Characteristics and information-seeking behaviour of cybercafé users in some Nigerian cities

Abstract


M. Y. Abdulkareem

Internet use is becoming increasingly popular in Nigerian cities, thus necessitating the spread of commercial cybercafés nationwide. Unfortunately, use of cybercafé has been associated with a number of anti-social behaviours. This study is an exploratory investigation of the characteristics and information seeking behaviour of users of commercial cybercafés in selected Nigerian cities. A total of 180 respondents were selected via a multi-stage random sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data analysis revealed that about 60% of respondents were male, and nearly 80% were less than 36 years old. Furthermore, 91% of respondents had above 12 years of formal education, while 30% had no formal training in use of computer. Majority (40%) had 1 - 4 years of Internet use experience, while students constituted about 40% of respondents. About 40% had no formal source of income. It was further revealed that 59.4, 13.4, and 27.2% of respondents used the Internet for academic, business, and ‘social’ purposes respectively. Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant relationship between weekly use of cybercafé and Internet use experience (r = 0.61, p = 0.016), years of formal education (r = 0.69, p = 0.008), and monthly income (r = 0.78, p = 0.002) among respondents. The paper concludes that cybercafé users in Nigerian cities are mostly students and academics, and proffered some useful recommendations for improvement.

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