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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Internet Use,

Outcomes, and the Role of Regulation in the
Philippines

Article in Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries January 2014

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EJISDC (2014), 63, 8, 1-25 1

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: INTERNET USE, OUTCOMES AND THE
ROLE OF REGULATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

Ma. Regina M. Hechanova Renee Ortega-Go

Ateneo de Manila University University of San Francisco
rhechanova@ateneo.edu renee.ortega117@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
This study expands the Uses and Gratification Theory by examining Internet use and its
outcomes among Filipino Internet users. It also tests the Social Cognitive Theory by
examining the role of both self and external regulation on Internet use outcomes. The study
was done in two phases. In the first phase, interviews were conducted to elicit how the
Internet is used as well as perceptions of healthy versus problematic Internet use. In the
second phase, surveys were administered to 387 respondents from all over the Philippines.
Results revealed that purposes or activities using the Internet can be grouped into seven
factors, namely basic Internet use, entertainment, expression and interaction, e-commerce,
school-related, and technological deviance. Although the last three have been cited in other
studies, they have not been included in past taxonomies. Positive outcomes of Internet use are
greater productivity and personal enhancement. Negative outcomes can be described in terms
of social harm and Internet addiction. Results link specific usage with outcomes. The use of
Internet to express oneself and interact predicted both personal enhancement and problematic
Internet use. Basic Internet use and entertainment predicted problematic Internet use.
External regulation predict personal harm and social harm but not productivity and addiction.
Self-regulation is associated with greater productivity and personal enhancement and is
negatively related to social harm and addiction. Self-regulated was also a strongest predictor
of both positive outcomes suggesting that beyond putting in controls for Internet use,
developing users ability to self-regulate are more important in enabling the productive use of
the Internet.

Keywords: Internet use, problematic use, addiction, self-regulation, Philippines

1. INTRODUCTION
Internet usage crosses both national and cultural boundaries. However, the extent to which
Internet usage varies between cultures remains unclear. Differences in Internet usage patterns
have been noted such as the Internet being used more for content oriented material in Japan
(i.e., information and entertainment) versus more communicative functions in Korea (Bae
Young, 2004). Wang (2001) highlights the importance of considering socio-cultural
explanations in relation to Internet addiction, and contends that these problematic behaviours
are influenced by family, culture, and society. Choi and Ross (2006) suggest that young
people who have been raised in collectivist, hierarchical, family-focused societies are able to
act and socialize independently for the first time through the Internet. They contend that it is
possible that the opening up of this new world may put youth living in collectivist societies
at higher risk for the development of Internet addiction.
This study applies the Uses and Gratification (U&G) Theory (Palmgreen et al., 1985)
as a frame in developing a taxonomy of Internet use as well as outcomes of Internet use in a
collectivist and developing society such as the Philippines. Further, it seeks to contribute to
theory by extending the U&G theory by examining the role of regulation in predicting
outcomes of Internet use.

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

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2.1 Typologies of Internet Use

The U&G theory recognizes the salient role of users in the consumption of mass media.
Initially developed to explain radio consumption, the theory has since been applied to TV,
magazines, mobile media and most recently the Internet (Lim and Ting, 2012). The goal of
the U&G Theory is to explain and understand the psychological needs that shape media use
behavior and identify the positive and negative consequences of media use. The U&G theory
makes five assumptions, the first of which is related to human agency. It assumes that the
users are active they deliberately use media to achieve a goal. The second assumption is
that people makes motivated choices based on their previous experience with a given
medium. It assumes that people select and use media that satisfy their needs and desires and
that media competes with other sources of need satisfaction. Finally, and most relevant to this
study, it assumes that media users orientations are culture-bound and thus usage patterns
may be different depending on context.
There have been a number of typologies using the U&G paradigm that have emerged
in the past decades. The typologies range from five to nine categories and include:
entertainment, pass time, interpersonal utility, information seeking, convenience
(Papacharissi and Rubin, 2000); entertainment, affection, relaxation, fashion, inclusion,
sociability, escape (Leung, 2001); problem solving, persuading others, relationship
maintenance, status seeking, and personal insight (Flanagin and Metzger, 2001);
entertainment, social interaction, information, convenience (Ko et al., 2005); entertainment,
escapism, habit, pass time, surveillance, news quizzes (Diddi and LaRose, 2006); coolness,
sights and sounds, career, and peer identity factors (Charney and Greenberg, 2001); and
entertainment, search factor, cognitive factor, news, unique factors (Stafford and Stafford,
2001). A study of user-generated media found that Internet users who utilize sites such as
YouTube, MySpace, and Wikipedia in order to fulfill their information, entertainment, and
mood management needs; to enhance social connections and virtual communities; and for
self-expression and self-actualization (Shao, 2008).

