The Dwindling Digital Divide

The African-American online population is growing, in more ways than one.
The “digital divide,” a phrase describing the gulf between Internet “haves” and “have nots,” is still evident, but shrinking.eMarketer estimates that nearly one-half of the African-American population—over 19 million people—uses the Internet at least once a month, and in four years, 56% will be online.
Trends in African-American Internet usage generally mirror those of the US Internet population as a whole. “Younger black Internet users are most comfortable with all forms of digital communication: visiting social networks, downloading and streaming music and videos, blogging and playing games,” says Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, African-Americans Online.” “Black boomers are online in high numbers, but mostly for e-mail and news. Black seniors ages 61 and older are least likely to go online and are more likely to read magazines and newspapers, as well as watch news on television.”