Pew Research Center
Digital divide persists even as lower-income Americans make gains in tech adoption
Even as many aspects of the digital divide have narrowed over time, the digital lives of lower- and higher-income Americans remain markedly different.
In some countries, many use the internet without realizing it
What is the internet? And who is an internet user? The questions may seem straightforward, but more than a decade of research in the United States and abroad suggests that some people who use the internet may not be aware that they’re doing so. Results from recent Pew Research Center surveys in the US and 11 emerging economies show that confusion about what the internet stems from two different – but related – sources. First, many people who use smartphones are unaware that the apps and browsers on their devices involve using the internet.
Sizing Up Twitter Users
Compared with the US public overall, which voices are represented on Twitter? The analysis indicates that the 22 percent of American adults who use Twitter are representative of the broader population in certain ways, but not others. Twitter users are younger, more likely to identify as Democrats, more highly educated, and have higher incomes than US adults overall. Twitter users also differ from the broader population on some key social issues.
For many rural residents in US, local news media mostly don’t cover the area where they live
Roughly six-in-ten self-described urban residents (62%) say their local news media mainly cover the area they live in, while a majority of those who describe themselves as rural residents (57%) say the opposite is true – their local news media mostly cover some other area, a concern raised by many journalism watchers following newsroom cutbacks and media consolidation.
Share of US adults using social media, including Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018 (Pew Research Center)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Wed, 04/10/2019 - 10:21Most Americans – especially Republicans – say local journalists shouldn’t express views on local issues (Pew Research Center)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Tue, 03/26/2019 - 13:31For Local News, Americans Embrace Digital but Still Want Strong Community Connection
The digital era is making its mark on local news. Nearly as many Americans today say they prefer to get their local news online as say they prefer to do so through the television set. The 41% of Americans who say they prefer getting their local news via TV and the 37% who prefer it online far outpace those who prefer a printed newspaper or the radio (13% and 8%, respectively). The degree to which the public accesses each type of provider digitally versus non-digitally varies a great deal.
How parents feel about – and manage – their teens’ online behavior and screen time (Pew Research Center)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Fri, 03/22/2019 - 11:46Mobile Connectivity in Emerging Economies
After more than a decade of studying the spread and impact of digital life in the United States, Pew Research Center has intensified its exploration of the impact of online connectivity among populations in emerging economies – where the prospect of swift and encompassing cultural change propelled by digital devices might be even more dramatic than the effects felt in developed societies.