Internet Cafe Photo Essay

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PHOTO ESSAY:Internet cafes in Braamfontein

Johannesburg SA

JUNE 2006

By jh-01 and Tegan Bristow

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Intention, process, experience

There a re 4 .7 million Interne t users in South Africa (1). Tha ts roughly10% of the tota l population. This photo es say was a look into the us eof the Interne t in spa ces other than the home or office. It is unclea rwhether these users have been included or considered in the currentavailable sta tistics.

The Living Standards Measure, the most used market research tool inSouthern Africa, cuts a cross race and other outmode d techniquesof categorising people, and instead groups pe ople according to theirliving standa rds using criteria such a s de gree of urbanisation and

ownership of cars and major appliances. (2) The majority of targetedInterne t ba sed ma rketing tends to focus on customers within LSMs6 8 (eight being highes t, one, the lowes t)

At an indus try level people a t the lower LSM levels do not me an ingfulente r conversa tions a round Internet use or Web ba sed busines s. Thisphoto essay begins an exploration into such users and spaces ofconnectivity.

THE PROCESS

There are 15 Internet cafs situated in a two block radius withinBraamfontein (along Juta street, Biccard, De Korte, Simmonds, Jorrisonand Stiemens street ) an area that sits adjacent to the CBD ofJohanne sburg. Braamfontein is a thoroughfare for many people whocommute in from the South Weste rn Townsh ip (SOWETO) into the cityand surrounding suburbs.

Although there are many Interne t cafs in an d around Johannes burgour plan was to spend a n a fternoon simply photographing this particulararea because it is such a hub. Such spaces have received little attentionso beyond the photographic documentation we had no otherexpectations or research plans.

THE EXPERIENCE

Reflecting on the photographs we took there are four main themesthat emerged: exteriors, interiors, proximity and signage.

While taking the photographs permission from shop owners wasrequired and thus a good dea l of conversa tion eme rged. In additionwhile walking from shop to shop cus tomers from the cafs approache dus to make conversation. None of these conversations were documented.

Not all the cafs have bee n documented here. In some case s we werenot granted permission and some of the photographs have beenomitted due to poor quality or repetition.

(1 ) The World Wide Worx 2006 .(2) The South African Research Foundation 2006.

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It is clea r from the s ignage tha t in many cases Interne t caf is a

misleading term as the shops offer multiple services and products andmay even have sta rted out offering other services (for insta nce, a s aha ir dres sing sa lon or video / DVD shop).

There is a strong empha sis on bus ines s use. Multiple Internet a ndsoftware bas ed se rvices are offered (word process ing, ema iling, Webbrowsing, business cards, etc). Signage often speaks to specific needsrather than te chnology service. For insta nce, CVs as a pposed toword proces sing.

Secreta rial se rvices and the te aching of software skills are offered

hinting at the nee d for services but a lack of either skills or res ources.

The great number of shops offering these se rvices in such closeproximity has lowered the cost of Internet access (they all charge R5an hour) which, we were told, is che ape r than the acce ss offered inSOWETO itself (R20 an hour on average in SOWETO according to oneshop owner).

The great numbe r of cafs is in and of itself surprising and clearly hintsat the dema nd for access . Although no figures are available the shopsexperience much traffic and ha ve ma ny repea t customers a ccordingto the owners.

In the Braamfontein a rea some shop owners referred to h igh numbersof students using their computers. Braamfontein sits between WITSUnivers ity and the Univers ity of Johannes burg Technical Campus esand other city base d campuses .

An Interne t caf customer who we s poke with rema rked that most

people living in the townships knew of the Internet a nd understoodwhat it was.

We have note d large numbers of foreign African Nationals us ing thesespa ces . It is possible tha t busines s is being conducted or family andfriends contacted e lsewhere in Africa.

Although there a re Internet cafs in higher income areas there isnothing on this s cale of conce ntration tha t we know of. In lower incomesuburbs which a re be coming more integrate d with pe ople moving infrom the townships we see this proliferation of Internet cafs, for

instance along Rocky Street in Yeoville a nd along Louis Botha Avenue(from Orange Grove moving Northwards).

Outcomes

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Clearly there is both a great de mand and use for and of computersoftware and Interne t based se rvices in this context. The geographic

moveme nt of people be ing followed by the eme rgence of Interne t cafsalso points to some form of supply and dema nd relationship.

Broadly speaking there is a n emphas is in a nswering very specific needs ,often with a business focus. The signage indicates tha t thes e s ervicesare marketed as relevant through a nswering very specific ne eds , oftenwith a busines s or vocational focus. Multiple nee ds a re addres sed inone location.

We a re led to believe tha t there is an understa nding of the Internet orWeb. This certainly needs to be validated but from what we have seen,even at this level of investigation, there may well be a large body ofpeople who are keen and ready for the uptake of Web ba sed services.

It would be interesting to know how different this nomadic or communaluse r is from the, ma rginally, better docume nted home or busines s user.

Is their idea of the Internet and World Wide Web the same?Is its purpose a nd potential understood the same way?When and why are people drawn to use these services?Of the broad mas s without acces s to compute rs or Interne t which

people a re quickes t to approach or find the mea ns? Who is on theperiphery?What is being used in the way of software and what is browsed on theWeb?Where is data stored and how (if at all) is it stored?What is the us ers relationship to the ca f? Do people tend to choose

and re turn to a particular caf?What is the perspe ctive of the ca f owners, their relationship to their

customers and what do they see?Where else other tha n Internet ca fs a re people without access gettingconnected?Is there any more insight to be gained from the movement of individualsand families geographically and the way Internet Cafs are tending tofollow this movement?

What we are se eing in Johannes burg is very interes ting and largelyunexplored. It could be valuable to know if what we se e here occursin other cities in South Africa a nd in developing countries elsewherein Africa and a round the world.

Understanding the motivations, style and context of use could help usin many ways

+ It could expand our notion of potential audiences+ It could increase use through targeting these audiences through

marketing for the uptake of services+ We ma y be a ble to design applications be tter suited to these

environments+ We could design content & functionality that ans wers use rs ne eds

in these environments more e ffectively+ We could use the environments thems elves more e ffectively tocommunicate Web base d s ervices and understandings

+ If there are similarities betwee n other cities and locations world widethe benefits of insights, tools and approaches could be shared

Conclusion

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Internet Cafe Photo Essay