Beyond the Digital Divide: Socio-Economic Dimensions of Internet Diffusion

New technologies affect the distribution of social advantage, and potentially alter social hierarchies. The ability to challenge existing social hierarchies is, however, mediated by the manner in which technologies diffuse. The Internet provides a good example. As a new and rapidly diffusing communication technology, is the Internet a potentially equalising agent that may reduce certain aspects of social inequality or does it reinforce existing social inequalities? We address this question to nationally representative survey data from the 2001 Australian Election Study. Although a relatively wide diffusion of the Internet has occurred in Australia, recent evidence indicates that the overall rate of this diffusion is slowing. Our analyses indicate that Internet access was initially divided along class, education, age and gender lines, and that these socio economic indicators remain important predictors of Internet usage. While the pattern of social inequality associated with Internet access is becoming less stark, it persists, and while diffusion should narrow the ‘digital divide’, we find little support for ‘democratisation ’ of access.