The Digital Capabilities Divide
from the put-some-numbers-out-there dept
With all the talk of the "digital divide" a researcher has done a study looking at the digital divide in terms of internet capabilities. There are plenty of reasons that you could find fault with the study (small sample size, all respondents from a similar region, the tasks don't really show internet skills, etc.) but it is still interesting reading. Though, in the end, none of the findings are particularly surprising. Younger people are better and faster at using the internet than older people. Better educated people (with the exception of those who are still in school) seem to be better internet users than less educated (though, the numbers are a little odd here). And, finally, the longer you've been online/the more you use the internet the more likely you are to be faster and better at looking up info online.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
