excessive and uncontrolled use of this technology can lead to what has been termed problematic Internet use (PIU), which is defined as Internet use that causes psychological, social, educational and/or occupational difficulties in an individual’s life [ 4 ]. Although the term Internet addiction, conceptualized as an impulse control disorder whereby the person loses control over their use of the Internet to the extent that they experience numerous negative consequences, as proposed by Young [ 5 ], is widely used in the scientific literature [ 6 ], a considerable number of authors recommend the use of PIU as more appropriate [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], since it is not recognised as an addictive disorder in either the DSM-5 [ 10 ] or ICD-11 [ 11 ].

PIU has been associated with numerous negative variables related to both mental and physical health, such as anxiety and depression [ 12 ], low self-esteem [ 13 ], poor sleep quality [ 14 ], alexithymia [ 15 ], risk of obesity [ 16 ], high impulsivity [ 17 ] and problematic alcohol consumption [ 18 ], among others, and the World Health Organization has declared PIU a major public health concern, emphasizing the need to intensify international research on this problem to generate the information required to develop policies and interventions to prevent and treat PIU [ 19 ]. A recent meta-analysis, which was conducted on a total sample of 2,123,762 people, has estimated the prevalence of PIU among the general population at 14.22% [ 20 ], having increased in recent years [ 21 ]. The high number of detrimental variables associated with PIU, as well as its increasing prevalence, makes it necessary to emphasize the study of both potential risk factors and protective factors for PIU.

How to conceptualize resilience is a widely debated topic in the field of psychology [ 22 ]. Resilience can be defined as an individual’s ability to maintain or regain psychological well-being in the face of a challenging situation [ 23 ]; it is a dynamic process that encompasses positive adaptation in the face of significant adversity, which would include feedback, learning and making changes to remain positive and recover from frustration caused by stressful events [ 24 ]. Resilience is an important factor in personal well-being, being negatively correlated to negative indicators of mental health, such as depression and anxiety, and positively correlated to positive indicators of mental health, such as life satisfaction and positive affect [ 25 ]. Several studies have examined the role of resilience in various types of addictive behaviors, and have found that resilience serves as a protective factor against addiction to gambling [ 26 ], alcohol [ 27 , 28 ], drugs of abuse [ 29 , 30 ], and video games [ 31 , 32 ]. Likewise, the relationship between resilience and PIU has also been evaluated, and has found negative relationship between both variables [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. However, to date there has been no meta-analysis specifically focused on the relationship between PIU and resilience that synthesizes the results found. The aim of this paper is therefore to synthesize the evidence from those studies that have examined the association between PIU and resilience by answering the following research questions: (1) what is the strength of the association between PIU and resilience?; and (2) is the association between PIU and resilience moderated by the methodological and socio-demographic variables of the studies analyzed?

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. systematic search.

This meta-analysis (registered in PROSPERO database #CRD42022382337) was conducted according to the criteria of the PRISMA statement [ 36 ] ( Appendix A , Table A1 ). A systematic search was conducted during November 2022 in three databases (PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science) using the terms (resilience OR resiliency OR resilient) AND (internet addiction OR problematic internet use OR internet abuse OR internet overuse OR internet dependence). Searches were restricted to papers published in English or Spanish. Moreover, the references of the selected articles were manually checked for other relevant studies that were not retrieved during the electronic search. The systematic reviews software Covidence ( http://www.covidence.org accessed on 14 November 2022) was used to manage the study selection process.

2.2. Inclusion Criteria

The retrieved studies were selected based on the following inclusion criteria: (1) original empirical and quantitative cross-sectional or longitudinal studies; (2) published in peer-reviewed scientific journals; (3) published in English or Spanish; (4) include assessments of PIU and resilience; (5) present Pearson’s correlation coefficient between PIU and resilience or the statistical data necessary to calculate it: (6) present the sample size; and (7) the full text was available. In case of studies with partially duplicated samples, the study with the largest sample size was selected.

2.3. Methodological Quality of Included Studies

Conducting a meta-analysis without taking into consideration the methodological quality of the included studies may lead to biased results. Therefore, an assessment of the methodological quality of the studies analyzed in a meta-analysis is essential to be able to draw reliable conclusions. The risk of individual bias of the studies included in the meta-analysis was assessed using the short version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale developed by Deng et al. [ 37 ]. The scale consists of a total of five items: (1) representativeness of the sample (inclusion of the entire population or random sampling); (2) sample size justified by methods such as power analysis; (3) response rate greater than 80%; (4) valid PIU and resilience assessment tests; and (5) appropriate and correctly described statistical analyses. Each item is scored as one point if it meets the criterion and zero points if it does not meet the criterion or the information is not available. The total score ranges from zero to five points, with studies scoring three or more points being considered at low risk of individual bias and those scoring less than three points being considered at high risk of individual bias. Assessments were performed by two reviewers working independently. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus.

2.4. Data Coding

A recording sheet was prepared to code the following information for the studies included: author(s), year of publication, country in which the study was conducted, continent, sample size, mean age of participants, gender (coded as the percentage of males in the sample), test used to assess PIU, test used to assess resilience, risk of individual bias and Pearson’s correlation between PIU and resilience. Data coding was performed by two reviewers working independently. The reviewers matched their data after extraction and revisited papers in case of disagreements. In the event of missing data, we contacted the authors of the study to request the necessary information; where we received no response or the authors refused to provide it, the information is listed as missing. To meet the independence assumption, in the case of longitudinal studies only the first correlation between PIU and resilience was coded.

2.5. Data Analysis

Most of the studies had Pearson correlations. For those studies with χ 2 , this result was converted to Pearson correlations using the formula r = √( χ 2 /n). Subsequently, to normalize their distributions, all Pearson correlations were converted to Fisher’s Z-scores using the formula Z = 0.5 × ln[(1 + r )/(1 − r )]. All analyses were performed with Z-scores, although the overall effect size and its confidence interval were transformed back to Pearson correlations for better interpretation following the recommendation of Borenstein et al. [ 38 ].

Due to the variability observed in the selected studies in terms of the countries in which they were conducted, the number of subjects and tests used, a random-effects meta-analysis with the restricted maximum likelihood method was chosen. Random-effects models generally produce more precise estimates and allow for greater generalizability of results [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The existence of statistically significant heterogeneity among the effect sizes of the analyzed studies was examined using Cochran’s Q test, while the degree of true heterogeneity not explained by random sampling error was assessed using the I 2 statistic. I 2 values of 25%, 50% and 75% are interpreted respectively as low, moderate and high heterogeneity [ 42 ].