2.2. Outcomes of Internet Use

2.2.1 Negative Outcomes of Internet Use
Beyond developing a typology of Internet use, the goal of the study is to expand U&G
Theory by linking usage to outcomes. There is a plethora of research on the outcomes of
Internet use. However, most of them tend to focus on negative outcomes such as problematic
or counterproductive use of the Internet such as cyberslacking, cybergambling, cybersex, and
cyberpornography (Mulls et al., 2001).
Beyond counterproductive use, there are numerous studies regarding problematic
Internet use. The term technological addiction has been used to describe nonchemical or
behavioral addiction that involves human-machine interaction (Widyanto and Griffiths,
2006). Internet addiction has also been referred to an individuals inability to control his or
her use of the Internet that eventually causes significant difficulties in the areas of mental
health, interpersonal relationships, school, and/or employment (Young, 1998). It has also
been defined as a psychological dependence characterized by an increasing investment of
resources in Internet-related activities, unpleasant feelings when offline, an increasing
tolerance to the effects of being online, and denial of the problematic behavior (Kandell,
1998). However, there has been much debate among psychologists on the use of the term
addiction when referring to Internet use. Some researchers argue that Internet addiction
does not have a physiological component (Shapira et al., 2003), whereas others have pointed
out the similarity in the activation of reward pathways between Internet use and substance
and behavioral addictions (Schmitz, 2005).
For example, Young (1998) argued that Internet addiction was most akin to

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pathological gambling, an impulse control disorder, since many problematic Internet users
demonstrated similar symptoms of addiction: preoccupation with the behavior, loss of control
over the behavior, and functional impairment. The diagnostic criteria suggested by both
Young (1998) has been critiqued by other researchers who state that the transposing of
existing criteria for a solitary activity such as gambling directly to Internet use appears
arbitrary and is not based on empirical evidence (Grohol, 1999). The debate becomes even
more complex because behavioral addictions do not involve the physiological ingestion of a
substance that chemically alters the body. Due to the controversy surrounding the term
addiction, it was excluded from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-IV) and replaced with the terms dependence and Impulse Control Disorder.
Thus, researches have preferred to use the term problematic Internet use referring to
excessive use or addictive tendencies toward the Internet (Czincz and Hechanova, 2009).

2.2.2 Positive Outcomes of Internet Use

Although there is much literature on the negative impact of Internet use - there are also
positive outcomes of Internet use. La Rose and Eastin (2004) confirmed Banduras Social
Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) that suggests six basic types of incentives for human
behavior: novel sensory, social, status, monetary, enjoyable activity, and self-reactive
incentives. When applied to the Internet, activity outcomes include feeling entertained,
cheering oneself up, playing a game one likes, hearing ones favorite music. Monetary
outcomes include finding bargains on the Internet, saving time shopping, getting free
information and getting products for free. Novel outcomes are obtaining information, new
knowledge. Social outcomes include obtaining support from others, maintaining a
relationship, finding people like ones self, providing help to others, and feeling like one
belongs. Self-reactive outcomes include relieving boredom, passing the time, feeling lonely,
forgetting problems, and feeling relaxed. Status outcomes are finding people who respect
ones views, improving future prospects, getting up to date with technology.
The issue of outcomes is not limited to the individual level. Internet use has benefited
organizations by improving service delivery, increasing learning, facilitating communication
and decreasing costs. On the other hand, misuse can also result in wasted resources, viruses,
degradation of network performance, and consumption of system storage space (Alampay
and Hechanova, 2010).

2.3 The Role of Self-Regulation

2.3.1 Internal Regulation
One assumption of the U&G theory is that media audiences are active that is, they
deliberately use media to achieve a goal. However, U&G theory is silent on the dynamics
between usage and outcomes. One theory that has been used to explain this relationship is
Banduras (1986) Social Cognitive Theory, particularly the construct of self-regulation.
Bandura suggested that individuals monitor their own behavior, judge it in relation to
personal and social standards, and regulate their behavior. Research suggests that deficient
self-regulation is significantly related to Internet usage. La Rose and Eastin (2004) found that
deficient self-regulation predicts habit strength that, in turn, predicts Internet usage. They
explain that when self-regulation becomes deficient, media behavior becomes habit rather
than a means to an end. Although they suggest that habitual behavior can become behavioral
addictions, they do not test for the actual outcome of Internet usage.

2.3.2 External Regulation

Beyond internal regulation, behavior can also be shaped by external regulation. Across
cultures, children learn to function autonomously as they move to adulthood. The transition

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to autonomy includes the development of self-regulation, identity and individuation.

However, there appear to be cultural differences in both parents granting of autonomy as
well as adolescents acceptance of parental regulation. A cross-cultural study, for example,
shows that Filipino parents are more likely to set rules than American and Chilean parents.
Similarly, Filipino youth are more likely to believe it is okay for parents to do so and are
more likely to obey rules compared to American and Chilean youth (Darling et al., 2005).
Research on parental regulation of Internet use suggest that most parents do set rules
regarding their childrens Internet use as well as monitor Internet use by checking bookmarks
or browser history. There is also evidence that rules regarding Internet use tend to only be
applied following the familys acquisition of Internet access at home and parental regulation
disappears once adolescents have used the Internet for some time (Lenhart and Madden,
2007). Livingstone and Eslper (2008) report that parental regulation strategies tend to be
behavioral: talking to children about Internet use (64 percent) prohibiting children from
giving out personal information (67 percent) and buying online (59 percent), giving rules on
time spent online (53 percent), watching the screen when child is using (46 percent), staying
nearby when child is online (34 percent), and checking sites visited (30 percent). Less
common are using filtering (33 percent) and monitoring software (23 percent).
However, research also suggests that parents do not really know how their children
use the Internet. A study by Liau et al. (2008) found that parents often underestimate the
number of hours their children spend online, the extent to which they visit sites with
pornography, gory or violent material and the extent to which their children actually met
face-to-face someone they first met online. The study likewise found that parents tend to
monitor sons rather than daughters Internet use. The study also reports that mothers are
better than fathers in predicting frequency of use of adolescent children.
For adults in the workforce, organizations typically regulate Internet use in two ways:
restricting access to specific sites and monitoring employee use. The practice of restricting
access differs across cultures. In countries like China, Vietnam, and Singapore restriction is
practiced for pornographic sites and political and linguistic content. In democratic countries
such as United States on the other hand, there is a resistance towards blocking content
(Alampay and Hechanova, 2010).
The second way companies regulate Internet use is via monitoring. Monitoring is
done in various ways but the most common of which is network surveillance. Software is
used to track down the sites visited by employees. Another form is the monitoring of e-mails
sent by employees. Other monitoring strategies include putting computer screens in a highly
visible or more public location, or having surveillance cameras to discourage employees from
accessing inappropriate content. Some employers also use telephone tapping, video
surveillance and GPS satellite monitoring in order to check on their employees Internet use.
In the AMA (2005) study, 76 percent of the companies monitor their workers website
connections. Half of organizations in the study reported that they store and review employee
computer files.

