The rapid growth of the internet over the last ten years has led many people to question the social implications of this new technology. Using nationally representative data collected by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in October and November of 2004, I investigated how gender influences the ways American teenagers use the internet. I used quantitative analysis to document the scope of the gender gap and identify the individual-level social factors that perpetuate the gender gap. I focused on five different areas of internet use, and found that, overall, gender matters. First, my analysis focused on the frequency and intensity of girls' and boys' internet use. Results suggest that girls are more likely to go online than boys, although I found no difference between teens' intensity of internet use. Second, my analysis focused on the types of skills teens use on the internet and found that girls are more likely to use the internet for communicating with others while boys are more likely to use the internet in ways that demand some advanced skills. Third, I focused on the technical means of access through which teens go online, but I found no differences between girls and boys. Fourth, I analyzed teens' autonomy of use of the internet and found that parents are more likely to monitor boy's internet use than girl's use. Lastly, I looked at social support networks of teens who go online and found that girls are more likely than boys to have friends who go online. Overall, my study contributes to the sociological body of knowledge in three important ways. First, it extends the debate about the digital divide by refining our understanding of digital inequalities beyond simple access. Second, it investigates a social group, teens, that has been overlooked by social scientists studying new media and the internet. Third, and most importantly, it extends our understanding of the social organization of internet use in terms of gender / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_23373 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Contributors | Stroope, Barbara E (Author), Brayfield, April (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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