Benefits and Harms from Internet Use: A differentiated analysis of the United Kingdom

• In Event: 579 - Section on Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Personal

Abstract

Recent studies have enhanced our understanding of digital divides by investigating outcomes of Internet use. We follow up on this research and analyse positive and negative outcomes of Internet use in the United Kingdom. We apply structural equation modelling for a large Internet survey in order to compare the social structuration of Internet benefits with the harms. We find that highly educated users users benefit most from using the web. Elderly individuals benefit more than younger ones. Next to demographic characteristics, technology attitudes are predictors of online benefits. The harms from using the Internet are structured differently, with educated users and those with high levels of privacy concerns being most susceptible to harm. This runs counter to intuitions from digital divide research, where those at the margins should be most at risk. While previous research on digital inequality has only looked at benefits, the inclusion of harms draws a more differentiated picture, suggesting that positive and negative outcomes are linked rather than mutually exclusive.

Authors

• Grant Blank, University of Oxford

• Christoph Lutz, BI Norwegian Business School