2.4 Internet Use in the Philippines

Like the rest of the world, the Philippines has embraced the Internet. Two out of three
Filipinos use Internet social networks - the highest penetration in the world and a feat
considering that only 29 percent of Filipinos have Internet access in their homes (Broadband
Commission, 2012).
There has been some research describing how the Internet is used in the Philippines.
A study by Pertierra (2006) revealed that 50 percent of Filipino respondents aged 14 to 23
years old use the Internet and mobile phones to expand their circle of relationships by
participating in online chat groups, forums and social networking sites. Both men and women

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make use of the Internet as an avenue to meet virtual friends.

Another study by the Social Weather Station (SWS) in 2011 (Labucay, 2011)
surveyed 1,200 Filipinos and clustered Internet use into five categories: 1) social networking
(online social networking such as Facebook, Twitter); 2) information seeking or learning
(news, health information); 3) creativity and production (blogging, share own photos, videos
and stories); 4) entertainment and leisure (online games), and 5) commercial activity (online
purchasing). The results reveal that nine out of ten Filipino users go on social networking
sites like Facebook and Friendster. A distant second use of Internet is to share photos, videos
or artwork (44percent), and get news or information on current events (40percent). Thirty-
seven percent of Internet users go online to get general health information, and the same
percentage play online games. About 28 percent go online to get news on sensitive health
topics. Although informative, the SWS study utilized five broad categories based on a
typology used by a study in Britain.
Although there is no literature of self-regulation and Internet use in the Philippines, a
study on Internet monitoring in the Philippines (Alampay and Hechanova, 2010) revealed
that 65 percent of companies provide Internet access to employees. Of these, more than half
of the organizations (58 percent) restrict use either in terms of online content and
applications. Specifically, sites that are blocked are: pornography (69 percent) and gaming
(53 percent). In addition to restriction, 57 percent of companies report monitoring employees
Internet use. A quarter of the organizations perform constant monitoring, whereas 20 percent
conduct monitoring routinely. Almost half (45 percent) of the organizations used disciplinary
procedures for employees because of improper use of the Internet.
As suggested by the U&G Theory, media users orientations are culture-bound and
consequently this study utilizes a grounded approach in order to develop a taxonomy of
Internet use and outcomes. More specifically, this research hopes to answer the following
research problems:
1. What are the taxonomies of usage among Filipino Internet users?
2. What are the types of outcomes that are associated with Internet use?
3. Does self and external regulation predict outcomes of Internet use?
4. What types of usage predict outcomes of Internet use over and above that predicted by
regulation?

3. METHODOLOGY
This study utilized mixed methods through a sequential exploratory strategy, involving two
phases. In the first phase, qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews
to elicit the usage and outcomes of Internet use. In the second phase, a quantitative survey
was constructed and administered to identify the taxonomies and establish the relationship
between usage, outcomes and self-regulation.

3.1 Phase 1
3.1.1 Sample
The first phase of the project was qualitative in nature. In this phase, researchers conducted
20 interviews (approximately 1 in each of the following five age groups: 10 to 19, 20 to 29,
30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 and up) in each of the following four areas: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao
and the Greater Manila Area (GMA). Trained researchers in each of these areas were asked to
locate respondents representing different socioeconomic status and age groups.

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3.1.2 Instrument
The interview questions revolved around four themes: internet use, perceived benefits and
risk, health vs unhealthy Internet use and risk factors. For Internet use, questions asked were:
How often do you use the Internet?, What do you use the Internet for?, Where do you
use Internet? and Why do you use the Internet?.
To obtain information on perceived benefits and risks of Internet use, respondents
were asked What would you consider the benefits of using the Internet? and What would
you consider the negative effects of Internet use?
To obtain perceptions of healthy vs. unhealthy, two questions were asked: What
would you consider healthy Internet use? and What would you consider problematic
Internet use?
To elicit risk factors in Internet use, the following questions were posed: Do you
know of someone whose Internet use you would consider problematic? What factors led them
to such problematic use?

3.1.3 Data Analysis

The interviews were transcribed then were processed through thematic analysis, as described
by Braun and Clarke (2006). A step-by-step qualitative procedure was followed: (1)
preliminary reading of each transcript by each researcher, (2) writing notes on each transcript
after preliminary reading, (3) coding of data, (4) clustering of codes, (5) discussion of
clustering and employment of necessary rearrangements and revisions, (6) development of
themes, and (7) consolidation of all data. The themes gathered in this phase became the basis
for constructing the survey scales.