The validity of a meta-analysis may be challenged by the presence of publication bias, a phenomenon whereby studies with statistically significant results or high effect sizes are more likely to be published [ 43 ]. Publication bias is a particularly important problem when conducting meta-analyses, since it can lead to overestimated effect sizes. In this study, and as recommended by Botella and Sánchez-Meca [ 44 ], the risk of publication bias was assessed by several methods: visual inspection of the funnel plot, Egger’s regression test [ 45 ], Begg and Mazumdar’s rank correlation test [ 46 ], and calculating the safety number according to Rosenthal’s method. In the absence of publication bias, the funnel plot will be symmetrical around the average effect size, while Egger’s test and Begg and Mazumdar’s test will show non-significant results. Rosenthal’s method makes it possible to estimate missing studies to calculate how many studies would be required for the estimated effect size to be non-significant.

A jacknife sensitivity analysis was performed, estimating the pooled effect size while eliminating each study alternatively, to assess the individual influence on the overall effect size of each of the studies included in the meta-analysis.

We examined the possible moderating role of the following variables: sex and age of participants, measures for assessing PIU and resilience, the continent in which the studies were conducts, individual risk of bias and year of publication. For continuous variables, meta-regression analyses were conducted, while for categorical variables, subgroup analyses were conducted. For subgroup analysis, and as recommended by Fu et al. [ 47 ], each subgroup should be composed of a minimum of four studies. When this was not possible due to fewer studies having been performed, the remaining studies were grouped into the subgroup others and included in the analyses under this heading if they comprised at least four studies. The percentage of variance explained by the moderators was assessed using the R 2 index.

Analyses were performed in R Studio using the metafor statistical package [ 48 ].

As can be seen in Figure 1 , the search and selection process ended with the inclusion of 19 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The selected articles were published between 2015 and 2022 (see Table 1 ). Eight of the studies were conducted in China, four in South Korea, two in the United States and Turkey, and one each in Australia, Hungary and Iran. The combined sample was 93,859 subjects, with the sample sizes of the various studies ranging from 96 to 58,756 participants.

PRISMA diagram of the search and selection process.

Summary of studies included in the meta-analysis.

YDQ: Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction; IAT: Young’s Internet Addiction Test; CIUS: Compulsive Internet Use Scale; IAII: Internet Addiction Impairment Index; CIAS: Chen Internet Addiction Scale; PIU-Q: Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire; IAPS: Korean Internet Addiction Proneness Scale for Youth; YIAT-SF: Young’s Internet Addiction Test-Short Form; CD-RISC 10: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale Short Form; CD-RISC: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; CYRM-28: Child and Youth Resilience Measure; BRS: Brief Resilience Scale; RSCA: Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents; PPQ: PsyCap Questionnaire; RRS: Revised Resilience Scale.

The estimated overall effect size for the correlation between PIU and resilience was Z r = −0.28 (95% CI [−0.33, −0.22]), which transformed back to Pearson’s correlation gives a result of r = −0.27 (95% CI [−0.32, −0.22]), and which, following the interpretation criteria proposed by Cohen [ 65 ], can be classified as a moderate intensity correlation. The forest plot of the effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals of the 19 studies are shown in Figure 2 . As can be seen in the figure, the effect sizes of the studies ranged from Z r = −0.12 to Z r = −0.55. The Cochran’s Q test result was 281.4128, p < 0.0001, hence the homogeneity hypothesis is rejected, while the I 2 value reached a value of 97.46%, which is considered high according to Higgins and Thompson’s criteria [ 42 ].

Effect size for the relationship between PIU and resilience [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ].

Although the funnel plot is not fully symmetrical (see Figure 3 ), both the Egger regression test ( z = 0.2996, p = 0.76) and the Begg and Mazumdar rank correlation test (τ = −0.0292, p = 0.89) show non-significant results, thus ruling out the presence of publication bias. Likewise, the calculation of the number of safety according to Rosenthal’s method yielded a value of n = 18,877 ( p < 0.001), making 18,877 unpublished studies with an effect size equal to zero necessary to make the p -value non-significant, exceeding the critical value which, for this meta-analysis, is set at 105 studies, according to the formula (5 × k) + 10, and k being the number of studies included in the meta-analysis [ 44 ].

Funnel plot for assessing publication bias.

The sensitivity analysis, performed using the jackknife method, did not show excessive individual influence of any of the studies on the estimated overall effect size, with the effect size ranging from Z r = −0.26 to Z r = −0.29 when alternately omitting each of the studies.

Meta-regression analyses were conducted to examine the possible moderating effect of year of publication, mean age of participants and percentage of males in the sample on the correlation between PIU and resilience. Both mean age ( b = −0.0028, p = 0.72) and percentage of males among participants ( b = −0.0027, p = 0.26) did not show up as moderating variables, while year of publication ( b = −0.0283, p = 0.04) does moderate the relationship between the two variables, with a total explained variability of 16.55%, with more recent studies showing lower correlations.

For categorical variables, subgroup analyses were performed (see Table 2 ), and no moderating effect was found for any of the variables analyzed.

Relationship between PIU and resilience: moderation analysis for categorical variables.

4. Discussion

The first aim of this paper was to estimate the magnitude of the association between PIU and resilience. Additionally, we examined the possible moderating role of gender and age of participants, the continent on which the studies were conducted, the tests used to assess both PIU and resilience, the year of publication of the studies, and the risk of individual bias.

The systematic search identified a total of studies that met the inclusion criteria with a total sample of 93,859 subjects. The results of the meta-analyses showed a statistically significant negative correlation of moderate intensity ( r = −0.27) between the two variables, whereby those who showed higher levels of resilience had lower levels of PIU. Sensitivity analysis reveals that this result is consistent, with none of the studies having an excessive influence on the overall effect size. Furthermore, the various tests performed to assess the risk of publication bias ruled out the presence of bias. Despite the high degree of heterogeneity found, only the year of publication proved to be a moderating variable in the correlation between PIU and resilience, explaining 16.55% of the observed heterogeneity.

