According to new findings from a national survey of minority adults, conducted by Brilliant Corners Research and Pollster Cornell Belcher, only 42% of African Americans and Hispanics regularly use the
Internet, yet they overwhelmingly agree that Internet access is critical to achieving success.
Frequency of Internet Use (% of Group) |
Use | Total | Black | Hispanic |
Regularly | 42% | 40% | 44% |
Occasionally | 30% | 27% | 32% |
Less | 28% | 33% | 24% |
|
Use it all the time | 16% | 19% | 14% |
Pretty regular | 26% | 21% | 30% |
Occasionally | 30% | 27% | 32% |
Rarely | 13% | 11% | 14% |
Never | 16% | 21% | 11% |
Source: Belcher |
Belcher, principal author of the report, said "In this... survey we found that members in two of the country's largest
minority communities believe that Internet access is essential for many critical daily activities, including staying in touch with family, online education and research, job hunting and networking,
and accessing information about health care, weather and traffic... "
Most
Important Activities On The Internet (Scale 0-10: 10=Extremely Important, 5=Somewhat) |
| Mean Score Importance |
Activity | Total | Black | Hispanic |
Staying in touch with family | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.6 |
Mainly education related activities, including online classes & research | 7.3 | 7.5 | 7.1 |
Accessing
information sites like weather, traffic and directions | 7.0 | 6.7 | 7.2 |
Mainly work related activities, including job hunting & networking | 7.0 | 7.4 | 6.6 |
Accessing health
information, health care and treatment | 6.9 | 7.2 | 6.7 |
Financial activities/banking, investing, etc. | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.7 |
Keep up with news, current events, celebrity gossip, etc.
| 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.0 |
Accessing government services | 5.9 | 5.7 | 6.0 |
Community organizing and volunteer activities | 5.1 | 5.6 | 4.7 |
Social networking and to reach friends, like MySpace,
Facebook etc. | 5.0 | 5.1 | 4.9 |
Maintaining home videos and photography | 5.0 | 4.8 | 5.1 |
Political activities | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.6 |
To download music | 4.7
| 4.7 | 4.7 |
Online shopping & selling including
trading & auction sites like EBay | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 |
Monitoring family/children through GPS | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.6 |
Hobbies like arts & crafts, scrapbooks and home décor etc. | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
Gaming activities | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.5 |
Access broadcast television and movies on demand | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.5 |
Blogging, chats, issue groups and message boards | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
Accessing twitter/tweeting | 2.1 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
Adult entertainment | 1.7 | 1.8
| 1.6 |
Source: Belcher Study, December 2009 |
Members of African American and Hispanic communities believe in the value of high-speed broadband Internet, as opposed to outdated, slower dial-up service. In fact, nearly one-in-five respondents
(18%) identified ‘speed of connection' as the one thing they would change to make it easier to access the Internet - even more so than if Internet access were free (10%).
One Thing To Change To Make It Easier To Access The Internet (% of Respondents) |
Change | Total | Black | Hispanic |
Speed of connection | 18% | 10% | 22% |
Free | 10% | 7% | 11% |
Cheaper | 7% | 6% | 8% |
Wi-fi everywhere | 7% | 9% | 7% |
Easier access | 3% | 2% | 4% |
User-friendly | 3% | 4% | 3% |
Better security | 3% | 1% | 4% |
Other | 7% | 8% | 7% |
Nothing | 18% | 18% | 17% |
Don't know | 16% | 21% | 13% |
Source: Belcher Study, December 2009 |
IIA Co-Chairman Bruce Mehlman notes that "... the top answer given by those polled for how to ‘make it easier to access the Internet' was faster speed of connection... robust
investments in infrastructure and effective network management... are essential for both access and adoption."
For an open-ended question on ‘one thing you could change that
would make you more likely to want to access the Internet,' affordability ranked near the top of the list. This result points to the fact that many communities are price-sensitive and that costs
of broadband access could hurt adoption if communities of color are deterred from capitalizing on the benefits of broadband.
Change To Make It More Likely To Access The Internet (% of Respondents) |
Change | Total | Black | Hispanic |
Better privacy | 8% | 2% | 12% |
Affordable | 7% | 1% | 11% |
User-friendly/learn to
use | 3% | 8% | 0% |
Learn to make money | 2% | 1% | 3% |
Other | 5% | 7% | 3% |
Nothing | 29% | 32% | 27% |
Don't' know | 24%
| 21% | 26% |
Don't use | 18% | 21% | 15% |
Source: Belcher Study, December 2009 |
IIA Co-Chairman David Sutphen concludes that " It's clear that digital literacy
programs... are a crucial part of the formula for closing the digital divide... of those respondents who do not have Internet access... 43% cited not knowing how to use the Internet or not seeing the
need for the Internet as the reason why they are not online... 44% of these respondents said they would be more likely to subscribe... if they were provided free lessons on how to use the
technology... 30% would be more likely to adopt if they had more information about how they could benefit... "
Reasons For Not Having Internet Access (% of Group) |
| Total | Black | Hispanic |
Do not have a computer or Internet enabled device | 25% | 22% | 29% |
No need for the Internet | 32% | 29% | 38% |
Don't know how to use the Internet | 11% | 14% | 6% |
Cable access too expensive | 7% | 9% | 4% |
Too old to use Internet | 5% | 7% | 0% |
Do not have or can't get cable Internet service | 4% | 1% | 8% |
Wireless access through phone too expensive
| 2% | 3% | 0% |
Something else | 8% | 7% | 8% |
Don't know/ refused | 3% | 3%
| 2% |
Source: Belcher Study, December 2009 |
Poll respondents strongly agree on several Internet-enabled, life-changing benefits that make access so valuable. Key findings include:
- 64% of those polled
strongly believe the Internet is important, because students with access can receive tutoring and help with their homework
- 43%% of respondents strongly agree that students with
Internet access achieve higher grades
- 61% strongly feel households with Internet access have greater access to commerce, education, health care, entertainment and communication?
- 48% strongly agree that Internet is valuable, because tech-connected families receive more health information
- 62% strongly believe individuals with Internet access have
more opportunities to work from home
- 68% respondents strongly agree that small business owners with Internet access are better able to reach and expand their customer
base
- 51% strongly feel Internet access increases awareness and access to government services
78% of the respondents said they accessed the Internet from home, and
68% said they access the Internet from a private portal, as opposed to a public portal, such as at anchor institutions like the library.
Location Where Generally Have Access To The Internet (% of Group) |
Location | Total | Black | Hispanic |
Home | 71% | 71% | 70% |
Work | 22% | 23% | 22% |
Library | 11% | 15% | 7% |
Mobile device | 8% | 8% | 9% |
School | 7% | 9% | 5% |
Cafe | 2% | 2% | 2% |
Someplace else | 4% | 4% | 5% |
Don't know/ refused | 1%
| 1% | 1% |
Source: Belcher Study,
December 2009 |
"It is clear that home Internet connections are critically important to expanding broadband access and adoption in communities of
color," said Sutphen. "Policy makers would be wise to keep this reality in mind as they consider ways to continue closing the digital divide and ensure that all Americans can benefit
from broadband."
To view Mr. Belcher's PPT presentation at the
Internet Innovation Alliance's biannual symposium, please visit here.