Second-level digital divide: Mapping differences in people's online skills
E Hargittai - arXiv preprint cs/0109068, 2001 - arxiv.org
arXiv preprint cs/0109068, 2001•arxiv.org
Much of the existing approach to the digital divide suffers from an important limitation. It is
based on a binary classification of Internet use by only considering whether someone is or is
not an Internet user. To remedy this shortcoming, this project looks at the differences in
people's level of skill with respect to finding information online. Findings suggest that people
search for content in a myriad of ways and there is a large variance in how long people take
to find various types of information online. Data are collected to see how user demographics …
based on a binary classification of Internet use by only considering whether someone is or is
not an Internet user. To remedy this shortcoming, this project looks at the differences in
people's level of skill with respect to finding information online. Findings suggest that people
search for content in a myriad of ways and there is a large variance in how long people take
to find various types of information online. Data are collected to see how user demographics …
Much of the existing approach to the digital divide suffers from an important limitation. It is based on a binary classification of Internet use by only considering whether someone is or is not an Internet user. To remedy this shortcoming, this project looks at the differences in people's level of skill with respect to finding information online. Findings suggest that people search for content in a myriad of ways and there is a large variance in how long people take to find various types of information online. Data are collected to see how user demographics, users' social support networks, people's experience with the medium, and their autonomy of use influence their level of user sophistication.
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