The result found has important implications for the prevention of PIU, a phenomenon with significant negative repercussions on mental and physical health, as well as significant associated economic costs [ 66 ]. Resilience may function as a protective factor for PIU by mitigating the negative impact of adverse situations or environments, causing individuals to suffer lower levels of depression or anxiety [ 67 ], two variables that have been consistently linked in the scientific literature to PIU [ 12 , 68 , 69 , 70 ]. Additionally, in theoretical terms, the negative association found between resilience and PIU could be explained in relation to the I-PACE model, which explains the onset and development of PIU by the interaction of personal, affective, cognitive and executive variables [ 6 ]. This theoretical model holds that stress is an important factor operating on addictive behaviors and that excessive and uncontrolled use of the Internet can sometimes be a coping style that attempts to cope with this stress. Resilience also improves people’s ability to cope with stressful situations, which are also a risk factor for PIU [ 71 ], as individuals with high levels of stress often use the Internet as a maladaptive coping strategy because, although it does not offer long-term improvement, Internet use can serve as a temporary relief from stressful symptoms. Thus, from this perspective, resilience, which is taken to be the ability to cope with adverse and stressful situations, may lead to a lesser need to use the Internet to reduce stress levels, since resilience itself will act as a protective factor. Thus, people with higher levels of resilience have and make use of adaptive coping strategies in stressful situations, which may prevent them from engaging in compulsive behaviors such as PIU. Therefore, the results obtained, together with the fact that resilience can be increased through appropriate programs [ 72 ], allow us to state that interventions aimed at increasing resilience can be an effective method of reducing the risk of PIU. Besides preventing the onset of PIU, resilience has also shown benefits when IPU has already developed, serving as a protective factor against the negative psychological effects of PIU [ 73 ].

Among the possible moderating variables of the relationship between PIU and resilience examined, the only statistically significant moderator was the studies’ year of publication, with more recent articles showing a smaller effect size among the variables studied. One possible explanation for this is that the more recent studies, conducted during the pandemic when many countries were in lockdown, show a lower relationship between PIU and resilience since individuals during this period suffered greater stress that could not be compensated for by their resilience levels, leading to excessive internet use to reduce this stress. By contrast, participants’ gender and age, as well as the geographical area in which the studies were conducted, are not statistically significant moderators of the relationship between PIU and resilience. The fact that there is little heterogeneity regarding these variables, especially age and geographic area, in the included studies could be influencing this result.

The results of this meta-analysis should be interpreted with caution due to certain limitations. Firstly, the number of studies that met the inclusion criteria is limited, so it would be advisable for future systematic reviews or meta-analyses to extend the search to other databases. Secondly, only studies published in Spanish or English were included, which could be considered a selection bias, despite English being the most widely used language in the scientific literature. Thirdly, only one of the possible moderating variables was found to have a significant effect and it could not explain a significant percentage of the heterogeneity found. It would therefore be important for future meta-analyses to examine the role of new potential moderators of the correlation between PIU and resilience, such as the population in which the studies were carried out or the scores obtained. Fourth, given the cross-sectional design of most of the included studies, it is not possible to establish causal relationships between the variables analyzed or to examine their evolution over time, hence it would be desirable to conduct further longitudinal or experimental design research in the future to examine these matters. Finally, most of the studies were conducted in Asian countries and with adolescent and young participants, with very limited research in other geographical areas and with subjects in other age groups.

5. Conclusions

PIU has become a growing problem in recent years, especially among adolescents and young people, being associated with many harmful variables, mainly psychological, hence studying its risk and protective factors to help to prevent and treat it should be a priority, bearing in mind both its negative effects and the number of people who suffer from this problem. This meta-analysis has synthesized the results on PIU and resilience. The results of this review, despite its limitations, indicate the existence of a significant negative relationship of moderate intensity between both variables that does not appear to depend on age, gender, geographical area or the tests used. This result has implications that go beyond the theoretical field by supporting the fact that working on people’s resilience can reduce the risk of PIU. Moreover, increasing resilience levels through appropriate training programs would have beneficial effects beyond reducing the risk of IPU, since resilience has also been shown to be a protective factor against other addictive behaviors such as alcohol consumption [ 27 ], gambling [ 26 ], drug abuse [ 29 ] and Internet gaming disorder [ 32 ]. Likewise, increasing resilience would also have a positive impact on other variables not directly related to problematic use of new technologies or addictions, improving both physical and mental health [ 72 ].

Search Strings; PRISMA Checklist.

From: [ 36 ]. For more information, visit: www.prisma-statement.org (accessed on 17 December 2022).

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, S.H.-F. and M.M.-V.; methodology, S.H.-F., M.M.-V. and Y.R.-O.; software, S.H.-F.; validation, S.H.-F., M.M.-V. and Y.R.-O.; formal analysis, S.H.-F.; investigation, S.H.-F., M.M.-V. and Y.R.-O.; resources, M.M.-V. and Y.R.-O.; data curation, S.H.-F.; writing—original draft preparation, S.H.-F.; writing—review and editing, M.M.-V. and Y.R.-O.; visualization, M.M.-V. and Y.R.-O.; project administration, M.M.-V. and Y.R.-O. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Does the more internet usage provide good academic grades?

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• Published: 06 June 2018
• Volume 23 , pages 2901–2910, ( 2018 )

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The Internet is an unavoidable resource to students for their day today academic activities and it is now occupies a central role in any academic environment. Student’s academic references have changed dramatically in the recent years. The present day students spending more time on internet and their reading and reference style is changed drastically from the traditional methods. Many students have replaced their text books, reference books and daily newspapers with online editions. The internet behaviours such as data usage (upload, download) and visiting number of websites to their positive (or negative) effect on Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) are analysed in this paper. The sample data in an academic environment is used in this research to elicit the impact on their academic performance. Both descriptive and inferential statistical methods are applied in this research and the research results indicated that internet usage has a marginal impact on students’ academic performance.

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1 Introduction

During the last decade, the academic infrastructure has become digital with increased interconnections among products, processes and services. The internet is now occupies a central role in any academic environment. Student’s academic references have changed dramatically in the recent years. The present day students spending more time on internet and their reading and reference style is changed drastically from the traditional methods. Many have replaced their daily newspapers, text and reference books with online editions. The internet is helping the students to search the academic content more easily and efficiently than ever before. Students may employ the internet in an educational matters such as writing paper, searches for answers to questions and preparing for assignments and others. However on the flip side, time spent in activities where surfing the internet occurs could substitute away from time allocated to reading, studying and completing homework, this may hurt the student’s academic performance. The internet consist of so many diverse functions, it is also common for students to spend more time on various non-academic activities such as shopping online, emailing friends, playing online games, online auctions, and others. In contrast to normal internet users, students addicted to the Internet had problems falling asleep, lower habitual sleep efficiency, poorer sleep quality, more sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction and used sleep medication more frequently (Cheung and Wong 2011 ). Students who use the internet until late into the night would find themselves plagued by excessive sleepiness the next day which depletes them of their energy and mental agility in studying.

The internet is registering a huge and rapid growth and this growth is exposed to continue at significant rates at a global scale. The expansion is explained by the tremendous impact of the internet on the economic, financial, social, political systems as well as at the individual level. Practically, the internet has become part of billons of people’s daily life. The studies performed on internet use topic revealed the positive and negative aspects of internet use. As positive aspects of the internet use, the authors (Stancis and Tinca 2014 ) retained the facilitation of communication easiness of information retrieval and sharing, the internet being appreciated as an excellent medium for knowledge transfer, new effective way of running business cultural and social gains etc.,.