3.2 Phase Two

3.2.1 Sample
The input from the first phase was used to develop a survey on Internet uses and outcomes.
The questionnaire was piloted to 30 Internet users in Metro Manila before it was finalized.
Power analysis suggested a minimum sample of 370. The final form was administered to a
total of 500 Internet users. Random sampling was employed to gather an equal number of
respondents to represent the four major regions of the country. There were 387 completed
surveys. One hundred respondents (25 percent) came from San Jose Del Monte Bulacan for
Luzon, 87 (24 percent) from Cebu City for Visayas, 100 (25 percent) from Davao City for
Mindanao and 100 (26 percent) from Quezon City for the National Capital Region (NCR).

3.2.2 Measures
Internet Use was measured by asking participants to rate a list of 31 uses developed from the
results of Phase One. Internet users were asked to describe how often they used the Internet
for each purpose using the following scale: 1- never, 2 - once a month or less, 3 - every few
weeks, 4 - one to two days a week, 5 - three to five days a week, 6 - once a day and 7 -
several times a day (see Annex A).
Outcomes of Internet Use were measured using 15 items describing how Internet has
affects users (see Annex B). The items, which were developed from the results of the scoping
study, included improved performance in school, increased opportunities to learn, etc. The
items utilized a 5-point scale with 5 being strongly agree and 1 strongly disagree.
Social Harm pertained to the detrimental effects of Internet use. It was measured
using items elicited from the interviews that described being harmed. In addition to these
items, interviewees also mentioned problematic Internet use as a possible outcome of
excessive use. It was measured using Youngs (1998) Internet-related addiction scale (IAS).
In the 20-item scale where a rating of 1 means not at all and 5 means always, Young

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defined 20 to 29 points as an average user, 40 to 69 points as possible or intermittent user and

more than 70 points as an addicted user (see Annex C).
External Regulation refers to whether or not respondents are given rules or limits to
the amount of time, activities, sites, nature of information that can be shared, type of
information that can be downloaded at work, school, or home. These five rules were listed for
each site (work, school and home). Respondents checked whether rules or limits applied to
them for a total of 15 items (see Annex D).
Self-Regulation was measured using the self-discipline scale in Goldbergs
International Personality Index Pool (http://ipip.ori.org). The scale consisted of 10 items
using a 5-point scale with 5 being strongly agree and 1 strongly disagree (see Annex E).
The internal consistency based on the sample was .72.

4. RESULTS
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
Table 1 reveals that the top three uses of Internet was for Basic communication (e-mail, chat,
Skype), entertainment (watching movies and videos, playing and listening to the radio) and
expression & participation (blogging, reading others blog and posting comments on others
sites, etc).
In terms of the impact of Internet use, more respondents reported more positive
impact of Internet use including productivity and personal enhancement as opposed to
experiencing social harm or problematic use).
Scores for regulation show higher incidence of self (M=3.27) as opposed to external
regulation (M=2.38).

4.2 Profile of the Participants

The survey sample had equal representation from the Philippines four major island regions -
the National Capital Region, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Fifty six percent of respondents
were female. The age of the respondents ranged from 13 to 70 years. Majority where below
30 with the mean age of respondents was 31.04 years. Forty four percent of respondents were
employed, 36 percent were students, and 20 percent were unemployed (see Table 2). Majority
(69%) were college graduates. Internet use was typically 5 9 hours a week.

4.3 Internet Usage

Principal Component Analysis using Varimax rotation was used to determine the taxonomy
of Internet use. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .859 and the
Bartlett's Test of sphericity (Chi-Square = 4070.25, df=25, p=.00) showed that the data met
the assumptions of factor analysis (Hair et al, 2009).
The initial exploratory factor analysis of the activities reveals that the purposes for
using the Internet usage can be grouped into eight factors. However, there were a number of
items loaded on multiple factors and were eventually removed. For example, the item using
social networking sites loaded on both expression and participation as well as entertainment.
One explanation for this is because unlike previous sites (i.e. Friendster) current social
networking sites (i.e. Facebook) also includes games and sharing of videos beyond allow
individuals to express themselves and interact with others. The second item was e-learning
which loaded on both learning related as well as news and information. One explanation
might be the relatively low adoption of e-learning in the Philippines. Thus some users may
view obtaining news also as form of learning. The third item which was eventually removed
was contributing to information which loaded on both learning related and expression and
participation. This is likely because consider their posting on other peoples sites as
contributing information as well. One factor, initially labelled vice had two items (gambling

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and porn and yield an internal consistency coefficient of only .47.

The final principal component analysis after the above items were dropped yield
seven factors after six iterations and varimax rotation. The seven components represented 75
percent of the variance in Internet use (see Table 3). The results were shown to five
individuals and labelled using the Delphi method. Internet usage can be described as:
expression and interaction (blogging, own a website, read others websites or blogs, sharing
files such as pictures), school-related activities (downloading ebooks, software, materials, e-
groups), recreation (movies, playing games, radio), news and information (reading news,
sports, entertainment), e-commerce (buying, selling, E-bay), basic Internet use (email,
chatting, utilize search engines), and technology deviance (hacking, spreading a virus, wrong
information etc). The seven components yielded acceptable internal consistency coefficients
ranging from Cronbach alpha of .78 to 89.

