Some time ago, Gibbs wrote about the Digital Divide--the gap between Black and White use of the Internet and computers. The latest report is that the divide has shrunken considerably in the last two years.
During that time, the use of the Internet has increased by the poor and working class by 25%, while the use of the Internet by the well to do increased only 11%. In rural America, the increase in the use of the Internet has increased by 53%. Many there are going online to find items they cannot find locally.
The way the Internet is used varies by race; the Associated Press reported a study on Black Internet users. Researchers were surprised at how Blacks use the Net, as opposed to how Whites use it.
The study found Blacks are still lagging in their use of the Net compared to Whites, but Black sophistication of purpose is greater than that of Whites.
Black homes and Blacks connected to the Net are more likely than Whites to appreciate the Net's value as an information tool. Forty-five percent of Black Americans with online access say that the Internet is useful for getting health care information, compared with 35 percent of White Internet users, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found in a study.
The report also found that Blacks were more likely than Whites to use the Internet to find information on religion, jobs, and housing. "I'm really struck by the degree to which African-American Internet users have looked to the Internet for economic advancement and lifestyle improvement,'' said Lee Rainie, the study's director.
The Associated Press reported this study. To read more, you may be able to go to their Web site--www.ap.org/pages/indnews/. []
