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Internet as Digital Practice: Examining Differences in African American Internet Usage

Author

Listed:
  • Roderick Graham

    (Department of Sociology, Rhode Island College, 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI 02908, USA)

  • Danielle Taana Smith

    (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Rochester Institute of Technology, 18 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA)

Abstract

This study assesses differences within the African American population with respect to internet activity. Using survey data, we find wide variations within the population. While some segments of African Americans are indeed less likely to perform certain activities on the internet, we note that certain segments of the African American population are reporting more internet activity than other racial groups. These ‘haves’ score high not just in comparison to their African American peers, but to the US American population as a whole. We suggest a move away from the digital divide/digital inequality models and a move towards thinking of greater or lesser Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage as conditioned by the instrumental needs of population groups. We term this a digital practice model.

Suggested Citation

  • Roderick Graham & Danielle Taana Smith, 2011. "Internet as Digital Practice: Examining Differences in African American Internet Usage," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:3:y:2011:i:3:p:185-203:d:13248
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Ernest J. Wilson III, 2004. "The Information Revolution and Developing Countries," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262232308, April.
    3. Vivian Cothey, 2002. "A longitudinal study of World Wide Web users' information‐searching behavior," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 53(2), pages 67-78.
    4. David Weerts & Justin Ronca, 2009. "Using classification trees to predict alumni giving for higher education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 95-122.
    5. Leslie Haddon, 2006. "The contribution of domestication research to in-home computing and media consumption," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62631, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Garofalo, R. & Herrick, A. & Mustanski, B.S. & Donenberg, G.R., 2007. "Tip of the iceberg: Young men who have sex with men, the internet, and HIV risk," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(6), pages 1113-1117.
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    Cited by:

    1. Danielle Taana Smith, 2013. "African Americans and Network Disadvantage: Enhancing Social Capital through Participation on Social Networking Sites," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, March.

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