ABSTRACT
Researchers, policy experts, and social activists employ the term digital divide to speak about an important concern-that new information and communication technologies (IT), particularly the Internet, might exacerbate existing social inequalities. Ultimately, the digital divide is the inequalities created by new information technologies. Because directly measuring such inequalities would be very challenging, research has generally focused on factors that inhibit the use of the Internet and thereby disadvantage various social groups. Digital divide research generally focuses on three broad factors: access, skill, and motivation. While access constitutes the chief focus of much research, skill and motivation are increasingly seen as a “second-level” digital divide that can disadvantage some groups even if they have access.
