Locating digital divides at home, work, and everywhere else

Contributing to previous research that has identified differences in connection speed, user skill, and experience as mechanisms affecting digital divides among Internet users, this paper explores whether location of use should be considered a factor that limits or facilitates individual efforts to apply the Internet toward beneficial activities. At some locations, Internet users enjoy high levels of autonomy, while at others, users may be regulated by restrictions or concerns about surveillance. Results of analyses performed on Current Population Survey (CPS) data suggest that users who have many connection points including home are most likely to conduct four particular activities for which previous research has demonstrated some tangible benefit to users: searching for health and product information online, making purchases online, and banking online. Most broadly, results support the proposition that differences in Internet access point quality can be identified as a previously unexplored digital divide among users, and also that differences in locations of use can partly explain gaps in participation in some beneficial activities by income and education. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.