Use of the internet to address local communities’ communication needs: a case of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret

Abstract

The internet has been used enormously to address communication problems at the global, regional and national levels. However, the extent to which it has addressed communication needs within given local communities has not been emphatically established. This study investigated the use of the internet to address the communication needs of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret community. The objectives of the study were: To identify the communication needs of the community, examine the use of internet among the community, determine the extent to which the internet addresses the communication needs of the community; and to establish the potential benefits and constraints of internet use among the community. Two post-modern theories of mass communication influenced the study: The theory of Communication Technology Determinism and the Information Society/Age theory. The quantitative approach and the survey method were used and data was collected mainly by use of questionnaires. The cluster random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and findings presented in both statistical and graphical means. The main finding of the study is that the community‟s internet use is very low, ranking fifth among other media applied by the community to address their communication needs. This low degree of use is attributed to various constraints, mainly unavailability. The study revealed that full application of the internet could reduce by almost 80% the communication problems being experienced by the community. The study has made important recommendations to address this situation and made suggestions for further inquiry. The study will hopefully be significant in improving communities understanding of the use of the internet in addressing the communication needs of members. This may in turn lead to better application of the medium by the community and other similar ones.