Most studies of the digital divide are concerned with the simple criterion of access, usually in the convenient locale of one's home. That divide could be exacerbated by usage differences after such access has been achieved, however. This article takes advantage of usage data from the General Social Survey and other surveys to examine whether more highly educated respondents also have such advantages in usage processes after access has been achieved. Education has emerged from the NTIA and other national surveys as a more important multivariate predictor than income.

Using a framework developed by DiMaggio and Hargittai (2001), it is found that college-educated respondents possess clear advantages over high-school educated respondents in using the Internet to derive occupational, educational and other benefits. The clearest advantage appears in terms of the types of sites visited, uses made and political discussion. Here, multivariate evidence shows that education - and occasionally income, age and marital status - is associated with consistently more long-term uses related to enhanced life chances via work, education, health or political participation; education is also related to less use for simple, short-term, entertainment or personal purposes. The advantages to the college educated are also evident in their keeping in contact with a wider range of friends and relatives, particularly by email. On the other hand, in several areas (e.g. search strategies employed; receiving assistance from relatives) little gap by education exists.

Most analyses of the digital divide have conceived of Internet access as binary - either someone is an Internet user or is not. Using data from a 2002 national random digit dial survey, this article visualizes online access as a continuum. Internet access may be intermittent for some users, nearby for others (such as nonusers household in which another person uses the Net), and a remote possibility for others (given their preferences, perceptions and concerns about the Internet).

This article then proceeds to analyze the social, demographic and psychological predictors of Internet users and nonusers. Demographic factors (being white, well educated, and having a high income) are associated with more Internet adoption, as are high levels of trust, social contentment and media use. Controlling for other variables, Hispanics and African-Americans are less likely to be online, as are people who report frequently socializing with family and friends and being members of social groups or clubs.

Most research on the Digital Divide focuses on recording the presence or absence, closure or widening of gaps in access and usage. Researchers who document trends in Internet usage gaps contribute valuable information to the field, but the binary nature of the arguments often avoids or blocks theoretical progress that could potentially explain the significant consequences of these gaps - most of which have been shown to be positive in the literature. Although some data support arguments that the gaps will resolve themselves, much available data shows that some significant gaps are worsening.

Several communication theories, including Diffusion of Innovations, the Increasing Knowledge Gap and Structuration Theory and its variants, are applied to the issue of the Digital Divide in an attempt to provide researchers with a useful guide to understanding the implications of the gaps which are widely known to persist. Rather than endlessly debating the demographics of access and ownership, scholars should agree that some people are online and some are not, and concentrate future efforts on understanding the consequences of this difference.

Using several nationally representative surveys of American adults, this article tracks gender differences in the dramatic growth of digital access between 1983 and 2000. Outside of the stronger gains by the high-school educated, gender and educational gaps in IT access and use remained roughly stable. Unmarried women least often had home computer or online access, while less-educated women and better-educated men used work computers significantly more often.

College-educated men were also most likely to have Web access or email at work, and men (and the well-educated) were more likely to use home email or subscribe to a home network service. Gender gaps in online time rose from 1995 to 2000, with men (and very well-educated individuals) increasing their online hours the most. However, women with graduate degrees did achieve gender parity in many areas by 2000. Results are interpreted as stemming in part from gender, educational and occupational differences.

Gender pervades how people use the Internet. Two large North American sources of national survey data are used to compare women's Internet use with men's: the 1998 National Geographic Survey (NGS) and the General Social Survey (GSS) for years 2000 and 2002. Consistent with the earlier literature on gender roles, they show that women use the Internet more for social reasons, while men use it more for instrumental and solo recreational reasons. Care-giving for children at home limits mothers more than fathers in the use they make of the Internet.

Inequality between Whites and Blacks has fluctuated since the 1970's, when a number of technological and structural changes in the economy adversely affected Blacks. In this "information age", researchers concerned with inequality have coined the term "digital divide" to signify the effects of exclusion from these powerful new information technologies. As increasing numbers of Americans have gone online, the academic focus has shifted from the digital divide to "digital inequality", in which attention is given to White and Black levels of Internet social support, navigational sophistication, and Internet knowledge - factors which directly facilitate or inhibit Internet use beyond simple access.

Using the Years 2000 and 2002 General Social Survey, this article examines whether what Whites and Blacks are doing online drives them to invest more or less time online, in order to speculate on whether the Web will widen the already substantial access divides between the Whites and Blacks. Results indicate surprisingly similar levels of online time, social support, navigational sophistication and Internet knowledge. Taken as a whole, then, Whites and Blacks have similar Internet activity patterns - although Whites focus more on news, financial, and political Websites, whereas Blacks are drawn to education-related sites.

This article identifies personal and situational factors that predicted Internet use during the first year of home Internet access by 123 adult participants who were primarily African American, female, never married and had annual household incomes of less than $15,000. In exchange for a home computer with Internet access from January 2001 till May 2002, participants allowed their Internet use to be continuously recorded and completed surveys at multiple points during the project.

While both personal and situational factors influenced Internet use during the first six months, race and age influenced Internet use across the entire year. African Americans used the Internet less than did European Americans despite similar levels of income and education. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence indicated a high need for technical support by all users. Results suggest reconceptualizing the digital divide as a "use" divide rather than an "access" divide. Future research to identify cultural factors that influence the frequency and nature of IT use is discussed.

The digital divide reflects the difference between institutional-level Websites and the individual-level exclusions from opportunities to participate, compete and prosper in today's knowledge-based economies. As ability to manipulate this information technology becomes more crucial, the negative result for those excluded is digital deprivation. More solid theoretical frameworks, conceptual blocks and socio-economic metrics are needed to assess the effects of public policy interventions. Special attention is given to the "Plugged In" project in the poorest part of Silicon Valley, a model of public policy intervention aimed at low-income communities at the grass-roots level. This project affords these users the opportunity to experiment and develop expertise to overcome conditions of poverty and inequality.