A Brief Exploration of the Development of Internet Use for Communication among Undergraduate Students

摘要

This study examined the growth in e-mail, MSN, and chatroom uses longitudinally amongn280 Taiwanese college students. Data were collected at five points in time over a two-andhalf-nyear period. Little change in the mean level of e-mail use was observed, while MSNnshowed an inverse U-shaped development. The use of chatroom seemed to decrease slightlynover time. Almost all autocorrelations for three mediums were statistically significant. Asnmoderate to low correlations were found among e-mail, MSN, and chatroom uses, future researchnshould explore which factors may affect the growth of these three mediums.