Paper Title
Generation Gap in Users’ Perceptions of Communication in an Electronic Newspaper

Abstract
- Recently, the number of college students in Japan who read the newspaper has been decreasing even though thenumber of young people who access online news through major research engines has been increasing. Regarding the use ofnewspapers in the field of education, research on the use of electronic newspapers is necessary to adapt to the present situation. This paper examinesthe generation gap inusers’ perceptionof communication in a community-based electronic newspaper. An online questionnaire survey was conducted for readers of Kahoku Shimpō, which focuses a regional community in the area of Tohoku in Japan. Results showed that there are certain differences between generations in their perceptions regarding an electronic newspaper such as reading it, evaluating, and sharing articles with others. Index Terms - Community, Electronic Newspapers, Perception, Questionnaire survey, Share