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Geography of Digital Inequality

Geography of Digital Inequality

Overview

Little is known about the geography of Internet use and online participation in Britain, although there is evidence of major geographic inequalities in access and use (eg Internet use in Scotland is 20 percentage points below the East Midlands). This research will produce the first detailed geographic estimates of Internet use. Specifically it will combine the Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS) with the census and several special-purpose datasets on important metrics of Internet use and participation (eg tweets, Wikipedia articles, photo uploads).

The project will investigate the geography of several types of use. First is simple use or non-use of the Internet. There are many ways of interacting with, using, and communicating through the Internet, so the project will also examine online buying and selling, social networking, banking and finance, information and entertainment seeking, politics and communication.

The Internet is a unique medium in that it allows ordinary users to create and distribute content. The project will thus explore online content production in the form of blogs, personal websites, uploading music or videos, and others. The project will use maps of the geographic distribution of use as well as multivariate, inferential studies that predict the geographic inequalities in digital Britain.

Support

This project is supported by the ESRC.

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Key Information

Funder:
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
  • Project dates:
    June 2013 - December 2014

    All Publications

    Eynon, R. and Helsper, E. (2015) Family dynamics and Internet use in Britain: what role do children play in adults’ engagement with the Internet? Information, Communication and Society.

    Grant Blank & Darja Groselj. (2014) The dimensions of Internet use: Amount, variety and types Information, Communication & Society. 17:417-435. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2014.889189

    Grant Blank & William H. Dutton. (2014) “Next Generation Users: Changing access to the Internet” in Stine Lomborg & Anja Bechmann (eds.). The ubiquitious Internet. London: Routledge.

    Grant Blank & William H. Dutton. (2014) “Next Generation Internet users: Digital divides, choices, and inequalities” pp. 36-52 in Mark Graham & William H. Dutton (eds.). Society and the Internet: How information and social networks are changing our lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    William H. Dutton & Grant Blank. (2014) The emergence of Next Generation Internet users. International Economics and Economic Policy. 11:29-47. DOI 10.1007/s10368-013-0245-8

    Grant Blank. (2014) “No, digital natives are not clueless about protecting their privacy online”. The Conversation. 14 September 2014. [https://theconversation.com/no-digital-natives-are-not-clueless-about-protecting-their-privacy-online-31654]

    Nic Newman, William H. Dutton & Grant Blank. (2014) “Social media and the news” pp. 135-148 in Mark Graham & William H. Dutton (eds.). Society and the Internet: How information and social networks are changing our lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Reisdorf, B. C., & Groselj, D. (2014, June). For what it’s worth: digital inequalities, attitudes and a typology of internet (non-) users. In Proceedings of the 2014 ACM conference on Web science (pp. 263-264). ACM.

    Blank, G. (2013) Who produces content? Stratification and content production on the Internet. Information, Communication & Society 16: 590-612. DOI:10.1080/1369118X.2013.77775

    Blank, G. and Dutton, W.H. (2013) Next Generation Internet Users: Digital divides, choices, and inequalities. In M. Graham and W.H. Dutton (eds) Society and the Internet: How information and social networks are changing our lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Dutton, W.H. and Blank, G. (2013) The emergence of Next Generation Internet users. International Economics and Economic Policy 10. DOI 10.1007/s10368-013-0245-8.

    Dutton, W.H. and Blank, G., with Groselj, D. (2013) Cultures of the Internet: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Survey 2013. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

    Helsper, E and Eynon, R (2013) Distinct skill pathways to digital engagement. European Journal of Communication 28(6) 696-671.

    Helsper, E. J., & Reisdorf, B. C. (2013). A quantitative examination of explanations for reasons for internet nonuse. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(2), 94-99.

    Newman, N., Dutton, W.H. and Blank, G. (2013) Social media and the news. In M. Graham and W.H. Dutton (eds) Society and the Internet: How information and social networks are changing our lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Blank, G. and Dutton, W.H. (2012) The Emergence of Next Generation Internet Users. In J.Hartley, J.Burgess and A.Bruns (eds) The Blackwell Companion to New Media Dynamics. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Blank, G. and Reisdorf, B.C. (2012) The participatory web: A user perspective on Web 2.0. Information, Communication & Society.

    Newman, N., Dutton, W. H., and Blank, G. (2012) Social Media in the Changing Ecology of News: The Fourth and Fifth Estates in Britain. International Journal of Internet Science 7(1) 6-22.

    Blank, G. and Dutton, W.H. (2011) Age and Trust in the Internet: The Centrality of Experience and Attitudes Toward Technology in Britain. Social Science Computer Review. doi: 10.1177/0894439310396186

    Brooks, B., Welser, H.T., Hogan, B. and Titsworth, S. (2011) Socioeconomic Status Updates: College Students, Family SES, and Emergent Social Capital in Facebook Networks. Information, Communication & Society 14 (4) 529-549.

    Dutton, W.H. and Blank, G. (2011) Next Generation Users: The Internet in Britain 2011. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

    Eynon, R. and Helsper, E. (2011) Adults Learning Online: Digital Choice and/or Digital Exclusion? New Media and Society 13 (4) 534-551.

    Eynon, R. and Helsper, E. (2011) Understanding the relationship between family dynamics and Internet use. iCS-OII 2011 symposium, ‘A Decade in Internet Time,’ September 2011, Oxford, UK.

    Newman, N., Dutton, W.H. and Blank, G. (2011) Social media in the changing ecology of news production and consumption: The case in Britain. Presented at the International Communication Association (ICA) Conference 2011.

    Reisdorf, B. (2011) Non-adoption of the Internet in Great Britain and Sweden: A cross-national comparison. Information, Communication & Society 14 (3) 400-420.

