This quote amazes me “When income and education are taken out of the equation, white people still are more likely than black people to have high-speed internet at home, by a factor of 10 percentage points. The gap between white and Hispanic homes is higher still -- at 14 percentage points.” (Sutter)
While I think it is funny that this is even studied, it is interesting. I was amazed that there are people who still do not have access to the internet. While the percentages don’t look like much, I thought about them compared to unemployment, and then I realized the real numbers were huge. Whites are more likely to have the internet than Blacks and Hispanics by a combined 24%. To me this is astonishing, yet it makes me wonder are White people wasting time on the internet, or are Blacks and Hispanics out of a lot of loops because they do not have access to the internet.
I think these two quotes are not surprising, because they reflect how men and women act in the world without the internet.
“Men reach farther and wider for topics, from getting financial information to political news. Along the way, they work search engines more aggressively, using engines more often and with more confidence than women.” (Fallows)
“Women tend to treat information gathering online as a more textured and interactive process – one that includes gathering and exchanging information through support groups and personal email exchanges.” (Fallows)
I thought this video was interesting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XyWTGepCHo while it isn't specific to any area, it does have statistics about the internet, and how much and how fast it has grown.
Works Cited
Fallows, Deborah. How Women and Men Use the Internet. 28 December 2005. 17 November 2010 <http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2005/How-Women-and-Men-Use-the-Internet.aspx>.
Sutter, John D. Report: Racial inequalities persist online. 8 November 2010. 17 November 2010 <http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/11/08/broadband.digital.divide/index.html>.
2 comments:
I know your post talks about race and gender, but your second sentence in your second paragraph struck a chord with me. You said, "I was amazed that there are people who still do not have access to the Internet." One of my friends does not own a computer. Subsequently, she does not have Internet. She is a white woman in her sixties. The few times she has wanted to use a computer, specifically to job hunt, she goes to her local library.
I have another friend, a white male in his late fifties, who has Internet access for his home computer. However, he has yet to venture into the world of digital Internet. He still uses dial-up!
Since both are older adults, age seems to be a common denominator. Both of these friends have admitted that they are scared to upgrade. Mainly it is because they don’t understand the technology. Both have considered buying a new computer; however, they have no idea what RAM is or how much memory they need. And they are afraid a salesperson will take advantage of their ignorance so they will end up spending a lot of money on features they don’t need. Consequently, these two friends of mine have decided to leave well enough alone and stick with their current situations.
Posted by Ande Gibbs
I really enjoyed your video, and I read the same study you mentioned about gender issues and the internet. It seem that the internet has a lot to offer in terms of reaching consumers. That strikes me as kind of funny, because I don't shop much on the internet, and I'm never compelled to buy items from email marketing. It's not because I'm intimidated by digital shopping, but I really like the tactile experience of holding, toughing and immediately taking home a purchase. Old school, I know, but that's who I am.
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