New Media & Society· 2018Q1
The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access
- 1,091citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2018year
Short summary
The first-level digital divide persists in wealthy nations, shifting from physical access to material access, encompassing devices, peripherals, and ongoing costs.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- The digital divide is shifting from physical access to material access in wealthy nations.
- Material access includes diversity in devices, peripherals, and device-related opportunities.
- Ongoing expenses for hardware, software, and subscriptions contribute to the divide.
- These material inequalities impact internet skills, uses, and outcomes.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
For a long time, a common opinion among policy-makers was that the digital divide problem would be solved when a country's Internet connection rate reaches saturation. However, scholars of the second-level digital divide have concluded that the divides in Internet skills and type of use continue to expand even after physical access is universal. This study-based on an online survey among a representative sample of the Dutch population-indicates that the first-level digital divide remains a problem in one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world. By extending basic physical access combined with material access, the study finds that a diversity in access to devices and peripherals, device-related opportunities, and the ongoing expenses required to maintain the hardware, software, and subscriptions affect existing inequalities related to Internet skills, uses, and outcomes.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. New Media & Society, 2018 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Media Technology
Media TechnologyEngineering