The Impact of the Internet on Media Use Takeaki Yatsuhashi, Hiroshi Tomoyasu
A variety of information is used in daily life, but the media that is accessed for this information depends on the kind of information sought. While various media are used, there are patterns of adoption corresponding to information needs.
The increasing popularity of the Internet appears to have caused changes in media adoption patterns, and this paper presents research that aims to clarify these changes. It was found that in the case of environmental surveillance information needs, such as domestic and international news, mass media dependence continues to be very strong, and Internet dependence is small. In this case, the existence of the Internet has not influenced the media adoption pattern. In the case of individual concern information such as for business and hobbies, however, Internet dependence is very large, and Internet users are reducing their mass media dependence.