Chapter 3: Not All Young People “Use” the Internet: Exploring the Experiences of Ex-Use Amongst Young People in Britain

Despite the rhetoric about ‘digital youth’ a great deal of research has highlighted how young people vary significantly in the ways that they engage with the Internet. A rarely explored group is those young people who hardly use the Internet at all. Yet, they are an important focus of attention, particularly as many services and support for young people are often digital by default. Through in-depth interviews with 22 young people this chapter explores the experiences of young people who consider themselves “ex-users” of the Internet. Through the analysis we identify two groups of young people in this category: young people who used to be Internet users, but no longer feel they are Internet users; and those who had never really felt like Internet users in the first place. We conclude by highlighting the continuing challenges of measuring ‘use’ of the Internet and the potential policy and practice implications for this group of young people and for global leaders.