The Modus Operandi of Internet Dependency and Its Ethical Usage

Abstract

Dependency is often perceived as having a negative connotation. Most internet users may be reluctant to publicly admit whether they are internet-dependent. In Mizoram, the twenty-third state and one of the smallest in India, mobile internet connections outnumber its population. Thus, using a mixed-methods approach, this study examines the level of internet dependence and ethical internet use patterns among Mizo internet users. With Media Dependency Theory as its theoretical framework, the study employed survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The 600-sample size comprises digital natives and digital immigrants selected from three districts using a purposive sampling technique. Village council office bearers and non-governmental organisations leaders from the selected regions, as well as the Junior Cyber Forensic Consultant from the Cyber Crime Department at the Mizoram Police Headquarters, participated in semi-structured interviews. After determining that the data were normally distributed (p = .071) using a Shapiro–Wilk test, an analysis of variance test was performed to examine differences among the categories of the proposed Diurnal Internet Dependency Scale. The difference in scores between digital immigrants and digital natives was also measured using a t-test.