New Book Explores Internet Use and Society

Newswise — Low levels of Internet use among minorities and the poor will limit their earning ability and participation in society if public policy does not promote technological access and skills, according to a new book co-authored by a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation" (MIT Press, 2007) addresses three ways in which citizens participate in society online: pursuit of economic opportunity, participation in politics and government, and use of prevailing means of communication.

"Internet use at work increases wages by $118 a week on average, with less educated and minority workers benefiting most," said lead author Karen Mossberger, UIC associate professor of public administration. "Even workers with a high school education or less earn $111 more per week for Internet use, so this is a nearly across-the-board bonus.

"For males with no college education, this translates into a wage premium of 18 percent for African Americans, 17 percent for Latinos, and a little less than 15 percent for whites."

Internet use correlates with voting and other political participation, especially among the young, the book says. Political discussion in chat rooms and mobilization through e-mail were found to raise the probability of voting as much as 39 percent in a presidential election. For those who also read newspapers and watch television for political news, online activities increase the likelihood of voting by 20 percent.

Significant segments of the population are still excluded from digital citizenship, Mossberger said. She defines digital citizens as those who are online daily, because others are more likely to have neither regular access nor the skills to find and use online information.

"Thirty percent of Americans do not use the Internet at all, and just under half are online daily," Mossberger said. "Age, race and ethnicity still define disparities in Internet use, and there are persistent gaps even among those who are under 30 years old."

The researchers analyzed national survey data, including census data, from 2000 through 2005 to understand patterns of technology use and the effects of those patterns, classified by age, race, ethnicity, income and education.

Mossberger's co-authors are Caroline Tolbert, associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa, and Ramona McNeal, visiting assistant professor of political studies at the University of Northern Iowa.

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.

For more information about UIC, please visit http://www.uic.edu.