Die aanvaarding van elektroniese pos as kommunikasiemedium deur akademici aan enkele Afrikaanse universiteite

Abstract

Electronic mail is a form of computer-mediated communication which uses computer technology to send messages from an identified sender to an identified receiver. It had been available in different forms for several years at South African universities for inexpensive local as well as overseas communication. However, it is still under-utilised. Several studies have already been done on the successful implementation and acceptance of interactive media in organisations. No such study done in South Africa could, however, be found. The problem of under-utilisation of electronic mail by academics in South Africa was addressed by the following research question: what is the effect of several variables on the acceptance of electronic mail as a communication medium at four Afrikaans universities? Academic personnel from the University of Pretoria, Rand Afrikaans University, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and the University of the Orange Free State acted as respondents. Semi-structured interviews and a mail survey were used as data collection methods. The responses of users and non-users of electronic mail were compared during the data-processing process by using variables derived from the Critical Mass Theory. The results showed that electronic mail had been accepted on a small scale. The prediction can be made that the acceptance of electronic mail will gain momentum if the negative factors (lack of information leading to wrong perceptions as well as accessibility problems) are taken care of. Certain positive factors have also been identified: resources (information, searching for and use of information, popularity as communication partners and the existence of communication discipline by the users of electronic mail) and interests (frequent local and overseas contact, frequent contact in another language as well as frequent contact when pressured for time) of respondents with regard to the use of electronic mail. Most of the non-users of electronic mail indicated that they were not entirely unfamiliar with the medium and that they did have knowlegde of other users of electronic mail at their own universities as well as at other universities. Many non-users also said that they were willing to use electronic mail if the problems mentioned above were removed.