Johannesburg - Despite the rise of cellphones in the country, South African children spend the majority of their time on the computer communicating on the internet via social networks and email.
A new study by the Kaspersky Lab, an international software security group, examined the website visits of children using computers with a parental control module installed.
The study found that internet communication among South African children accounted for 74 percent of visits, versus 67 percent of visits globally.
“It’s clear that technology is being adapted at a fast rate in South Africa,” said David Emm, senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab.
The reason for this, said Emm, was “likely linked to the benefits technology (like smartphones) provide users”.
This total can be further broken down, with 56 percent of such visits to social networks, 12 percent for email and six percent for chatting. Computer games were the second largest category, accounting for nine percent of activity, a little less than 11 percent globally. Seven percent of content was drug related, compared to nine percent worldwide.
“The popularity of certain types of websites among children in different countries can be linked to each country’s cultural traits and economic traditions,” said Anna Larkina, senior web content analyst at the lab.
Nyasha Mboti, a senior lecture in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Johannesburg, said although cellphone use is growing in South Africa, inaccessibility and cost of bandwidth created barriers.
“You have about half of South Africans using the internet. But not everyone is able to get a hand-held (device). The small screen doesn't allow you to interface as much as on a laptop,” Mboti said.
Mboti also highlighted the link between urbanisation and internet use. Because the study was conducted only on devices using parental controls, the results may be skewed towards wealthier households.
“A lot of people who consistently use expensive broadband are people in the high-income bracket, which would mostly include white South Africans. People use cellphones a lot, but they would use them for phoning or texting. I do see that particularly young people use both their computers and their phones, although they use them for different things,” he said.
The study measured internet content across nine other categories, including adult content, violence, weapons, profanity, gambling and electronic commerce.
It noted that overall there is a decline in the use of online communication because of the spread of mobile devices.
The Star
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