4.4 Outcomes of Internet Use

Principal Component Analysis using Varimax rotation was used to classify the outcomes of
Internet use. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .92 and the
Bartlett's Test of sphericity (Chi-Square = 8178.78, df=903, p=.00) showed that the data met
the assumptions of factor analysis (Hair et al, 2009). A series of principal component analysis
was done and after eliminating items that double-loaded on multiple items, the final solution
revealed four factors for the outcomes of Internet use after seven iterations. These four
factors explained 64% of the variance in outcomes. Table 4 summarizes the factor loadings
after varimax rotation. The four components yielded acceptable internal consistency
coefficients ranging from Cronbach alpha of .69 to .95.
Two factors referred to positive outcomes. One outcome was productivity - saving
time and money and improved performance). The second positive outcome was personal
enhancement. This included increased access to resources and information, the ability to
express oneself, recreation, enhanced relationships and learning. The other two factors can be
described in terms of social harm and problematic Internet use or addiction. Social harm
items included being deceived or bullied online, increased spending and less time with family
and friends. The fourth component came from Youngs addiction items staying online
longer than intended, neglecting chores, losing sleep, preoccupation with Internet use and
people complaining about hours spent online.

4.5 Regulation and Internet Outcomes

We predicted that self and external regulation would be associated with outcomes of Internet
use. We first tested for assumptions of regression analysis. Analysis of residuals revealed
linearity, normality and homoscedasticity. Watson ranged from 1.15 to 1.83 indicating
independence of residuals.
Hierarchical regression was employed entering self and external regulation as
predictors of the outcomes in the first step. As seen in Table 5, self-regulation predicted all
the outcomes. The greater the self-regulation the higher the productivity and personal
enhancement and lower the incidence of social harm and addiction. External regulation, on
the other hand, predicted personal enhancement and social harm. The greater the external
regulation, the greater the personal enhancement and less social harm caused by Internet use.
Interestingly, external regulation did not predict productivity and addiction.

4.6 Internet Usage and Outcomes

In the second step of hierarchical regression, the various Internet usage was entered as
predictors of the four outcomes. Results show that usage predicts various outcomes, over and
beyond that which was predicted by self and external regulation. Interestingly, expression and

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interaction is associated with both positive and negative outcomes. Blogging, posting on
other peoples sites, and other social network-related activities appear to be instrumental
improve ones relationships and being able to express oneself. However, there also appears to
be an addictive element to this type of activity people may also feel a compulsion to
constantly check updates, tweets, instagrams, etc of those in their social network.
Basic communication (email, chatting, search) and using the Internet for news and
information predict productivity. However, basic communication is also associated with
addiction. E-commerce is negatively correlated with productivity. Entertainment is negatively
correlated with productivity and positively correlated with problematic Internet use

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics

Variable Mean SD Reliability
Internet Use
Basic (email, chat, search) 3.83 1.66 .78
Entertainment (games, music, videos, social network) 3.04 1.61 .79
Expression & Interaction 2.61 1.58 .88
News & Info 2.25 1.70 .89
School-related 2.12 1.31 .81
Tech Deviance 1.84 .63 .80
Ecommerce 1.54 1.10 .78
Impact of Internet Use
Social Harm 1.82 .86 .91
Problematic Internet use 1.91 .75 .93
Personal Enhancement 3.40 1.14 .95
Productivity 3.75 .66 .69
Regulation
Self-Regulation 3.27 .50 .74
External Regulation 2.38 1.49 .84

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Table 2. Profile of the Participants

Demographic Variable Frequency Percentage
Age
13- 19 88 23%
20-29 113 29%
30- 39 79 20%
40 49 53 14%
50 and above 53 14%
Gender
Male 170 44%
Female 217 56%
Occupation
Student 138 36%
Employed 165 44%
Unemployed/Out of School 78 20%
Location
Luzon 100 26%
Visayas 87 23%
Mindanao 100 26%
National Capital Region 100 26%
Educational Attainment
Elementary 6 1.6%
High School 60 16%
College 265 69%
Post-graduate 51 13%

MEAN SD
Years using Internet 2.61 1.08
Hours on the Internet in a week* 2.35 1.77

** 1 -Less than 5 hour, 2- 5 to 9 hours , 3 - 10 19 hours, 4 - 20 29 hours, 5- 30 39 hrs, 6

- 40 to 49 hrs, 7 - More than 50 hrs

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Table 3. Factor Analysis of Internet Use

Expressio Tech School- Recrea Basic News & E-

n& Devianc related tion Info Comme
Connectio e rce
n
Eigenvalue 8.75 2.85 2.62 1.77 1.21 1.18 1.04
% of Variance 33.68 10.97 10.07 6.79 4.64 4.53 4.00
Read Blogs .832 .113 .076 .234 .124 .097 .043
Post comments .805 .114 .100 .378 .038 .108 -.023
Manage own site .776 .045 .138 -.085 -.026 .098 .115
Blog .728 -.009 .055 .239 .228 .146 -.009
Share files, pictures,
.711 .111 .220 .219 .187 .021 -.072
videos
Hack websites .000 .949 .012 .089 .051 .006 -.044
Send virus -.016 .948 .039 .090 .052 -.020 .013
Post wrong
.099 .769 .176 -.024 -.157 .162 .210
information
Spread photos/videos
.333 .715 .213 -.006 .138 .026 -.014
of others
Copy
.100 .104 .850 .098 .032 .115 -.015
material/plagiarize
Download software .193 .137 .762 .240 .135 .186 .143
Download e-books .100 .133 .707 .306 .159 .221 .103
Have e-group .259 .100 .567 .237 .348 .168 .093
View videos, movies .355 -.009 .306 .722 .160 .172 .072
Download media .222 .054 .421 .716 .183 .082 .074
Play games .254 .035 .043 .707 .063 .065 .091
Listen to radio/music .067 .079 .190 .702 .047 .205 -.111
Email .124 .095 .169 .083 .839 .254 .113
Chat .138 .032 .127 .367 .736 .061 .077
Search .275 -.117 .232 -.047 .609 .258 .249
Read sports .027 .107 .148 .224 .156 .812 .255
Read news .252 -.004 .251 .091 .298 .779 .076
Read entertainment .242 .061 .288 .255 .205 .753 .159
Buy goods online .049 .041 .059 .005 .173 .048 .900
Sell goods on online -.010 .047 .135 .058 .049 .197 .887
Electronic banking .014 .057 -.021 .019 .456 .272 .503
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 6 iterations.

