Knowledge gap growing in internet availability and mobile phones : Northern and Western Europe outpacing southern and Central Europe

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Centrinė Europa; Internetas; Telefonas; Vidurio Europa; Žinių atotrūkis; Žinių skirtumas; Central Europe; Internet; Knowledge Gap; Knowledge Gap:Central Europephone; Phone.

ENThis research is a secondary analysis of Eurobarometer polls (#53 in 2000 and #71.2 in 2009), comparing nation states on the audience availability of certain news, information, and communication resources. Did Central and Eastern European nations “catch up” to Northern and Western European nations in audience communication resources? Or did those Central and Southern European nation states, as Knowledge Gap Theory would suggest, gain resources but at a slower pace than their Northern and Western counterparts? This study focused on mobile phone availability and usage, as well as Internet availability at one’s home, office, and community. Results show the gap growing between Northern and Western European nations when compared to Southern and Central European nations. This gap growth occurs regardless of whether one measures by absolute change or percent of possible change. The data also show that: 1) TV is a nearly ubiquitous home medium; 2) Germany’s mid-range and lackluster performance in home internet is almost entirely accounted for a lingering Cold War digital divide with East Germany; 3) as suggested by roughly even East and West German growth in mobile phones, land lines are not a necessary transitional stage for developing nations or areas, and many consumers are skipping or dropping them; and 4) as late as 2009 many Eastern and Central European internet users were compensating for the difficulty of obtaining home internet service with reliance on community internet sites such as cafes. [From the publication]