Wireless devices are bridging the racial internet gap

A Pew report suggests that at least in America,there may be a racial divide over the types of devices used to access the internet.

Whilst

56% of adult Americans have accessed the internet by wireless means, such as using a laptop, mobile device, game console, or MP3 player. The most prevalent way people get online using a wireless network is with a laptop computer; 39% of adults have done this.

But interestingly

African Americans are the most active users of the mobile internet – and their use of it is also growing the fastest. This means the digital divide between African Americans and white Americans diminishes when mobile use is taken into account.

Stripped down further

1.48% of Africans Americans have at one time used their mobile device to access the internet for information, emailing, or instant-messaging, half again the national average of 32%.

2. 29% of African Americans use the internet on their handheld on an average day, also about half again the national average of 19%.

3,Compared with 2007, when 12% of African Americans used the internet on their mobile on the average day, use of the mobile internet is up by 141%.