The digital divide between developed nations and developing ones may be widening. But in the United States, the opposite may be true for another technology divide: African-Americans, who have traditionally lagged behind white Americans in gaining access to the Internet, are closing the gap.
A new survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project has found that 61 percent of African-Americans adults are now online, compared with 74 percent of white American adults. That number is an improvement over the figures that Pew reported in 1998, when 42 percent of white respondents said they were online, but only 23 percent of African-Americans said the same.
The new report is no excuse for complacency, some analysts warn. While black Americans are gaining access to the Internet in record numbers, the quality of their online experience is still no match for that of most white Web users, experts say. (The New York Times)
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