Information and Communication Technology and Interactive Communication

Information and communication technologies (ICT), along with fast Internet connections, have become accessible for most of the world’s population and, as such, increasingly important in our lives. Nowadays, digital technologies, such as computers and smartphones, are present in all areas of our lives. We use them to communicate, study, work, learn and entertain ourselves. As a point of interest, these technologies are so relevant nowadays that the World Bank Institute has included the information and communication infrastructure¹ of a country as one of the four pillars of its knowledge economy (Romani, 2009).

The incorporation of this technology into everyday life, together with other factors, has given rise to what is known as the knowledge society. The concept of knowledge society “primarily referred to economic systems where ideas or knowledge functioned as commodities” (Anderson, 2008, p. 6). Thus, in this society, “knowledge has become the central economic resource and source of additional economic growth”

(Stehr, 2015, p. 105). Consequently, organisations operate in a knowledge-based economy characterised by intense competition, flexible production, service delivery systems and decentralised decision making (van Laar, van Deursen, van Dijk, & de Haan, 2017). Therefore, information and communication technology has contributed to the emergence of this society by facilitating communication, by breaking down distance between groups and individuals, and by making accessing and sharing knowledge more feasible (Anderson, 2008; Stehr, 2015).

In this sense, it must be noted that, although sometimes they are used interchangeably, the concept of knowledge of society and the concept of knowledge information are not exactly the same (Anderson, 2008). The concept of knowledge

society encompasses social, ethical and political dimensions. Thus, it is “more all- embracing and more conducive to empowerment”, since the concept of information society is only based on technological breakthroughs, which are crucial but should not be viewed as an end (Bindé & Matsuura, 2005, p. 27).

Additionally, the emergence of the knowledge society has made it essential for citizens to acquire digital skills (ETS, 2002; Ilomäki, Paavola, Lakkala, & Kantosalo, 2016). They need it for facing new challenges, such as the changing requirements of jobs and the great amount of available information (van Laar et al., 2017), and for using ICT effectively. Therefore, digital skills and digital literacy will be discussed in greater detail later.

Furthermore, it is important to clarify the meaning of information and communication technology before proceeding. This concept refers to technological devices (hardware and software) that enable communication and both interpersonal and multidirectional collaboration, and that are used for gathering, manipulating, storing, exchanging and transmitting data between different information systems (Mesa Agudelo, 2012; Romani, 2009). Consequently, it is a technology that supports the use of information and the activity of communication. Some of its most important characteristics are its interactivity, its asynchronism and that it allows the elimination of temporary space barriers (Mesa Agudelo, 2012).

Moreover, ICT covers “electronic and digital devices such as computers, the Internet, and other multimedia technology” (Zakaria & Khalid, 2016, p. 1038). Other researchers add mobile phones, websites and social networks to the list of ICT tools (Massimini & Peterson, 2009). Furthermore, the OECD, which defines ICT as products primarily intended to “fulfil or enable the function of information processing and communication by electronic means, including transmission and display” (OECD, 2011, p. 31), has made a classification of ICT products and services (see Table 1). In this

classification, they included elements such as laptops, videogame consoles, digital cameras, mobile phones and the Internet.

Table 1.

Categories of information and communication technology products and services Broad category Examples of ICT products and services Computers and

peripheral equipment Laptops, notebook computers, keyboard, mouse

Communication equipment Television cameras, telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks Consumer electronic

equipment Videogame consoles, digital cameras Miscellaneous ICT

components and goods Optical media, electronic integrated circuits Manufacturing services for

ICT equipment Communication equipment manufacturing services

Business and productivity

software and licensing services Network software, online software Information technology

consultancy and services Website hosting services

Telecommunications services Broadband Internet access services Leasing or rental services

for ICT equipment Leasing or rental services concerning computers without operator

Other ICT services Engineering services for telecommunications and broadcasting projects

Note. Author’s elaboration based on OECD (2011) .

As we have noted before, information and communication technology has made an impact on many aspects of our lives, including our personal lives. In fact, ICT is transforming social and family relationships by changing the way they are developed (Bernabeu, Esteban, Gallego, & Rosales, 2011). Nowadays it is possible to connect with any person, anywhere in the world, and this has resulted in substantial changes (Laespada, 2010), such as the emergence of interactive communication. Therefore,

“the diffusion of Internet, mobile communication, digital media, and a variety of tools of social software have prompted the development of horizontal networks of interactive communication that connect local and global in chosen time” (Castells, 2007, p. 246).

According to Scolari (2008), interactive communication is communication mediated by digital technologies, such as computers, mobile phones, video games, and the Internet. The prerequisite for interactive communication is that the digital technology used allows interactivity. Interactivity is a characteristic of communication settings related to all the elements of the communication process (emitter, receiver, message and channel) that allows interchangeable communication roles between communicator and recipient (Rafaeli, 1990). So, interactive communication is a communication process mediated by a digital technology in which two or more people can speak, listen and think. If one of these elements is missing, there is no interactive communication (Berenguer, 2004).

Moreover, it can take place through communication forms, such as instant messaging, chat rooms, social media sites and email, and through information and communication technologies, such as computers, mobile phones, video games and the Internet (see Table 2). Finally, interactive communication may involve users who are strangers, acquaintances, friends, family, or colleagues (Lin, 2009). Consequently, it has become an important advancement in our society as it offers a lot of possibilities and benefits for its users. People who are thousands of miles away can stay in touch and interact instantaneously, something that would otherwise be unthinkable. Thus, interactive communication keeps individuals connected in society (Lin, 2009).

Table 2.

