An Emerging Internet Underclass?: A Critique of Mobile Internet Access

• In Event: Assessing Internet Access: Content, Connection, and Speed

Abstract

This paper provides a critical comparative analysis of mobile versus PC-based forms of Internet access. Drawing from an inter-disciplinary body of literature, this paper illustrates a wide range of ways in which mobile Internet access offers lower levels of functionality and content availability; operates on less open and flexible platforms; and contributes to diminished levels of user engagement, content creation, and information-seeking. At a time when a growing proportion of the online population is “mobile only,” a ramification of these disparities is the emergence of what is termed here an emerging Internet underclass. The implications of this argument for digital divide policymaking and, more broadly, for the evolutionary trajectory of the Internet and the dynamics of Internet usage are discussed.

Authors

• Philip M. Napoli, Rutgers University

• Jonathan Obar, Michigan State University