Internet Use in Bangladesh: A Study of Activities and Attitudes of Youths

Abstract

Internet has become an increasingly vital component of the live of all types of people, especially the youth of today's society. There have been very few empirical studies that look into the Internet use of Bangladeshi youths. This study investigates the Internet usage activities of Bangladeshi young people, with a focus on their attitudes toward Internet use, the prevalence of compulsive Internet use and its impact on their lives. It also examines the relationship between Internet attitude and compulsive Internet use, and youths' perceptions of the benefits and risks of using the Internet. In this quantitative study, 448 youths of age 15 to 35 were surveyed through stratified random sampling. In addition to descriptive statistics, inferential techniques such as the chi-square test, T-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation, and hierarchical regression analysis were employed to interpret the data. Results showed that the majority of young people engaged in Internet activities for content pleasure, followed by social and process gratifying, and validating the prevailing patterns in young attitudes. The findings revealed that the Internet has a substantial impact on young people's daily lives, as time spent watching television, sleeping, and reading for academic or other purposes has reduced since youths began using the Internet. The Internet Attitude Scale (IAS) showed that the young people have overall positive attitudes on Internet use. Social Network Sites (SNS) activities and gender were revealed to be statistically significant predictor variables for Internet attitudes in hierarchical regressions. As per Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS), 25.89 percent of the respondents were found Internet addicts. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that SNS activities, duration of Internet use, profession, and frequency of Internet use were significant predictors of youths' compulsive Internet use. A significant positive relationship was found between Internet attitude and compulsive Internet use. With the rapid development of new areas of Internet use that expand at the speed of time, new concerns arise concurrently with old ones. More research is required to address behavioural concerns associated with Internet attitude and compulsive Internet use among young people, who represent the majority of Internet users.