Classification of interactive communication forms and their functions Communication

form ICT used Examples of functions enabled

Email Computer,

smartphone and tablet

Write, store, send, and receive asynchronous messages; can include attachments of files (e.g., Gmail)

Instant messaging Computer, smartphone and tablet

Synchronous exchange of messages that are primarily in text but can include

attachments of files (e.g., WhatsApp) Chat rooms Computer Synchronous (public or private)

conversations with more than one user that primarily involve text

Blogs Computer Websites with entries that can be either public or private only for users authorised

Social

networking sites

Computer, smartphone and tablet

Online utilities that allow users to create profiles (public or private), to form a network of friends and interact via public and private means (such as messages) and to post user-generated content such as photos and videos (e.g., Facebook)

Video and photo sharing

Computer, smartphone and tablet

Allows users to upload, view, and share video and photos (e.g., YouTube and Flickr) Massively

multiplayer online

computer games Computer Online games that can be played by large numbers of players simultaneously (e.g., World of Warcraft)

Virtual worlds Computer Online simulated 3-D environments inhabited by players who interact with each other via avatars (e.g., Second Life)

Source: Author’s elaboration from Subrahmanyam & Greenfiel (2008)

Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that interactive communication is not a widely accepted term and some scholars use other terms, such as computer- mediated communication (Favotto et al., 2017; Hudson, Fetro, & Ogletree, 2014;

Spitzberg, 2006), technology-mediated communication (Bunz, Curry, & Voon, 2007;

Janssen et al., 2013) or online communication (Koutamanis, Vossen, Peter, &

Valkenburg, 2013; Subrahmanyam & Greenfiel, 2008; Trepte, Masur, & Scharkow, 2017;

Valkenburg & Peter, 2009) with the same meaning. Thus, Mahmoud and Auter (2009) consider computer-mediated communication an interactive communication format and Spitzberg (2006) defines it as “any interpersonal communication process mediated through computer-assisted technologies”, such as cellular phones, instant messaging, websites or emails (p. 631). However, Bunz et al. (2007) argue that the term computer-mediated communication is self-limiting and narrow. According to them, the term technology-mediated communication should be used instead, as it includes technologies, such as cell phones, that are not associated with the desktop computer.

Therefore, as there is no clear distinction between concepts, in this study we will use the terms “interactive communication” and “online communication” interchangeably.

1.1.1. Integration and use of information and communication technology

As we said, information and communication technology is increasingly accessible to the population. Consequently, the number of individuals online grows every year.

ONTSI (2013) estimated that, in 2012, 2.5 billion people were Internet users (38.8 percent of the global population), but in 2017, according to ITU (2017), the number of individuals using the Internet exceeded 3.5 billion (48.0 percent of the world population). That is, nearly half of the world’s population now uses the Internet, although there are large differences between different regions of the world. Thus, Europe has the highest level of Internet penetration, since 76 percent of the population are users, followed by America with 71 percent penetration. At the other end of the scale, Africa is the region where there is the lowest level of Internet penetration, 29 percent, followed by Asia-Pacific, 46 percent, and Middle East, 60 percent (Hootsuite, 2017). In Figure 1, we can see the evolution of Internet use across the world in recent years.

As the number of Internet users across the world has increased, so has time spent online. Nowadays, the average user spends six hours each day using the Internet (Hootsuite, 2018). Only three years earlier, the average amount of time was four hours and 25 minutes (Hootsuite, 2015). Thus, the Internet has increasingly become embedded in everyday life. More and more people are using the Internet and they spend increasing amounts of time on it.

Furthermore, and as we mentioned before, the use of ICT has made an impact on the way social and family relationships are developed. Consequently, interactive communication has gained importance in society. A concrete example is the increase of social media users around the world. As we can see in Figure 2, in only eight years the number of users has tripled, reaching nearly 3.2 billion active social media users.

As a point of interest, Facebook is currently the most successful social network platform with 2.17 billion active users around the world (Hootsuite, 2018).

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Figure 1. Evolution of Internet user across the world 2005-2017.

Adapted from ITU (2017)

In the case of Spain, 39.42 million people are Internet users, a penetration of 85 percent. This percentage is similar to other European countries, such as Poland (78 percent), Ireland (82 percent), France (88 percent) and Belgium (89 percent;

Hootsuite, 2018). Moreover, 69 per cent of the Spanish population aged 16 to 74 uses the Internet every single day (ONTSI, 2018b). As we can see in Figure 3, the percentage has greatly increased in recent years, since in 2005 only 20 percent of population used the Internet daily. On the other hand, the percentage of users increases as age decreases. As we will see in the next section, the younger the individual, the more they use the Internet.

Although the Spanish percentage of Internet penetration is similar to that in other European countries (and higher than the global average), the average Spanish user “only” spends five hours and 20 minutes daily using the Internet, compared with a world average of six hours. With regards to social media, in Spain the penetration rate is 58% and the average daily time spent using these platforms is one hour and 38 minutes. Furthermore, the most common online activities among Spanish people are

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Figure 2. Evolution of active social media use across the world 2010-2018.

Adapted from Hootsuite (2018)

looking for information, reading news online, visiting social networks, using instant messaging, using email, watching videos and playing games (Fundación Telefónica, 2017; Hootsuite, 2018; ONTSI, 2018a).

In conclusion, as we deduced from data, nowadays ICT use is very widespread.

Furthermore, as we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, we have seen how the use of ICT has had an impact on aspects such as leisure and personal communication;

an average Spanish user spends five hours and 20 minutes daily using the Internet and one hour and 38 minutes daily using social media platforms. Nevertheless, the target population for the present study is adolescents. Although these statistical data are interesting to create a full picture of the situation, from now on, we will focus on minors.

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Figure 3. Evolution of daily Internet user in Spain 2005-2017.

Adapted from ONTSI (2018)