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News on Platforms & Infrastructure
Although it’s a question people are asking, the discussion about AI is shaped—and derailed—by cultural mindsets that push people to either see AI in a virtuous light, leaving biases unquestioned, […]
By Patrick O’Shea , Lindsey Conklin, Emilie L’Hôte, Michelle SmirnovaThis article concerns the history of the curb cut metaphor as applied to personal computer technology in the 1980s. Disability advocates used the metaphor to argue the necessity for accessibility […]
Elizabeth Petrick received her PhD in history and science studies from the University of California San Diego in 2012. She also has a BS in computer science from the University […]
Research on digital glocalization has found that Internet communication, which enables communication across distances, also enhances local ties. As a first‐time test of this on mobile devices, a neighborhood texting […]
As US Internet penetration rates have climbed, digital divide researchers have largely shifted attention to differences in Internet skills. Interviews with 72 low-income US residents from both a large metropolitan […]
Over 50% of people in poverty in the United States no longer have a landline telephone, and this same population is more likely to have a no-contract cell phone plan […]
An essential argument of the social diversification hypothesis is that disadvantaged groups use the Internet rather than face-to-face communication to broaden social networks, whereas advantaged groups use the Internet to […]
How do physical digital inequalities persist as technology becomes commonplace? We consider this question using surveys and focus groups with U.S. college students, a group that has better than average […]
Amy Gonzales is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her work examines the effects of social interaction via communication technologies on […]
Prevailing approaches for studying relations between digital media and social inequalities focus on ‘differentiated uses’ of digital media. Since differences in access do not fully account for differences in use, […]