This research paper is tries to investigate whether the more usage of internet provide good academic grades to students or to know the impact of internet on the academic performance to students in a Business School setup. And this paper is an exploratory study of analysing how the internet usage such as data usage (upload, download) and number of websites visited are helpful (or not helpful) to achieve the academic excellence by students. This paper is organized as follows, the section 2 explains the background literature, section 3 describes the research methodology, and section 4 shows the research findings and final section with the conclusion.

2 Literature review

Tabatabaei and Gardiner ( 2012 ) studied that online learning has experienced strong growth in recent years. Institutions of higher education are continuing to expand their offerings of online courses and degrees, thereby encouraging students to enrol in online courses. Hypothetical Information Systems graduates education mode (online versus traditional studies) influences their employment judgments. Weill and Woernar ( 2013 ) studied that digital models are transparent to all and students can learn quickly, because switching costs in the digital world are often lower than in the physical world. Kubey et al. ( 2011 ) uses a survey study of 572 students at a public university and find that heavy internet use is highly correlated with poor academic performance. Leuven et al. ( 2004 ) concluded that there is no evidence for a relationship between increased educational use of Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) and students’ performance. In fact, they find a consistently negative and marginally significant relationship between ICT use and some student achievement measures. Mbaeze et al. ( 2010 ) study results indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between ICT and students’ academic performance. Sampath Kumar and Manjunath ( 2013 ) demonstrated that the high use of the internet services by teachers and researchers in university setup, most of them used internet in support of their study and teaching. Fu and Chen ( 2009 ) emphasized that surfing on internet for course material has positive net effect on intellectual development and vocational preparation in addition to personal development. Oskouei ( 2010 ) attempt to get better insights on how Internet usage behaviours of female students in university can effect on their different academic activities and also compare usage patterns of different department students. The author also attempts to find the relationships between Internet usage pattern of female students and their academic performance CPI (Cumulative Performance Index). The same author Oskouei ( 2010 ) identifies percentage of users visited academic-websites along with their time spent in these categories of websites. Tsitsika et al. ( 2009 ) note that the female gender is negatively associated with excessive internet usage. Spennemann ( 2007 ) looks at the assumption of 24/7 web usage by analysing the log files of 9 university servers in Australia, and concludes that the majority of traffic (81%) happens between the work hours (08.00 to 18.00) with another peak taking place around 21.00.

On one hand, some studies suggest that the internet provides tremendous educational benefits, such as more information access, better visual intelligence skills, and enhancement of teacher-student communications. On the other hand, many negative impacts are also listed in literature. Qiaolei ( 2014 ) studied that on internet addiction revealed numerous symptoms shared by other forms of addictions, including substance-based addictions. Andrew D. Madden et al. ( 2006 ) explains the amount the child’s ability to explore the virtual environment. Research by Cao et al. ( 2011 ) has suggested that excessive internet use can be pathological and addictive. Griffiths ( 2000 ) consider Internet Addiction (IA) to be a kind of technological addiction such as computer addiction and one of a subset of behavioural addiction. Usman et al. ( 2014 ) identified the relationship between Internet Addiction (IA) and academic performance among foreign undergraduate students in Malaysia. The study results showed that there were no significant differences in IA in term of cumulative Students’ Academic Performance (SAP). Tao et al. ( 2010 ) has stated that symptoms of IA include pre-occupation, withdrawal, loss of control and functional impairment. Similarly Turel et al. ( 2011 ) has found additional symptoms of IA which include negative personal, societal and work place related ramifications. Although there is no universal agreement on the definition of IA, the literature indicates uncontrolled excessive use of internet. Sandeep Grover et al. ( 2010 ) emphasize that the adverse consequence of internet use can affect interpersonal, social, occupational, psychological and physical domains of individuals life. Derbyshire et al. ( 2013 ) reveal that problems associated with frequent internet use include an inability to control the time spent on internet and poor academic performance.

Anderson et al. ( 2012 ) finds that excessive social networking is detrimental to fulfilling other obligations and interferes with sleeping hours, resulting in a postponement of bedtimes and rising times. Awan and Khan ( 2016 ) explains the phenomenon of the internet addiction has been approved from a medical and psychological point of view, which often treat it as a behavioural disorder. Chou et al. ( 2005 ) studied the internet addiction since 1996 and noted that the focus has been on online activities choice, social-psychological factors such as sensation seeking, pleasure experience, loneliness, and depression and other computer user related issues. Chen and Peng ( 2008 ) find out that students who use the internet excessively have significantly lower university grades, social relations and learning satisfaction, compared with the normal internet usage. Also, students who use the internet excessively are more likely to be depressed, physically ill, lonely and introverted. Bankole et al. ( 2017 ) explains the loss of interest in academic, which leads to a decreased academic performance and a deterioration of the relationship with teachers. Lim et al. ( 2002 ) studied that employees are more likely to rationalize their misuse of the internet in the workplace when they perceive that their employers do not treat them fairly. From the previous literature it was found that the impact of ICT on performance of students in higher education is not clear, and there are contradictory results in the earlier literature.

3 Research methodology

The objective of this research is to identify the student’s internet use skills and to understand their behaviour of using internet. The student internet log data in an academic environment is used in this research to elicit the impact on their academic performance. The research by Austin and Totaro ( 2011 ) is taken as a base to this research. The primary objective of this research is an exploratory study of how the behaviour of internet use is helpful (not helpful) for students to achieve the high academic performance. This paper aims to answer the research questions such as, Is the Internet Usage behaviour has any relationship with Academic Performance? And does the more data usage provides high academic grades?. The assumption of this study is students having more data usage and visiting more number of websites are having a positive effect on their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The assumed hypotheses are as follows,

H 1 : There is a significant relationship between data usage with CGPA.

H 2 : There is a significant relationship between numbers of websites visited with CGPA.

H 3 : There is a significant relationship between Gender with CGPA.

H 4 : There is a significant relationship between Data Usage, Gender with CGPA.

H 5 : There is a significant relationship between Data Usage and Gender with CGPA.

The following are the mathematical models (Eqs. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 ) in which the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) are function of exogenous factors such as Data Usage (DUD), Number of Websites Visited (NOWV) and Gender.