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Table 4. Factor Analysis of Outcomes

Problemati Personal Social Productivity

c Internet Enhancem Harm
Use ent
Eigenvalue 9.28 7.82 2.36 1.20
% of Variance 28.99 24.42 7.38 3.73
Find yourself saying just a few more minutes when online? .822 .131 .073 -.031
Neglect household chores to spend more time on-line? .788 .147 .077 .096
Hear others in your life complain about the amount of time you spend online? .787 .060 .018 .042
Try to cut down the amount of time you spend online and fail? .775 .156 .220 .028
Find yourself staying online longer than you intended? .755 .252 -.173 .052
Find that your school/work suffers because of the amount of time you spend online? .724 .060 .136 -.150
Find yourself cutting down on the time you spend on your extracurricular activities
.717 -.063 .182 .044
because of the Internet?
Prefer the excitement of the Internet to time spent with friends and/or family .689 .115 .224 -.073
Lose sleep due to late-nights online .682 .252 .286 -.016
Feel preoccupied with the Internet when off-line, or fantasize about being online .678 .072 .332 .059
Find yourself anticipating when you will go online again .650 .104 .184 -.068
Form new relationships with fellow on-line users .641 .140 .083 .070
Check your email before something else that you need to do .561 .336 -.055 -.129
Internet enriched my interests .202 .857 -.235 .059
Internet gave me access to resources I would normally not have (photos, files, etc) .237 .854 -.243 -.017
Internet gave me opportunities to share information with others .243 .846 -.196 -.023
Internet allowed me to access information about other cultures/societies .246 .838 -.265 -.020

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Internet allowed me to express my thoughts and feelings (blogs, forums .212 .792 -.062 .001
Internet provided me with recreation/amusement .146 .768 -.239 .101
Internet improved my communication skills .207 .760 -.237 .088
Intern enhanced my family relationships .074 .678 -.110 .223
Internet provided me with opportunities to learn .039 .564 .043 .393
Ive gotten into trouble because people have posted information or photos about you .127 -.208 .828 -.021
Ive gotten deceived or scammed by others on the Internet .205 -.290 .773 -.062
Ive gotten distracted from personal responsibilities because of Internet use .400 -.195 .728 .004
Ive experience being bullied or threatened by someone over the Internet .089 -.493 .658 .167
Ive spent more money than you can afford on Internet use .170 -.391 .646 .119
I spend less time with family because of Internet use .375 -.150 .627 .076
I spend less time with friends because of Internet use .193 -.575 .575 .209
The Internet has saved me money .044 -.051 -.026 .860
The Internet has saved me a lot of time -.110 .093 .012 .828
The Internet has Improved my performance in school/work .004 .273 .213 .584
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations.

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Table 5. Self-Regulation and Internet Use as Predictors and their Outcomes

Productivity Personal Enhancement Social Harm Problematic Internet
Use
R2 R2 R2 R2
Step 1: .07** .07** .16* .10**
Self-Regulation .20** .14* -.33** -.32**
External Regulation .03 .19** -.16* -.02
Step 2: .12** .15* .08* .27**
Self-Regulation .20** .18** -.31** -.28**
External Regulation .03 .19** -.16* -.02
Expression & Interaction .11 .30** .09 .15*
Education -.09 .11 .08 .11
Tech Deviance .12 -.05 .13 .07
News & Info .26* -.10 .01 -.03
Basic .21* .07 .13 .20*
Ecommerce -.15* -.14 -.08 -.10
Entertainment -.22* -.07 -.01 .24**
Total R2 .19* .22* .24* .37*
Note: *sig at .05, ** sig at .01

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5. DISCUSSION
The results of this study revealed a seven-component taxonomy of Internet usage among
Filipino Internet users. Some of the components are similar to what have been found in
studies in the West. For example, using the Internet for entertainment was also identified
by other researchers (Papacharissi and Rubin, 2000; Leung, 2001; Ko et al, 2005; Diddi
and LaRose, 2006; Stafford and Stafford, 2001). Communication and search appears to
be similar to Papacharissi and Rubins (2000) interpersonal utility. Expression and
interaction may be akin to Leungs (2001) sociability component and Flanagin and
Metzger (2001) relationship maintenance. However, there are three components that
appear to be unique to this sample: school-related, e-commerce, and technological
deviance. This is not to say that these usages are unknown as evidenced by research that
has examined gambling and pornography (i.e. Spurlock, 2004; Derevensky and Gupta,
2004) as well as technologically deviant behaviors such as hacking, spreading of viruses,
or spreading photos without someones permission (Petrony, 2009). However, these
behaviours have not been included in prior taxonomies. The inclusion of e-commerce is a
fairly new phenomenon hence it may not have been included in prior taxonomies.
Finally, activities such as e-groups, downloading e-books and software and copying
information online was labelled school-related. This appears to be unique to a student
sample. Because students are digital natives, downloading e-books and software has
become natural for them. Online libraries and other scholarly search sites have also
become the primary means for students to do school-related research. At the same time,
the emergence of social networking tools such as Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, and
even Facebook has allowed students to collaborate and work on joint projects virtually.

