Eszter Hargittai, "The Implications of Digital Inequality for Internet Research"

Digital Inequality and its Implications
for Internet Research
f h
Eszter Hargittai
Eszter Hargittai
Associate Professor, Communication Studies Department
Faculty Associate, Institute for Policy Research
Faculty Associate, Science in Human Culture
Faculty Associate Science in Human Culture
Affiliated Faculty, Sociology Department
Northwestern University
&
Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Harvard University

www.eszter.com
t
@eszter
Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University

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Overall Framework

$ Context

Socio‐
Economic
Status Technical Social

Skill
Types of uses
T f

Overall Framework

Productivity $ Context
Job Performance
Creative
Output
p Academic
Socio‐ Achievement
General Economic
Well‐Being
g Political
Status Technical Social
Participation
i i i

? Skill
Types of uses
T f

Central Research Question:
Who benefits most
Who benefits most
from their digital media uses?
Social Mobility vs Social Reproduction

Do digital media reduce or contribute to social inequality?

Mere connectivity Effective, efficient uses

Who benefits most

Human capital Financial capital

?
Social capital Cultural capital


The relationship between socioeconomic
status (SES) and Internet uses
status (SES) and Internet uses
Info seeking for news,
SES =
SES =
finance, health
Based on the following national samples:
Germany 2004 (Zillien & Hargittai 2008)
Switzerland 1999, 2000 (Bonfadelli 2002)
United Kingdom 2001, 2002 (Anderson 2008)
United Kingdom 2001 2002 (Anderson 2008)
United Kingdom 2003, 2005, 2007 (Eynon 2009)
United States 2000‐2004 (Buente & Robbins 2008)
United States 2004 (Hargittai & Hinnant 2008)
United States 2005 (Hale et al., 2010)
For review, see: H
F i Hargittai, E & H i h Y P (F th
itt i E. Hsieh, Y.P. (Forthcoming). Di it l I
i ) Digital Inequality.
lit
In Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies. Edited by William H. Dutton. Oxford,
UK: Oxford University Press.

Domains of skill
• Awareness and understanding
• Efficient information seeking
• Credibility assessment
Credibility assessment
• Knowledge of privacy, security issues Skill
• Participation – joining communities
– contributing content
ib i


Data?


Data:
Observations of search and information seeking
Observations of search and information seeking
100 randomly sampled adults
Mercer County, NJ, 2001 2002
Mercer County NJ 2001‐2002

Political info
Health info
Job search
Job search
Tax forms
Tax forms
Gov’t documents
Local cultural events

Hargittai, E. (2002) First Monday
Hargittai, E. (2003) IT & Society
Hargittai,
H itt i E.
E (2003) Society Online
S i t O li
Hargittai, E. (2004) First Monday
Hargittai, E. (2006) Journal of the Association of Information Systems
Hargittai, E. (2007) Media Diversity and Localism: Meaning and Metrics
Hargittai, E. (2008) The Hyperlinked Society

Measures of actual skill; survey instruments

Measuring awareness & understanding
How familiar are you with the
following computer and
Internet-related items?
Please choose a number between
1 and 5 where 1 represents “no
a d e e ep ese ts o
understanding” and 5
represents “full
understanding” of the item
item.

For methodological details see:
details,
* Hargittai, E. (2005). Survey Measures of Web-Oriented Digital Literacy.
Social Science Computer Review, 23(3):371-379.
* Hargittai, E. (2009). An Update on Survey Measures of Web-Oriented Digital
Literacy. Social Science Computer Review. 27(1):130-137.
* Hargittai, E. & Hsieh, Y.P. (2012). Succinct Measures of Web-Use Skills.
Social Science Computer Review. 30(1):95-107.

Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University http://webuse.org/pubs/

For details, see:
* Hargittai, E. & Hsieh, Y.P. (2012). Succinct Measures of Web-Use Skills.
Social Science Computer Review.
* Hargittai, E. (2009). An Update on Survey Measures of Web-Oriented Digital
Literacy. Social Science Computer Review. 27(1):130-137.
* Hargittai, E. (2005). Survey Measures of Web-Oriented Digital Literacy.
Social Science Computer Review, 23(3):371-379.

Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University http://webuse.org/pubs/

Surveys

US Map f
from Wikipedia
iki di


Why the Average temperature:
Feb: 28.2°F Mar: 39.6°F
University of Illinois, Chicago?
University of Illinois Chicago?


Data & Methods
• Students enrolled in the one
Students enrolled in the one
required course on campus
(First‐Year Writing Program)
• Paper/pencil survey
Wave 1 Wave 2
 February‐April, 2009  April‐July, 2010
 1,115 first‐years  505
 80.5% response rate  45% response rate
( g g)
Wave 3 (ongoing)
July‐August, 2012
 504+
 50%+ response rate

Data & Methods

Wave 3 (ongoing)
( g g)
July‐August, 2012
 504+
 50%+ response rate

Data & Methods

The purpose of this question
is to assess your
attentiveness to question
wording. For this question
please mark the “Very
often” response.
Never Wave 3 (ongoing)
( g g)
Rarely July‐August, 2012
 Sometimes  504+
Often
Very Often  50%+ response rate

Sample descriptives (2009)
99% 18‐19 years old
41% male; 59% female
41% male; 59% female
47% neither parent has a
college degree
college degree

Race & ethnicity:
White 41%
Asian/Asian American 22%
Hispanic 24%
Black/African American 11%
American Indian/Alaskan Native
i di / l k i .5%
%


The Wired Generation
(2009)
 100% either own or have easy access to a laptop or
desktop
 98% have access to the Internet at home
 95% had access to the Internet at home during
95% had access to the Internet at home during
senior year in high school
 70% t t d i th I t
70% started using the Internet regularly in middle
t l l i iddl
school or earlier
 O
On average, spend 17 hours on the Web weekly
d h h b kl
(excluding email, chat and VoIP)

 87% h k
87% check email daily (the majority check several
il d il (th j it h k l
times a day)

Basic Internet‐related terms
Range: 14‐65
R 14 65
Mean: 47
St.dev.: 10


34% could not identify the correct
description of bcc functionality on a
multiple‐choice question (UIC 10)
multiple‐choice question (UIC ‘10)


Web 2.0‐related terms
Range: 14 65
R 14-65
Range: 14‐70
Mean: 47
Mean: 37
St.dev.: 10
St.dev.: 13
St dev : 13


Relationship of skill & gender


Relationship of skill & race/ethnicity


Relationship of skill & socioeconomic status

4.10
4 10

2.73

Low High
Socioeconomic status
S i i t t


How about skill differences nationally?

? 4.10
?
2.73

?
?
US Map from Wikipedia


Explaining skill differences nationally
(2009)

?
Income
Education Skill
Age (=<50)

Data source: Federal Communications
Commission broadband survey


(2009)

Income +
+
Education Skill
Age (=<50) x

Data source: Federal Communications
Commission broadband survey


Is adoption of services
random?


Use of Facebook vs MySpace
by Race/Ethnicity, 2007

Hargittai, E
Hargittai E. (2007) Whose Space? Differences among Users and Non Users of Social
Non-Users
Network Sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 13(1).276-297.
http://webuse.org/p/a21


Use of Facebook vs MySpace
by Race/Ethnicity, 2009

Hargittai, E. (2011). Open Doors, Closed Spaces? Differentiated Adoption of Social
Network Sites by User Background. In Race After the Internet. Edited by Peter Chow-
White and Lisa Nakamura. Routledge.


Data more representative than may first appear


The Wired Generation
.. but not in every way
UIC ‘09 = 4% UIC ‘10 = 18%


Who uses Twitter?

Hargittai, E. & Litt, E. (2011). The Tweet Smell of Celebrity Success:
Explaining Twitter Adoption among a Diverse Group of Young Adults New
Adults.
Media & Society. 13(5):824-842.
http://webuse.org/p/a36

Who uses Twitter?
( g
(longitudinal data 2009‐2010)
)
African American
Texting often
Web access on cell phone
Internet skill in 2009
Interest in entertainment/
celebrity news in 2009
.. local/national news
.. international news + + +
.. politics
Twitter use in 2010

August, 2011

August, 2010

Is there a participation gap?