4 Data analysis and results

The detailed research analysis is not evident or scarce in the literature on the Indian context. Descriptive statistics is used to identify the characteristics of the respondent’s internet usage profile. Using SPSS to run Regression and ANOVA tests are used to determine the differences between the groups. The data set of residential students from a reputed school is taken for research analysis whose internet usage behaviour (463 samples) are taken for the data analysis. There are different types of devices are used for internet use, Mobile Phones are the highest usage of device by the students but Laptops are also highly used because of its suitability for almost all type of academic activities. The students who is visiting more number of websites (300 to 400 websites) have slightly higher CGPA (6.04) than the students visiting less number of websites (up to 100 websites, CGPA = 5.58), i.e. the students who are curious to learn the new ideas, concepts and techniques are visiting more number of websites as shown in Fig.  1 . Data download is having more negative relationship with the CGPA than the Data Upload, this may be because of non-academic activities such as online gaming, music downloads, sports watching and other leisure activities done by the students. The research result also evidenced that the internet usage pattern is high among the Male students comparing to the Female students. The Fig.  2 shows the total data usage for a week period of time in Mega Bytes (MB) by the Male and Female group of students. The Gender Behavior on Internet usage is evidenced that the Data Usage (DUD) by Male group of students is very high comparing to the female group. This may be because of more deviation of attention by male groups or may be because of the focused attention by the female group as shown in Fig.  3 and in Table  1 .

Number of websites visited and average CGPA

Gender based data usage

CGPA and gender

The Linear Regression Method (LRM) is applied to Model 1 (Eq. 1 ) where CGPA is dependent variable and DUD is independent variable. The R 2 value to model 1 is 0.00 i.e. there is no relationship between data usage and CGPA, and so H 1 is rejected. The LRM is applied to Model 2 (Eq. 2 ) where the CGPA is dependent variable and the Number Of Websites Visited (NOWV) is independent variable. The R 2 value is 0.05 and it is not statistically significance, so H 2 is rejected. The Tables  2 and 3 shows the Linear Regression and ANOVA output of Model 3 where the CGPA is dependent variable and Gender is an independent variable. The R 2 values is 0.06, (6% of the variance is explained by the model) and model is statistically significant where the p value is < α, so retain H 3 .

The Tables  4 and 5 shows the Linear Regression and ANOVA results of Model 4 where CGPA is independent variable and DUD, Gender is independent variables. The R 2 value is 0.063 and the model is statistically significant so H 4 is retained.

The Multiple Linear Regression method is applied to model 5, where CGPA is a dependent variable and Data Usage, Gender and interaction between Data Usage and Gender are independent variables. The Table 6 shows the correlation values of these variables and the Tables  7 and 8 shows the Regression and ANOVA results with interaction effect. The results show that the model is statistically significant so H 5 is retained. Fig.  4 shows the normal PP plot of regression standardized residuals with interaction effect.

Normal PP Plot of regression standardized residual

In this paper five research models are proposed to study the internet usage behaviour and CGPA received by the students. As per the research results, there is no direct relationship between Data Usage with CGPA and also to Number of Websites Visited with CGPA i.e. the first and second models are failed to achieve the specified hypothesis. The remaining three models are statistically significant but their R 2 values are very small, so there is a marginal relationship between the Gender and data usage with the CGPA.

5 Conclusion

In this study, how the internet usage behaviours are helpful to achieve the high academic performance for the students are analysed. The internet behaviours such as Data Usage, Number Of Websites Visited, Gender are analysed with CGPA. As per our research results, there is a marginal relationship among the variables. The limitation of this study is restricted to only one campus of students thus generalization of findings to the entire population is limited. The focus on students as the sample study also limits the generalization of this study’s findings across other segments of society. Also Indian students work culture is different from other parts of the world which is not analysed here. The cross sectional data are analysed here, the longitudinal data will be taken as future research work. This is an early effort of study about the internet usage behaviour and academic performance and the study offers valuable insights to the academicians and researchers.

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Senthil, V. Does the more internet usage provide good academic grades?. Educ Inf Technol 23 , 2901–2910 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9749-8

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• The Internet and the Pandemic

90% of Americans say the internet has been essential or important to them, many made video calls and 40% used technology in new ways. But while tech was a lifeline for some, others faced struggles

Table of contents.

• 1. How the internet and technology shaped Americans’ personal experiences amid COVID-19
• 2. Parents, their children and school during the pandemic
• 3. Navigating technological challenges
• 4. The role of technology in COVID-19 vaccine registration
• Acknowledgments
• Methodology

Pew Research Center has a long history of studying technology adoption trends and the impact of digital technology on society. This report focuses on American adults’ experiences with and attitudes about their internet and technology use during the COVID-19 outbreak. For this analysis, we surveyed 4,623 U.S. adults from April 12-18, 2021. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the  ATP’s methodology .

Chapter 1 of this report includes responses to an open-ended question and the overall report includes a number of quotations to help illustrate themes and add nuance to the survey findings. Quotations may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. The first three themes mentioned in each open-ended response, according to a researcher-developed codebook, were coded into categories for analysis. 

Here are the questions used for this report , along with responses, and its methodology .

The  coronavirus  has transformed many aspects of Americans’ lives. It  shut down  schools, businesses and workplaces and forced millions to  stay at home  for extended lengths of time. Public health authorities recommended  limits on social contact  to try to contain the spread of the virus, and these profoundly altered the way many worked, learned, connected with loved ones, carried out basic daily tasks, celebrated and mourned. For some, technology played a role in this transformation.  

Results from a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted April 12-18, 2021, reveal the extent to which people’s use of the internet has changed, their views about how helpful technology has been for them and the struggles some have faced. 

The vast majority of adults (90%) say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, the survey finds. The share who say it has been  essential  – 58% – is up slightly from 53% in April 2020. There have also been upticks in the shares who say the internet has been essential in the past year among those with a bachelor’s degree or more formal education, adults under 30, and those 65 and older. 

A large majority of Americans (81%) also say they talked with others via video calls at some point since the pandemic’s onset. And for 40% of Americans, digital tools have taken on new relevance: They report they used technology or the internet in ways that were new or different to them. Some also sought upgrades to their service as the pandemic unfolded: 29% of broadband users did something to improve the speed, reliability or quality of their high-speed internet connection at home since the beginning of the outbreak.

Still, tech use has not been an unmitigated boon for everyone. “ Zoom fatigue ” was widely speculated to be a problem in the pandemic, and some Americans report related experiences in the new survey: 40% of those who have ever talked with others via video calls since the beginning of the pandemic say they have felt worn out or fatigued often or sometimes by the time they spend on them. Moreover,  changes in screen time  occurred for  Americans generally  and for  parents of young children . The survey finds that a third of all adults say they tried to cut back on time spent on their smartphone or the internet at some point during the pandemic. In addition, 72% of parents of children in grades K-12 say their kids are spending more time on screens compared with before the outbreak. 1

For many, digital interactions could only do so much as a stand-in for in-person communication. About two-thirds of Americans (68%) say the interactions they would have had in person, but instead had online or over the phone, have generally been useful – but not a replacement for in-person contact. Another 15% say these tools haven’t been of much use in their interactions. Still, 17% report that these digital interactions have been just as good as in-person contact.

