Digital Inequality and Its Implications for Internet Research

Tuesday, December 6, 4:00 p.m.
Speaker: Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University

Many of the questions being asked about whether or how digital media are changing our world and our lives assume universal outcomes across population segments. Many inquiries tend to take for granted that there is one overarching answer that applies to all cases. Questions such as "Does Internet use influence political participation?", "Are digital media democratizing the public sphere?", "What is the relationship between playing video games and one’s health?", "Does the Internet help people find jobs?" often disregard that the answers may not apply uniformly across different population segments. This talk will discuss disparities in people’s online practices and what challenges such digital inequality poses for Internet research more generally speaking.

Eszter Hargittai is Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Faculty Associate of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University where she heads the Web Use Project. She is also Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society where she spent the 2008-09 academic year in residence.