Indigenous internet: Nuances of native American internet use

Esther Showalter, Nicole Moghaddas, Morgan Vigil-Hayes, Ellen Zegura, Elizabeth Belding

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigate Internet traffic logs on rural Native American reservations in California served by a tribally-owned Internet provider. The anonymous user browsing traffic and device preferences create unique failure patterns that reveal where connectivity is not well-served by standard networking technology. Geographical and cultural marginalization has lead to distinctive Internet usage when connectivity is available. For instance, residents commonly visit websites that are not as popular in the wider United States; and mobile devices dominate web request traffic, often with content-heavy video and media downloads, despite sustaining a higher rate of failure than desktop devices. This statistical analysis of passive measurements avoids institutional and cultural biases and ensures continuing research will contribute to a decolonizing narrative of Native American informational practices and values. Based on our analysis, we propose follow-up research angles to better understand the technological and social drivers behind these findings in order to improve user experience in this, and similar, networks.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 10th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, ICTD 2019
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9781450361224
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 4 2019
Externally publishedYes
Event10th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, ICTD 2019 - Ahmedabad, India
Duration: Jan 4 2019Jan 7 2019

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference10th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, ICTD 2019
Country/TerritoryIndia
CityAhmedabad
Period1/4/191/7/19

Keywords

  • Indigenous networks
  • Performance evaluation
  • Traffic inspection

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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