Some types of technology have been more helpful than others for Americans. For example, 44% say text messages or group messaging apps have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends, 38% say the same about voice calls and 30% say this about video calls. Smaller shares say social media sites (20%) and email (19%) have helped them in this way.

The survey offers a snapshot of Americans’ lives just over one year into the pandemic as they reflected back on what had happened. It is important to note the findings were gathered in April 2021, just before  all U.S. adults became eligible for coronavirus vaccine s. At the time, some states were  beginning to loosen restrictions  on businesses and social encounters. This survey also was fielded before the delta variant  became prominent  in the United States,  raising concerns  about new and  evolving variants . 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the survey.

Americans’ tech experiences in the pandemic are linked to digital divides, tech readiness 

Some Americans’ experiences with technology haven’t been smooth or easy during the pandemic. The digital divides related to  internet use  and  affordability  were highlighted by the pandemic and also emerged in new ways as life moved online.

For all Americans relying on screens during the pandemic,  connection quality  has been important for school assignments, meetings and virtual social encounters alike. The new survey highlights difficulties for some: Roughly half of those who have a high-speed internet connection at home (48%) say they have problems with the speed, reliability or quality of their home connection often or sometimes. 2

Beyond that, affordability  remained a persistent concern  for a portion of digital tech users as the pandemic continued – about a quarter of home broadband users (26%) and smartphone owners (24%) said in the April 2021 survey that they worried a lot or some about paying their internet and cellphone bills over the next few months. 

From parents of children facing the “ homework gap ” to Americans struggling to  afford home internet , those with lower incomes have been particularly likely to struggle. At the same time, some of those with higher incomes have been affected as well.

Affordability and connection problems have hit broadband users with lower incomes especially hard. Nearly half of broadband users with lower incomes, and about a quarter of those with midrange incomes, say that as of April they were at least somewhat worried about paying their internet bill over the next few months. 3 And home broadband users with lower incomes are roughly 20 points more likely to say they often or sometimes experience problems with their connection than those with relatively high incomes. Still, 55% of those with lower incomes say the internet has been essential to them personally in the pandemic.

At the same time, Americans’ levels of formal education are associated with their experiences turning to tech during the pandemic. 

Those with a bachelor’s or advanced degree are about twice as likely as those with a high school diploma or less formal education to have used tech in new or different ways during the pandemic. There is also roughly a 20 percentage point gap between these two groups in the shares who have made video calls about once a day or more often and who say these calls have helped at least a little to stay connected with family and friends. And 71% of those with a bachelor’s degree or more education say the internet has been essential, compared with 45% of those with a high school diploma or less.

More broadly, not all Americans believe they have key tech skills. In this survey, about a quarter of adults (26%) say they usually need someone else’s help to set up or show them how to use a new computer, smartphone or other electronic device. And one-in-ten report they have little to no confidence in their ability to use these types of devices to do the things they need to do online. This report refers to those who say they experience either or both of these issues as having “lower tech readiness.” Some 30% of adults fall in this category. (A full description of how this group was identified can be found in  Chapter 3. )

These struggles are particularly acute for older adults, some of whom have had to  learn new tech skills  over the course of the pandemic. Roughly two-thirds of adults 75 and older fall into the group having lower tech readiness – that is, they either have little or no confidence in their ability to use their devices, or generally need help setting up and learning how to use new devices. Some 54% of Americans ages 65 to 74 are also in this group. 

Americans with lower tech readiness have had different experiences with technology during the pandemic. While 82% of the Americans with lower tech readiness say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, they are less likely than those with higher tech readiness to say the internet has been essential (39% vs. 66%). Some 21% of those with lower tech readiness say digital interactions haven’t been of much use in standing in for in-person contact, compared with 12% of those with higher tech readiness. 

46% of parents with lower incomes whose children faced school closures say their children had at least one problem related to the ‘homework gap’

As school moved online for many families, parents and their children experienced profound changes. Fully 93% of parents with K-12 children at home say these children had some online instruction during the pandemic. Among these parents, 62% report that online learning has gone very or somewhat well, and 70% say it has been very or somewhat easy for them to help their children use technology for online instruction.

Still, 30% of the parents whose children have had online instruction during the pandemic say it has been very or somewhat difficult for them to help their children use technology or the internet for this. 

The survey also shows that children from households with lower incomes who faced school closures in the pandemic have been especially likely to encounter tech-related obstacles in completing their schoolwork – a phenomenon contributing to the “ homework gap .”

Overall, about a third (34%) of all parents whose children’s schools closed at some point say their children have encountered at least one of the tech-related issues we asked about amid COVID-19: having to do schoolwork on a cellphone, being unable to complete schoolwork because of lack of computer access at home, or having to use public Wi-Fi to finish schoolwork because there was no reliable connection at home. 

This share is higher among parents with lower incomes whose children’s schools closed. Nearly half (46%) say their children have faced at least one of these issues. Some with higher incomes were affected as well – about three-in-ten (31%) of these parents with midrange incomes say their children faced one or more of these issues, as do about one-in-five of these parents with higher household incomes.

Prior Center work has documented this “ homework gap ” in other contexts – both  before the coronavirus outbreak  and  near the beginning of the pandemic . In April 2020, for example, parents with lower incomes were particularly likely to think their children would face these struggles amid the outbreak.

Besides issues related to remote schooling, other changes were afoot in families as the pandemic forced many families to shelter in place. For instance, parents’ estimates of their children’s screen time – and family rules around this – changed in some homes. About seven-in-ten parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade (72%) say their children were spending more time on screens as of the April survey compared with before the outbreak. Some 39% of parents with school-age children say they have become less strict about screen time rules during the outbreak. About one-in-five (18%) say they have become more strict, while 43% have kept screen time rules about the same. 

More adults now favor the idea that schools should provide digital technology to all students during the pandemic than did in April 2020

Americans’ tech struggles related to digital divides gained attention from policymakers and news organizations as the pandemic progressed.

On some policy issues, public attitudes changed over the course of the outbreak – for example, views on what K-12 schools should provide to students shifted. Some 49% now say K-12 schools have a responsibility to provide all students with laptop or tablet computers in order to help them complete their schoolwork during the pandemic, up 12 percentage points from a year ago.

The shares of those who say so have increased for both major political parties over the past year: This view shifted 15 points for Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP, and there was a 9-point increase for Democrats and Democratic leaners.

However, when it comes to views of policy solutions for internet access more generally, not much has changed. Some 37% of Americans say that the government has a responsibility to ensure all Americans have high-speed internet access during the outbreak, and the overall share is unchanged from April 2020 – the first time Americans were asked this specific question about the government’s pandemic responsibility to provide internet access. 4

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the government has this responsibility, and within the Republican Party, those with lower incomes are more likely to say this than their counterparts earning more money. 

