Page 288 - Culture Technology Communication

“Culture,” Computer Literacy, and the Media 271

Table 1.
Nomura Survey on Public Attitudes toward
the Internet and Computers
Q: Do computers and other information technology increase
human communication?
Japan Korea US
Yes 43.2% 75.4% 73.8%
No 56.4% 23.6% 25.0%

Q: Do you worry not being able to use a spreading new technology
that spreads in society?
Japan Korea US
Yes 59.6% 72.2% 70.8%
No 40.2% 27.8% 28.4%

Q: Do you want to let the world know of your existence and ideas?
Japan Korea US
Yes 32.7% 59.0% 62.4%
No 66.8% 41.0% 34.6%
Q: Do you want to set up a personal homepage?
Japan Korea US
Already .7% 2.6% 4.0%
Yes 25.9% 40.4% 18.6%
No 71.2% 56.0% 70.0%

Q: Do you want to buy a computer for the household?
Japan Korea US
Already 33.0% 47.6% 52.6%
Yes 19.3% 35.2% 21.6%
No 46.6% 17.2% 23.2%
Note: The above figures exclude “none-of-above” responses.

In my interview with him, Chang Yunhyo˘n, the director of
Cho˘psok, told me that early interest in CMC came from the desire
for free expression that had been suppressed during the years of dic-
tatorship that ended in 1987. According to Chang, the anonymity
and spontaneity of chat rooms allowed participants free expression
that was difficult in conventional media and even in face-to-face
meetings. Chang himself was a student activist in the eighties, who,
like many of his peers, became enchanted by CMC as it emerged in