Online Engagement (ever)
In percentages Men Women

… created a quiz or poll for people
to take online 38 38 37
… uploaded a video to a video
sharing site (such as YouTube) 49 57 44
… voted on the quality of content
available on sites where users can
rate content (such as YouTube or
49 64 38
Digg)

… submitted a review about a
product or service (on sites such
as Amazon or Yelp)
p)
34 47 25
… changed/added information to a
Wikipedia entry 17 29 8
… changed the privacy settings of
your Facebook account 81 77 85

Online Engagement (ever) – summary
Range: 0‐5
Mean: 1.85
Mean: 1 85

No activities
N ti iti 26.0%
26 0%
1 activity 21.1%
2 activities
2 ti iti 18.7%
18 7%
3 activities 17.1%
4 activities
4 ti iti 10.3%
10 3%
5 activities 6.7%


Number of online engagement activities by gender


Number of online engagement activities by race

Range: 0‐5
Mean: 1.8
St.dev.: 1.6

***
* ***

Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University * p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001

Number of online engagement activities by
p
parental education

3.02

1.07


Number of online engagement activities by skill

Low High
g
Skill

The implications of
digital inequality
di i l i li
for Internet research
for Internet research


Data?

Log data
L d t 
A record of actions
d f
123.45.67.89 - 25/Mar/2003 10:15:32 -
http://www.google.com/search?q=politics -
Firefox 1.0.7; Windows NT 5.1 - 740674ce2123e969

Source: http://www.google.com/privacy/faq.html


Data?

Log data
L d t 
A record of actions
d f
123.45.67.89 - 25/Mar/2003 10:15:32 -
http://www.google.com/search?q=politics -
Firefox 1.0.7; Windows NT 5.1 - 740674ce2123e969

Source: http://www.google.com/privacy/faq.html


Challenges of relying on log data
• Becoming user of a service is not a random
event
• People understand and use sites/services
differently
• Site usage is likely only one of many ways in
which people engage in a particular behavior
hi h l i ti l b h i
Hargittai, E & Hsieh, Y. P. (2010). Predictors and Consequences of
Differentiated Social Network Site Uses. Information, Communication and
Society.13(4):515-536.
Puckett, C. & Hargittai, E. (Forthcoming). From Dot-Edu to Dot-Com:
Predictors of College Students’ Job and Career Information Seeking.
Sociological Focus.
Dobransky, K
Dobransky K. & Hargittai, E. (In Press). Inquiring Minds Acquiring
Hargittai E Press)
Wellness: Uses of Online and Offline Sources for Health Information.
Health Communication.

?
rticipation

ion
Higher SES
Higher SES Higher SES
Higher SES

rticipati
Political par

Political par
Lower SES
Lower SES
Lower SES

Time Time
SES = socioeconomic status

ion
rticipati
Political par

Time

The challenges of data
opportunities


Implications of differentiated uses for
research design

• Actions and opinions on a site are not
necessarily (in fact, rarely) representative of a
il (i f t l ) t ti f
broader range of Internet users
• Must be cautious when relying on online
data sources for generalizable results


Who benefits most

Skill


Why is it helpful to focus on skill?
Why is it helpful to focus on skill?

$
Skill


What are the implications of
differentiated uses?
diff i d ?


Possible outcomes

Higher SES
Higher SES
nities/Benefits

Higher SES Higher SES

Lower SES
Lower SES
Lower SES
pportun

OR? OR?
Op

Time
“SES” = “socioeconomic status”

Take‐aways
• Adoption of a service is not a random event
• People’s background relates to what they do
online
• The more privileged tend to be more skilled
• The more skilled tend to do more online
The more skilled tend to do more online
• Online voices are not representative of all
opinions
i i


Thanks to funders:

Robert and Kaye Hiatt Fund for Research
on Media, Technology, and Society
on Media Technology and Society

Thanks to students/former students:
Thanks to students/former students:


Thank you!

Questions?
Q ti ?

www.eszter.com
www eszter com
@eszter
Gplus.to/eszter
webuse.org
b

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