ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on how online activities and digital skills vary according to crucial sociological dimensions, in order to explain these in concrete terms in relation to the dynamics of social class, social status and power. It discusses the inequalities and how they are reproduced online, what social consequences they have, what patterns they follow, and what relations they have with offline inequalities. The book also focuses on the third level of digital divide, the life chances that the access to and use of information communication technologies (ICTs) might give to users/citizens in the offline realm. It also clarifies the importance of studying the phenomena of the digital divide from a sociological perspective. The book aims to investigate the extent to which new digital technologies offer new opportunities to improve people's social lives.
