A129.
Pearce, K.
& Rice, R. E. (2017). Somewhat separate and unequal: Digital
divides, social networking sites, and capital-enhancing
activities. Social Media &
Society, April-June, 1-16. http://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/tZipwazxBCwjdiVi9CAP/full
As Internet use
grows globally, the digital divide has shifted beyond concerns about
access and
adoption to more subtle questions of skill, usage, and capital, and to
new
venues such as social networking sites (SNSs). Do digital divides
persist
across adoption/ non-adoption of SNSs, across different SNSs, and
across
different capital-enhancing activities used on those SNSs? The current
study
analyzes a context where social ties are more salient for resource
access due
to untrustworthy institutions, and large gaps exist between elites and
non-elites. Demographic divides characterize the 31% of Armenian adults
using
two major SNSs in 2013: Facebook and Odnoklassniki. Facebook is used
more for
getting information, while Odnoklassniki more for gaming. However, the
divides
in SNS usage are much greater than in activity use, with implications
for
capital enhancement and stratification.
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