5.1 Internet Outcomes

The study also revealed that Internet use has both positive and negative outcomes. The
outcomes are somewhat differently structured to that found by La Rose and Eastin
(2004). Rather than the six components, we found only two clusters of positive outcomes.
Our personal enhancement outcome appears to be a combination of La Rose and Eastins
Social outcomes (obtaining support from others, maintaining a relationship, finding
people like ones self, providing help to others, and feeling like one belongs) and status
outcomes (finding people who respect ones views, improving future prospects, getting
up to date with technology). Our productivity component appears to be inclusive of La
Rose and Eastins activity and monetary outcomes.

5.2 The Role of Regulation

Between the two types of regulation it is self-regulation rather than external regulation
that is predictive of both positive and negative outcomes. This supports La Rose and
Eastin (2004) findings that that deficient self-regulation predicts habit strength that, in
turn, predicts Internet usage. Those who have poor time management skills (Cao et al
2006) or those who have difficulty with self-control or regulation are more likely to be
addicted to the Internet.
External regulation predicts personal enhancement and social harm but not
productivity or addiction. This suggests some users may benefit from external regulation.
This validates a study among Korean parents and adolescents showed that parental
restriction moderated the relationship between Internet use and online risk (Lee and

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Chae, 2012). On the other hand, there was no relationship between external regulation
and addiction. Explanations for this may come from Livingstone and Helsper (2008)who
suggest that although parents think they have restricted these activities by setting rules,
children may simply not be heeding them. Secondly, it is possible that parents
overestimate the degree to which they regulate their childrens Internet use.
However, the lack of relationship between external regulation and productivity
may reflect the relatively low levels of regulation in the workplace. As reported by
Alampay and Hechanova (2010), only about half of companies have policies on Internet
use.

5.3 Internet Usage and Outcomes

We predicted that certain Internet usages would be predictive of outcomes over and
beyond that predicted by self-regulation. Expression and interaction and basic Internet
use were predictive of both positive and negative outcomes. According to Grohol (1999),
people spend the greatest time online with activities having to do with social interactions.
He cited that socialization makes the Internet addicting. Merely talking or hanging out
with other people by means of email, discussion forums, chat, social networking hooks an
individual to extended use of the Internet. On the other hand, the results also show there
is positive side to social networking which is personal enhancement.
Entertainment is a positive predictor of addiction and negatively related to
productivity. To understand this, it must be noted that other than watching videos or
listening to music, this cluster includes usages such as gaming. Young (1998) found that
self-described Internet dependents were more likely to demonstrate excessive or
problematic behavior with highly interactive online applications.

6. CONCLUSION
6.1 Summary
To summarize, the results reveal a seven-component taxonomy of Internet use in the
Philippines: expression and interaction, basic Internet use, recreation, news and
information, school-related activities, e-commerce, and technology deviance. In addition,
whereas past studies tended to focus on problematic outcomes of Internet, the study
highlights both positive and negative outcomes. Results show that Internet use has
benefits including greater productivity and personal enhancement. However, when
carried to the extreme, Internet use can also lead to social harm and addictive tendencies.

6.2 Contribution the Theory

The study contributes to theory by applying the Uses and Gratification theory and
showing more current usages including: e-commerce, school-related and technological
deviance. The results also suggest four outcomes of Internet use. In addition, it expands
the Uses and Gratification theory by linking uses to outcomes. In addition, using the
Social Cognitive Theory, it adds to the understanding of the relationship between use and
outcome by highlighting the role of self-regulation.

6.3 Limitations of the Study and Recommendations for Future Research

The goal of this research was to create a taxonomy of Internet use and outcomes among
Filipinos. This study gathered respondents from cities or urban areas, however, it is

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possible that Internet use may be different by geography and populations within the
country. Future studies may wish to explore the dynamics of Internet use in rural and
urban areas, between generational cohorts and between students and workers.
The studies did show some differences from the taxonomies of other countries
hence it might be important to verify whether the model holds applicable across other
similar cultures.
The study was also cross-sectional in nature. Future studies may also want to
examine Internet use and user behaviour using longitudinal methodologies. Particularly,
the boost of the Internet is a fairly new phenomenon, researchers might want to carry out
studies to track Internet users for a longer period of time.
Finally, the lack of influence of external regulation on predicting Internet use
outcomes deserves greater examination. Finding out current strategies and determining
which strategies may be more effective than others is important before concluding that
external regulation has no impact on Internet use.

6.4 Implications for Practice

Beyond its contribution to theory, the results suggest a number of practical implications.
An important finding is the role of self-regulation. Any behaviour, even seemingly
innocuous like expressing oneself and interacting in social network sites, can be harmful
when carried to the extreme. Thus what appears to be critical is to help individuals
monitor and discipline their Internet use. This requires developing a persons capacity for
self-awareness and regulation.
However, the results also do suggest that there are some Internet uses that are
predictive of negative outcomes, such as vices. These uses are actually related to other
disorders. For example, people with compulsion disorders may not have the capacity for
self-regulation and may require more clinical interventions.
Finally, the results suggest the need to education both users and non-users that
like any other technology, the Internet is not inherently good nor bad. Rather, it is how
technology is used or abused that may spell the difference between it becoming a tool for
personal, social and professional enhancement or as a weapon for both personal and
social harm.

