From Dream to Reality: Exploring the Social Digital Divide in Mexico

摘要

This paper explores the problems that Internet users in marginalized populations face at telecenters (Internet public access sites). Using intensive research methods with users and telecenter operators we explored users' limitations using the Internet. Users are digitally illiterate in two skills: "branching ability" (ability to navigate in a nonlinear environment to find the desired information) and "information ability" (ability to assess information quality). Additionally, there are technical barriers, such as Internet access speed, that influence behavior when searching for information. Finally, the lack of knowledge of the English language, the predominant language on the Internet, is a barrier that widens the digital divide.