    Dutton, W.H., Helsper, E.J. and Gerber, M.M. (2009) Oxford Internet Survey 2009 Report: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

    Helsper, E.J. and Galacz, A. (2009) The links between digital engagement and social inclusion in Europe. In: A.Cheong and G.Cardoso (eds) World Wide Internet: Changing Societies, Economies and Cultures.

    Dutton, W.H., Helsper, E.J., Whitty, M.T., Buckwalter, G. and Lee, E. (2008) Mate Selection in the Network Society: The Role of the Internet in Reconfiguring Marriages in Australia, the United Kingdom and United States.

    Helsper, E. (2008) Internet Use and Opinion Formation in Countries with Different ICT Contexts. Observatorio 6: 121-149.

    Helsper, E. (2008) Perceptions of Security and Risks on the Internet: Experience and Learned Levels of Trust. IT Security in Practice Conference, Aarhus University, 24 January 2008.

    Helsper, E. (2008) Researching Trends in Internet Use. Information Systems Research Forum, London School of Economics, 12 February 2008.

    Helsper, E.J. (2008) Digital Inclusion: An Analysis of Social Disadvantage and the Information Society. Department for Communities and Local Government.

    Helsper, E.J. (2008) Digital Literacy: Different Cultures Different Understandings. November, International Digital Literacy Conference, Brunel University, UK.

    Helsper, E.J. (2008) Gendered Internet Use across Generations and Life Stages in the UK. AOIR Conference, Copenhagen, October 2008.

    Helsper, E.J. (2008) Trust and the Internet: Experience technology or certainty trough models? ECREA Conference, Barcelona, November 2008.

    Helsper, E.J., Dutton, W. and Gerber, M. (2008) To Be a Network Society: A Cross-National Perspective on the Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Institute Research Report No. 17, University of Oxford.

    Dutton, W.H. (2007) Reaching a digital plateau? The continuing diffusion of the Internet in Britain. National Digital Inclusion Conference 2007 — Transforming Technology, Empowering People, London, 24 April 2007.

    Dutton, W.H. and Helsper, E.J. (2007) Oxford Internet Survey 2007 Report: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

    Dutton, W.H., Shepherd, A. and di Gennaro, C. (2007) Digital Divides and Choices Reconfiguring Access. National and cross-national patterns of Internet diffusion and use. In: B.Anderson, M.Brynin, J.Gershuny and Y.Raban (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Society. E-Living in a digital Europe. London: Routledge, pp. 31-45.

    Helsper, E. (2007) Social Exclusion and Digital Disengagement: Issues of Policy, Theory and Measurement. The Links between Digital Disengagement and Social Exclusion, OxIS workshop, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 4 October 2007.

    McKinnon, E. (2007) The Links between Digital Disengagement and Social Exclusion: Policy Perspectives. The Links between Digital Disengagement and Social Exclusion, OxIS workshop, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 4 October 2007.

    di Gennaro, C. and Dutton, W.H. (2006) The Internet and the Public: Online and Offline Political Participation in the United Kingdom. Parliamentary Affairs 59 (2) 299-313.

    Dutton, W. (2006) Internet Generations. Presented at OII Research and Policy Workshop, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 27 March 2006.

    Dutton, W.H. and Liff, S. (2006) The Next Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS) 2007: Emerging Themes of Social Research. Presented at ‘The Next Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS)’, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 24 November 2006.

    Dutton, W.H. and Shepherd, A. (2006) Trust in the Internet as an experience technology. Information, Communication & Society 9 (4) 433-451.

    Margetts, H. (2006) E-Government in Britain—A Decade On. Parliamentary Affairs 59 (2) 250-265.

    Margetts, H. and Eynon, R. (2006) Oxford Internet Survey (OXIS) New directions, new questions. Presented at ‘The Next Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS)’, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 24 November 2006.

    Dutton, W.H. and di Gennaro, C. (2005) Digital Inclusion: the 2005 Oxford Internet Survey. Whose Responsibility is Digital Inclusion?, OII-ippr workshop, London, 11 April 2005.

    Dutton, W.H. and di Gennaro, C. (2005) The Internet in Britain: the Oxford Internet Survey 2005. The Internet in Britain: the Oxford Internet Survey 2005, Oxford Internet Institute OxIS Workshop, London, 20 May 2005.

    Dutton, W.H., di Gennaro, C. and Millwood Hargrave, A. (2005) Oxford Internet Survey 2005 Report: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

    Dutton, W.H., Guerra, G.A., Zizzo, D.J. and Peltu, M. (2005) The cyber trust tension in E-government: Balancing identity, privacy, security. Information Polity 10 (1-2) 13-23.

    Liff, S., Marsden, C., Wajcman, J., Rice, R.E. and Hargittai, E. (2005) An evolving gender digital divide? Oxford Internet Institute Internet Issue Brief No. 2, University of Oxford.

    Margetts, H. (2005) The structure of e-government. Conference of the Communications Research Network, Cambridge-MIT Institute, Cambridge, 29 June-1 July 2005.

    Dutton, W.H. (2004) Social transformation in an information society: rethinking access to you and the world. UNESCO Publications for the World Summit on the Information Society.

    Dutton, W.H., Gillett, S.E., McKnight, L.W. and Peltu, M. (2004) Bridging broadband Internet divides: reconfiguring access to enhance communicative power. Journal of Information Technology 19 (1) 28-38.

    Dutton, W.H. and Shepherd, A. (2003) Trust in the Internet: the social dynamics of an experience technology. Oxford Internet Institute Research Report No. 3, University of Oxford.

    Dutton, W.H., Rose, R. and Shepherd, A. (2003) How much is enough for the Internet? Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.