Areas of low internet take-up do tend to be concentrated in poorer areas, resulting in a focus by analysts on this aspect, Ellen Helsper, a lecturer in media and communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, told the seminar.
However, other factors such as discrimination faced by certain sections of communities are also key elements associated with non-internet use, said Helsper. Accordingly, policymakers are now focusing on the concept of ‘digital engagement’, measuring not just whether individuals have internet access, or the skills or motivation to use the internet, but how wide a sphere of digital activity they engage in, she said.
“Engagement views activity in a more social environment, geared around technologies – people exchanging information with each other, for example”, said Helsper. The opposite – disengagement – may sometimes be related to the fact that not enough internet content is available for some social groups, Helsper said, such as a lack of certain types of jobs advertised online.
