Towards a critical approach to examining the digital divide

This paper reports on the results of a pilot study conducted of digital divide issues within two communities in Providence, Rhode Island in the summer of 2001. This study took place at the Wiggin Village and the International Institute of Rhode Island. Wiggin Village is a housing community in South Providence that consists of 285 households whose rents are subsidized by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 program. The International Institute of Rhode Island (IIRI) provides services, education and job training for immigrants and refugees. The results of this study revealed unique relationships between the subjects and the digital divide that are not captured by access-oriented models. Results indicate that language and social networks are often more important in information seeking behavior than having access to a telephone, the Internet, or other types of communication such as newspapers. The study also revealed value judgements about electronic media that have not been clearly revealed in the context of previous digital divide studies.