The digital "dimmer switch"

The digital divide is less binary, but rather more like a "digital dimmer switch," according to the Pew Center. Recently, the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet & American Life Project teamed up to produce a study on Latino internet use. The study found that non-Hispanic whites have a 71% internet participation rate, while Latino adults are hovering around a 56% participation rate. While the numbers tell one story, the study also found the internet-usage gap between whites and Latinos to be closing.

The digital divide means more than simply access to the internet, which is why Pew associate director Susannah Fox compared it to a "dimmer switch." Participation on the internet ranges anywhere from emailing to more technologically advanced activities such as creating and uploading videos. Latinos and African Americans fall right in the middle of this spectrum--with many still using slow, dial-up connections to search the web or email. Few use it to create new content.

What still eludes many, however, is the full, interactive Internet experience. For less-affluent minorities, particularly Latinos, the Web is still very much stuck at 1.0. Only 29% of Hispanics have home broadband connections, compared with 43% of whites and 31% of African Americans.

Internet use is influence in large part by education and wealth, but there are cultural differences at play as well.  Closing this gapy will require a well-crafted national high speed access policy.

Pew Study: Latinos Online
America’s Digital Divide Narrows (Business Week)