Summary of Topic 1 #UOSM2008
As a summary, I’d like to propose the question:
“Are White and Cornu’s definitions of digital residents and visitors viable still today?”
In my opinion, I’d like to stress that in today’s digiworld there are all kinds of people, at all kinds of ages and cultures, who have learnt the power of the internet and actively engage in communication and promotion, amongst other objectives, to fulfil their ambitions.
White and Cornu express their definitions as being rather inclusive and non-bounding so that they cover many of the different aspects of everyday online behaviour. I believe that these particular expressions are, to an extent, applicable to today’s society but I also believe that there must be other types of people that do not fall under these umbrella terms.
I recently read up my friend Jaz’s answer to this question and thought that her finding of Horrigan’s (2007) theory was much more applicable to today’s society as there are 10 levels that can be used to explain the activity of somebody on-line. She gave this image to portray his theory:
(please click to enlarge)
To conclude, I think that Horrigan’s theory is a much better way to distinguish the different types of internet users that are active in today’s society. However, I do not fully disregard Cornu and White’s theory because I feel that it gives a wholesome view of the people today but Horrigan just takes it that little bit further and explains the levels that the digital visitor and digital resident would come under.