Electronic media and STI prevention

Abstract

The past 15 years have seen an incredible growth in the number of people worldwide who have access to the Internet whether through fixed or mobile devices. By the end of the first decade of the new millennium, the large majority of Americans were online in one way or another while the number of people living in developing countries are increasingly gaining access as well, mostly through the use of mobile telephones. The digital divide, meaning the discrepancy in access to the Internet and mobile telephony across social, demographic, and geographic strata, still exists but is rapidly closing. In a 2010 survey among adults in the USA, the Pew Research Center found that 80 % of white, non-Hispanic adults used the Internet compared to 69 % of blacks and 66 % of Hispanics [1]. Conversely, Hispanics are leading whites in the use of mobile phone technology. In 2011, more than 87 % of English-speaking US Hispanics owned a cell phone, vs. 80 % of non-Hispanic whites. Another Pew study found that, compared to the general American population, Hispanics use their cell phones more often, and they use more features on their phones [2]. In developing countries the use of the Internet and mobile telephones is also rapidly increasing. In 2010, approximately 11 % of African adults used the Internet. While considerably lower than the US, there has been a 25-fold increase of Internet use in Africa between 2000 (4.5 million users) and 2010 (111 million users), by far the fastest growth in the world [3].