Browsing by Author "Leppälä, Aleksi"

The aim of the research is to solve backpackers IT usage, how they use it and what are their attitudes towards it in a personal and society level. The targets of the study are backpackers who live in a western society and the aim is to investigate what is the role of IT during their travel compared to everyday life. In support for this will be to find out what is the role of time, natural environment and social relations towards IT usage. The study is implemented by data based qualitative methods which means that data is at the center not the theory. Grounded Theory approach could be used when the phenomenon is unknown. Grounded Theory is more like a method than a theory as the english term suggests. Through the approach theory will be constructed during the research process by the observations which have found. The research approach is inductive because the basis is not tested with theory or hypotheses. The researcher will define what is important and what is not. The triangulation of qualitative methods will be fullfilled through theme interviews, participant observation and Grounded Theory. The fieldwork was conducted in the state of Kerala, India and in some destinations of Sri Lanka. Eight theme interviews were gathered all together of which two were couple interviews. Interviews were implemented in a tourist bubble. Based on interviews the most important IT devices were smartphones and cameras. Nowadays the usage of internet cafes to contact friends and relatives could be considered replaced by the features and applications of smartphones. The results show that the smartphone usage is tried to kept in minimum but intensive usage in home environment is hard to change. During the travel remarkably important issue which affects to IT usage is the availability of WiFi network. Inside the tourist bubble it is widely available. The most important properties of smartphones are social media and free message sending through wireless network. In everyday life backpackers use more IT than when traveling even if there is more time to use it. That is cause of natural environment, new social relationships and willingness to cut off everyday life. Interviewees also describe that the development of IT is in the first place a good thing but the usage of it is nowadays too intensive both in individual and society scale. It could be argued that backpackers IT usage and attitudes towards it are complex and paradoxical. The main reason for that is that suddenly users have the device in their hand whereby they can do almost everything. People are not prepared for that and not be able to use in a suitable way and amount. The overuse may cause depression, anxiety, decreasing sociality and fullfilling the spare moments of time with something unnatural. The virtual identities modify life complicated and tricky even though communication has become more easy. In turn wisdom, knowledge and awareness could be spread via internet which is considered almost as an human right by interviewees. It is clear that the availability of WiFi connections increases the usage of IT, mainly smartphones during the travel.