Video calls and conferencing have been part of everyday life

Americans’ own words provide insight into exactly how their lives changed amid COVID-19. When asked to describe the new or different ways they had used technology, some Americans mention video calls and conferencing facilitating a variety of virtual interactions – including attending events like weddings, family holidays and funerals or transforming where and how they worked. 5 From family calls, shopping for groceries and placing takeout orders online to having telehealth visits with medical professionals or participating in online learning activities, some aspects of life have been virtually transformed: 

“I’ve gone from not even knowing remote programs like Zoom even existed, to using them nearly every day.” – Man, 54

“[I’ve been] h andling … deaths of family and friends remotely, attending and sharing classical music concerts and recitals with other professionals, viewing [my] own church services and Bible classes, shopping. … Basically, [the internet has been] a lifeline.”  – Woman, 69

“I … use Zoom for church youth activities. [I] use Zoom for meetings. I order groceries and takeout food online. We arranged for a ‘digital reception’ for my daughter’s wedding as well as live streaming the event.” – Woman, 44

When asked about video calls specifically, half of Americans report they have talked with others in this way at least once a week since the beginning of the outbreak; one-in-five have used these platforms daily. But how often people have experienced this type of digital connectedness varies by age. For example, about a quarter of adults ages 18 to 49 (27%) say they have connected with others on video calls about once a day or more often, compared with 16% of those 50 to 64 and just 7% of those 65 and older. 

Even as video technology became a part of life for users, many  accounts of burnout  surfaced and some speculated that “Zoom fatigue” was setting in as Americans grew weary of this type of screen time. The survey finds that some 40% of those who participated in video calls since the beginning of the pandemic – a third of all Americans – say they feel worn out or fatigued often or sometimes from the time they spend on video calls. About three-quarters of those who have been on these calls several times a day in the pandemic say this.

Fatigue is not limited to frequent users, however: For example, about a third (34%) of those who have made video calls about once a week say they feel worn out at least sometimes.

These are among the main findings from the survey. Other key results include:

Some Americans’ personal lives and social relationships have changed during the pandemic:  Some 36% of Americans say their own personal lives changed in a major way as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Another 47% say their personal lives changed, but only a little bit.   About half (52%) of those who say major change has occurred in their personal lives due to the pandemic also say they have used tech in new ways, compared with about four-in-ten (38%) of those whose personal lives changed a little bit and roughly one-in-five (19%) of those who say their personal lives stayed about the same.

Even as tech helped some to stay connected, a quarter of Americans say they feel less close to close family members now compared with before the pandemic, and about four-in-ten (38%) say the same about friends they know well. Roughly half (53%) say this about casual acquaintances.

The majority of those who tried to sign up for vaccine appointments in the first part of the year went online to do so:  Despite early problems with  vaccine rollout  and  online registration systems , in the April survey tech problems did  not  appear to be major struggles for most adults who had tried to sign up online for COVID-19 vaccines. The survey explored Americans’ experiences getting these vaccine appointments and reveals that in April 57% of adults had tried to sign themselves up and 25% had tried to sign someone else up. Fully 78% of those who tried to sign themselves up and 87% of those who tried to sign others up were online registrants. 

When it comes to difficulties with the online vaccine signup process, 29% of those who had tried to sign up online – 13% of all Americans – say it was very or somewhat difficult to sign themselves up for vaccines at that time. Among five reasons for this that the survey asked about, the most common  major  reason was lack of available appointments, rather than tech-related problems. Adults 65 and older who tried to sign themselves up for the vaccine online were the most likely age group to experience at least some difficulty when they tried to get a vaccine appointment.

Tech struggles and usefulness alike vary by race and ethnicity.  Americans’ experiences also have varied across racial and ethnic groups. For example, Black Americans are more likely than White or Hispanic adults to meet the criteria for having “lower tech readiness.” 6 Among broadband users, Black and Hispanic adults were also more likely than White adults to be worried about paying their bills for their high-speed internet access at home as of April, though the share of Hispanic Americans who say this declined sharply since April 2020. And a majority of Black and Hispanic broadband users say they at least sometimes have experienced problems with their internet connection. 

Still, Black adults and Hispanic adults are more likely than White adults to say various technologies – text messages, voice calls, video calls, social media sites and email – have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends amid the pandemic.

Tech has helped some adults under 30 to connect with friends, but tech fatigue also set in for some.  Only about one-in-five adults ages 18 to 29 say they feel closer to friends they know well compared with before the pandemic. This share is twice as high as that among adults 50 and older. Adults under 30 are also more likely than any other age group to say social media sites have helped a lot in staying connected with family and friends (30% say so), and about four-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 say this about video calls. 

Screen time affected some negatively, however. About six-in-ten adults under 30 (57%) who have ever made video calls in the pandemic say they at least sometimes feel worn out or fatigued from spending time on video calls, and about half (49%) of young adults say they have tried to cut back on time spent on the internet or their smartphone.

• Throughout this report, “parents” refers to those who said they were the parent or guardian of any children who were enrolled in elementary, middle or high school and who lived in their household at the time of the survey. ↩
• People with a high-speed internet connection at home also are referred to as “home broadband users” or “broadband users” throughout this report. ↩
• Family incomes are based on 2019 earnings and adjusted for differences in purchasing power by geographic region and for household sizes. Middle income is defined here as two-thirds to double the median annual family income for all panelists on the American Trends Panel. Lower income falls below that range; upper income falls above it. ↩
• A separate  Center study  also fielded in April 2021 asked Americans what the government is responsible for on a number of topics, but did not mention the coronavirus outbreak. Some 43% of Americans said in that survey that the federal government has a responsibility to provide high-speed internet for all Americans. This was a significant increase from 2019, the last time the Center had asked that more general question, when 28% said the same. ↩
• Quotations in this report may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. ↩
• There were not enough Asian American respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout this report. ↩

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Research paper on internet usage prepared by talha

Related Papers

European Scientific Journal ESJ

Internet is a versatile tool used by the students that draws attention of many researchers. But little research has been found regarding the comparative study of internet usage among university students. For this reason, the study surveyed the internet usage among university students coming from Business Studies, Science & Arts disciplines at University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and the overall perceptions towards the internet usage. So we developed a survey questionnaire and collected data on students' demographics, internet usage behavior and purposes of internet use. Therefore, we distributed 50 questionnaires to each discipline and a total of 150 questionnaires were returned and all were usable. Then we analyzed the obtained data using SPSS. The results show that the percentage of internet usage among the students coming from Business Studies, Science and Arts disciplines is 100%, 92% and 90% respectively. The study recommends that the students coming from Science and Arts background should enhance the internet usage. And the students from all backgrounds should enhance the frequency of internet access per day and invest more on internet usage. The study also recommends that the universities should provide adequate internet facilities and enabling environment for student. This study provides a theoretical and empirical basis for further studies on internet usage of university students.

