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.