Early adopters of the internet and social media in Cuba

Abstract

Although the Cuban government has tightly controlled information access for more than half a century, a small number of Cubans have access at work. In this paper, we examine Internet and social media use by early adopters in Cuba in early 2015, as we enter a time of potential change. Specifically, we explore Cubans' access limitations and the activities they do online, as well as what Internet access means to them. We conducted interviews with 12 Cuban Internet users and observed their social media use. Our findings suggest that access limitations and slow network speeds greatly restrict Cubans' Internet use. To counter these limitations, Cubans are collaborative, often conducting online research and posting photos for friends with less access. Based on these findings, we propose future work to help meet Cuban citizens' information needs.