Eszter Hargittai

Connected in Isolation (eBook, ePUB)

Digital Privilege in Unsettled Times

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

What life during lockdown reveals about digital inequality. The vast majority of people in wealthy, highly connected, or digitally privileged societies may have crossed the digital divide, but being online does not mean that everyone is equally connected-and digital inequality reflects experience both online and off. In Connected in Isolation Eszter Hargittai looks at how this digital disparity played out during the unprecedented isolation imposed in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. During initial COVID-19 lockdowns the Internet, for many, became a lifeline, as everything from family get-togethers to doctor's visits moved online. Using survey data collected in April and May of 2020 in the United States, Italy, and Switzerland, Hargittai explores how people from varied backgrounds and differing skill levels were able to take advantage of digital media to find the crucial information they needed-to help loved ones, procure necessities, understand rules and risks. Her study reveals the extent to which long-standing social and digital inequalities played a critical role in this move toward computer-mediated communication-and were often exacerbated in the process. However, Hargittai notes, context matters: her findings reveal that some populations traditionally disadvantaged with technology, such as older people, actually did better than others, in part because of the continuing importance of traditional media, television in particular. The pandemic has permanently shifted how reliant we are upon online information, and the implications of Hargittai's groundbreaking comparative research go far beyond the pandemic. Connected in Isolation informs and expands our understanding of digital media, including how they might mitigate or worsen existing social disparities; whom they empower or disenfranchise; and how we can identify and expand the skills people bring to them.

---

Dieser Download kann aus rechtlichen Gründen nur mit Rechnungsadresse in A, B, BG, CY, CZ, D, DK, EW, E, FIN, F, GR, HR, H, IRL, I, LT, L, LR, M, NL, PL, P, R, S, SLO, SK ausgeliefert werden.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: MIT Press
• Seitenzahl: 210
• Erscheinungstermin: 20. Dezember 2022
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780262371506
• Artikelnr.: 63413241

Autorenporträt

Eszter Hargittai is professor and chair of Internet Use & Society in the Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich. She is editor of the Handbook of Digital Inequality, as well as three books on the behind-the-scenes realities of doing empirical social science research.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 The Social Context of Life During Lockdown 21
2 The Digital Context of Lockdown 45
3 Connecting on Social Media about the Pandemic 73
4 Information Sources and (Mis)Understanding COVID-19 95
Conclusion 119
Acknowledgements 129
Appendix 133
Notes 157
Bibliography 167
Index 189