The Internet is turning the world upside down and its influence on all spheres of human activity shouldn’t be underestimated. Suffice it to recall Juilian Assange, the founder of the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, which grabbed headlines last April after showing the world a classified video where Reuters journalists were fired upon near Bagdad; it has also published dozens of thousands of documents related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Changes happening in the world due to the Internet concern everyone because they transform all the spheres of modern life, from politics and economics to religion and people’s private life. Having appeared as a means of data exchange among programmers, today the Internet has become a place where people actively communicate, study and receive information; where they sell and buy, advertise goods and services, and pay for them; where they use on-line banks and on-line shops, vote, relax, have fun, look for a job, find friends and like-minded people, realize their personal, social and political interests, etc. The audience of the global net is steadily growing, and Internet access has become a daily need, one which the modern world cannot do without. Average Ukrainians are also using the net in growing numbers. This was seen when, during the crisis that affected people’s incomes and purchasing power, people cancelled the cable and TV expenditures, but not their Internet subscriptions. The number of new Internet connections in Ukraine didn’t decrease because of the world crisis but steadily grew in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Having received Internet access average Ukrainians cannot imagine their life without new services and possibilities. Moreover, our research has shown that during the crisis Ukrainian customers started actively using the Internet to realize their plans and interests.
In general, today the use of the Internet by Ukrainians has shifted. The general use of the Internet is increasing and the users’ interests are changing. The results of our research demonstrate that today 49 percent of Ukrainian users read the latest news and current information on the Internet; 39 percent search for information for their studies or professional development; 35 percent look for information that they need for their work; 25 percent seek information concerning vacancies; 13 percent visit the sites of governmental organizations or NGOs, etc.; 44 percent look for information concerning their interests (cooking, cars, gardening, sports, painting, etc.); 11 percent find and read or download books; 40 percent find and listen or download music and films; 37 percent communicate via online chatting services, ICQ, social networks (Odnoklassniki, V Kontakte, etc.); 28 percent just surf the web; 20 percent play on-line games; 8 percent participate in forums and conferences; 7 percent search for likeminded people and partners to realize their ideas, projects or initiatives; 29 percent look for information about goods and services; 7 percent do on-line shopping, and 48 percent send and write e-mails.
Since 2002 the Sociology Institute at the National Academy of Science has been regularly monitoring the development of the information society and information processes in Ukraine. The results of a study in 2002 showed that slightly more than four percent of Ukrainians used the Internet, in 2006 this figure went up to almost 15 percent, and in March 2010 more than 30 percent of Ukrainians used the Internet. The belief that only young people use the Internet no longer holds. Today 30-year-old and 40-year-old Ukrainians use the Internet more and more. Ukrainians over 45 are also confidently mastering the global net. It should be noted that today not only the age of Ukrainian Internet-audience is dynamically changing, but also its reach, as it is spreading beyond urban centers. However, it should be noted that as of today, only 11 percent of rural residents use the Internet. The dynamics of the spread of Internet connections in Ukrainian villages is certainly positive. Thus, in 2002 slightly more than one percent of rural residents used the Internet, while in 2006 this number was over five percent. However, it should be noted that the development of information technologies in the countryside leaves much to be desired in terms of the number and quality of services, as well as in terms of the prices for connection, and services and discounts offered for certain groups of people.
We should also form and encourage the development of Internet culture among users, in particular in what concerns the use of the global net; we should encourage Internet users to be interested not only in games, music and films, but also in mastering new possibilities given by the Internet that allow one to overcome geographic, social and financial barriers and to cope with information resources, communication and ser-vices that would be unavailable without the net.
The places where people use the net are now also changing. Five or ten years ago the main place for Internet use was at work or at an Internet-club. However, the results of our 2010 study demonstrate that over 70 percent of Ukrainian users have Internet access at home. Moreover, today more than two-thirds of Ukrainian users use the Internet on a regular basis.
All of the abovementioned tendencies, revealed in our research, have existed for several years, allowing us to study the Internet on a new level and to assert that average Ukrainians choose the Internet as a daily tool; the country is moving toward becoming a modern information society, and the government must also take advantage of these trends.
