ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors review what they know about inequality in access to and use of new digital technologies. They argue that a more thorough understanding of digital inequality requires placing Internet access in broader theoretical context and asking a wider range of questions about the impact of information technologies and informational goods on social inequality. How does inequality in the adequacy of hardware, software, and connections limit the ways in which different kinds of users can employ the Internet? The most notable conclusion is that students of social inequality have paid very little attention to changes in communication technology. Social scientists and policymakers began worrying about inequality in Internet access as early as 1995, when just 3 percent of Americans had ever used the World Wide Web. Evidence that users from more privileged backgrounds are more likely to use the Internet to get ahead and equip themselves to participate in community affairs or politics is beginning to accumulate.