Library Philosophy and Practice

Md Safiqur Rahaman

The purpose of this study is to examine the usages of the internet by the undergraduate and postgraduate students at university of Gour Banga, Malda, West Bengal. The structured questionnaire distributed to the students through the Google forms. One hundred eighty questionnaires selected for data analysis and interpretation. The research investigated the various facets of internet use such as the purpose of usages, mostly used sources and services, time spent, heavily used search engine and websites, difficulties faced and level of satisfaction. The analysis reflects that 55.56% of respondents used the internet 'several times a day'. The 89.44% accessed the internet through the smartphone and Google websites used by 99.44%. 92.22% used the internet for 'social media. 92.77% use to consult 'electronic reference and information resources. 48.89% agree that they utilized the internet, slow download speed (80.55%) was the major problem faced while accessing the internet.53.33 % were satisfied while using the internet.

Rowshon Akter

University of Dhaka is the largest university of Bangladesh established in 1921.Currently there are 13 faculties and 66 departments under these faculties. At present around 33000 students are studying at the University of Dhaka. Faculty of Arts is one of the largest faculties of the University of Dhaka having 15 departments. More than seven thousand students currently study in various departments of the Faculty of Arts. The prime objective of the study is to analyze the use of the internet among the students of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Dhaka. A well structured questionnaire was distributed among 480 students studying in different departments but residing at the various residential hall of the University of Dhaka given for students of the Faculty of Arts. The present study demonstrates and elaborates the various aspects of internet use, such as frequency of internet use, most frequently used place for internet browsing, most frequently used search engines, purposes for which the internet is used, use of internet services, problems faced by the students and satisfaction level of students with the internet facilities provided. The researcher also attempts to give some recommendations to increase internet use among the students and to promote internet infrastructure and services at the University of Dhaka premises.

Annals of Library and Information Studies

Sk. Mamun Mostofa

Examines the use of internet among business students in Darul Ihsan University, a pioneer private university of Bangladesh. A total of 162 questionnaires were distributed and 137 completed questionnaires were returned. Findings reveal a high percentage of internet use among students. More than 56 percent of the respondents use the internet for educational purposes. The access point for them is mostly the university. Google and Yahoo! search engines are found to be more widely used than other search engines. The major problem faced by the students in their use of the internet includes slow access speed. Recommends that the bandwidth should be increased to overcome the problem of slow connectivity of the university to internet and more computers with latest specifications and multimedia facilities should be provided.

Miftah Arif , Mahadi Hasan

Since 1990s Internet users rapidly increasing and it is become one of the most important topic for the research. As the growing phenomenon of vast browsing of the Internet; now-a-days researchers are trying to identify what are the impacts of heavy Internet usage, specifically for the young adults. A previous study has found 83.4% of the frequent Internet users’ age between twenty years to forty years. In addition, 30 of them browsing the Internet without any specific reason, 67% of them are male and one more vital issue is that young adults act much like teens in their tendency to use sites, where 72% of them are engaged in social networking, days and nights.

Enamul Hafiz Latifee

It is assumed that excessive usage of internet among young generations, i.e., students of universities make them more dependent on virtual relationships and socially isolated. Though there are some studies around, which validates these consequences of internet usage done previously for some countries of world but yet, for the country Bangladesh, there is no such study still existing which reveals these issues with in depth analysis, particularly done for any specialized public Science and Technology University, where internet is more viable than to other kinds of universities, because of the additional attention given to information and communications technology there. The study here perhaps is done with a format of semi structured questionnaire; purposive sampling and SPSS software to fill the subsisting gap thus have found the most common kinds of websites used by students, average duration of them in daily basis, whether on other hand, have assessed that students are getting dependent on virtual relationships, though their social isolation score is not that much high till now.

Open Journal of Social Sciences

Md.Shahin Parvez

This is an exploratory research to examine the possible impact of using the internet on students' academic, personal and social life. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this study. For collecting quantitative data, a total of 85 samples were drawn purposively and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. In addition, 2 case studies were conducted for the qualitative part of this study. Findings reveal that almost every student in the study area uses the internet to some degree. From the study it is found that about 56% of respondents use the internet for educational purpose, 24% of them use the internet only for recreation and 44% were found who use the internet to browse social networking sites. The study also indicates that the majority of the students use the internet for 0-4 hours per day. A significant proportion of the respondents said that the internet can positively enhance their academic performance and as well as improve their quality of life. On the other hand, results have shown that internet addiction has a negative impact on students' academic performance and social life. Overall, the internet plays a vital role in improving students' academic performance and quality of life.

Samad Abedini

Md. Abdullah Al mahmud

This study investigated the attitude of private university students in Bangladesh towards internet. Results from the study indicated that students had positive attitudes toward using the Internet as a learning tool, adequate basic knowledge of the Internet, viewed Internet is a fastest way to reach knowledge, and Internet has a potential to be an effective training tool. The results also revealed that the students exhibited positive attitudes toward the Internet irrespective of gender, again in contradiction to most other findings. Possible reasons and the implications of these findings will be elaborated and discussed.

Academy of Strategic Management Journal

Sabrin Nahar

Internet use is very essential for the students because it serves the students as a teacher. Internet provides fast knowledge and information about the subject to the students. However, the attitude of students is not same for internet use. Different students attitude are different for internet usages. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the attitudes of students of Business Faculty at the University of Rajshahi of towards the Internet specifically how they access the Internet and how frequently they use the Internet in the university. The researcher selected 419 sample size randomly for maintaining the standard of the research and ensuring authenticity. The researcher used factor analysis for this study to analysis the key factor that influences the students for internet usage. The researchers find out that there are three most influential factors that Internet provides such as – easy life, Internet is the fast way to reach knowledge, Internet create close relationship among social entities. This study suggests that the University should improve their ICT framework and create more opportunities of free Internet access to students within the university.

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A STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNET USAGE AND SELF-REGULATED LEARNING OF UNDERGRADUATES

• Dr. Meena Prakash Kute Principal, Research Guide, PVDT College of Education for Women, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai-20, India
• SadhanaPote-Palsamkar Research Scholar, Department of Education, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai-20, India

Abstract [English]

The present paper is based on the descriptive correlational research study which aimed to study the relationship between internet usage and self-regulated learning of undergraduates. The survey method was employed to collect the data from commerce, science and arts undergraduates of Mumbai University. The findings of present study showed that, there is significant relationship between internet usage and self-regulated learning of undergraduates. The relationship was found to be positive and negligible.

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