Inequalities in Breadth of Internet Access and Use Predict Local Social Capital: Digital Divides in Detroit

• In Event: 2264 - Internet and Society: Hate, Inequality, and the Digital Divide

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between mode of Internet access, variety of online activities, and the potential for the Internet to contribute to residents’ social capital in distressed urban communities. Based on a sample of 525 telephone surveys in Detroit, Michigan, we find that breadth of access predicts participation in a larger variety of online activities, and larger variety of online activities is associated with higher levels of local social capital. These findings have implications for efforts addressing social and digital inequalities in cities. In the context of extreme disadvantage, efforts to enhance local social infrastructures by providing better Internet access are best served when multiple points of access are available and accessible. Our findings highlight the potential problems of public policy efforts that assume equivalent social outcomes through non-equivalent modes of access, such as providing Internet access through mobile phones in place of an infrastructure for home broadband access.

Authors

• Bianca Christin Reisdorf, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Laleah Fernandez, Michigan State University

• Keith N. Hampton, Michigan State University

• Inyoung Shin, Rutgers University

• William H. Dutton, University of Oxford