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ANNEX A : INTERNET USE SCALE

Following are some of the things people do online. Please indicate how often you do them by
checking the appropriate column.

Never Once a Every few 1-2 days a 3-5 Once a Several

month or weeks week days a Day Times a
less week Day
E-mail
Chat/Instant
messaging (YM, etc)
Electronic banking
Utilize search engine
Read news or current
events
Read entertainment
sites
Read sports-related
sites
Sell goods/services
Purchase
goods/services
E-learning
Play games
Gamble
Visit pornographic
sites
Listen to the radio
View videos or
movies (i.e. Youtube)
Download media
(music, movies, TV
shows)
Download e-books,
magazines, comics
Download software
Download materials
and pass it off as my
own
Participate in online
communication/e-
groups
Use social
networking sites
(Friendster,
Facebook, etc)

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Never Once a Every few 1-2 days a 3-5 Once a Several

month or weeks week days a Day Times a
less week Day
Write and post online
journal (blog)
Share personal files,
artwork, photos &
videos
Create and maintain
own website
Read website or blogs
of others
Post comments on
others website
Contribute
information to
websites like
Wikipedia
Disseminate wrong
information
Spread photos or
videos of others
without their
permission
Spread a virus
Hack websites

ANNEX B : OUTCOMES OF INTERNET USE SCALE

The Internet has Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Agree Strongly Agree
Disagree nor Disagree
a. Improved my
performance in
school/work
b. Provided me with
opportunities to
learn
c. Increased my
business/employme
nt opportunities
d. Saved me a lot of
time
e. Saved me money
f. Enhanced my
relationship with
friends

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The Internet has Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Agree Strongly Agree
Disagree nor Disagree
g. Enhanced my
professional
relationships
h. Enhanced my
family relationships
i. Enriched my
interests
j. Provided me with
recreation/amusem
ent
k. Improved my
communication
skills
l. Gave me access to
resources I would
normally not have
(photos, files, etc)
m. Allowed me to
access information
about other
cultures/societies
n. Allowed me to
express my
thoughts and
feelings (blogs,
forums)
o. Given me
opportunities to
share information
with others

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ANNEX C : SOCIAL HARM SCALE

The following are some possible outcome of Internet use. Please indicate how often these
apply to you by putting a check under the appropriate column.

How Often Do You.. Not at all Rarely Some Often Always

times
a. Find yourself staying online longer than you
intended?
b. Neglect household chores to spend more time
on-line?
c. Prefer the excitement of the Internet to time
spent with friends and/or family?
d. Form new relationships with fellow on-line
users?
e. Hear others in your life complain about the
amount of time you spend online?
f. Find that your school/work suffers because of
the amount of time you spend online?
g. Check your email before something else that
you need to do?
h. Find yourself cutting down on the time you
spend on your extracurricular activities becau
of the Internet?
i. Become defensive or secretive when anyone
asks you what you do online?
j. Block disturbing thoughts about your life with
soothing thoughts of the Internet?
k. Find yourself anticipating when you will go
online again?
l. Feel that life without the Internet would be
boring, empty and joyless?
m. Snap, yell or act annoyed if someone bothers
you while you are online?
n. Lose sleep due to late-nights online?

o. Feel preoccupied with the Internet when off-

line, or fantasize about being online?
p. Find yourself saying just a few more minute
when online?
q. Try to cut down the amount of time you spen
online and fail?
r. Try to hide how long youve been online?
s. Chose to spend more time online over going
out with others?
t. Feel depressed, moody or nervous when you

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How Often Do You.. Not at all Rarely Some Often Always

times
are off-line and which goes away once you ar
back online?
u. Spend more money than you can afford on
Internet use?
v. Get distracted from personal responsibilities
because of Internet use?
w. Experience body aches because of internet us
x. Spend less time with family because of Intern
use?
y. Spend less time with friends because of
Internet use?
z. Experience being bullied or threatened by
someone over the Internet?
aa. Get deceived or scammed by others on the
Internet?
bb. Get into trouble because people have posted
information or photos about you?

ANNEX D : EXTERNAL REGULATION QUESTIONS

1) At work, are there rules/limits on (check all that applies):

______ the amount of time you can spend online
______ what you can or cannot do online
______ internet sites you can or cannot visit
______ nature of information you can share
______ type of information or files you can download

2) At school, are there rules/limits on (check all that applies):

______ the amount of time you can spend online
______ what you can or cannot do online
______ internet sites you can or cannot visit
______ nature of information you can share
______ type of information or files you can download

3) At home, are there rules/limits on (check all that applies):

______ the amount of time you can spend online
______ what you can or cannot do online
______ internet sites you can or cannot visit
______ nature of information you can share
______ type of information or files you can download

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ANNEX E : SELF-REGULATION

Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements.

I. Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree nor Agree
Disagree
a. Get chores done right away.
b. Find it difficult to get down to
work.
c. Am always prepared.
d. Waste my time.
e. Start tasks right away.
f. Get to work at once.
g. Need a push to get started.
h. Have difficulty starting tasks.
i. Carry out my plans.
j. Postpone decisions.

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