Urban Digital Inequality: Adversity and Adaptation in the Network Society

Marler, Will

doi:https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-1194-7t47

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Urban Digital Inequality: Adversity and Adaptation in the Network Society

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The study of digital inequality has advanced our understanding of how existing socioeconomic disadvantage – such as by income, education, age, gender, and race – translates into disadvantage in the digital realm. Yet, our understanding of the relationships between the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and broader processes of socioeconomic inequality remains limited in important areas and by its primary approaches to research. One gap in our knowledge is how digital inequality emerges in relation to the social and physical environments of urban centers. In this research, I show how ethnography can be used to reveal novel dynamics of digital inequality related to social support, interpersonal bonding, and online social networking among adults who are experiencing homelessness. I conducted participant observation offline and on the social network site (SNS) Facebook between 2016 and 2019, focused on a loose-knit group of unstably housed adults living in a north-side neighborhood of Chicago. There are three primary findings of the dissertation. First, there is a broader range of social ties – including strangers and acquaintances – that matter for assistance in maintaining access to ICTs and to the kinds of emotional support that emerge through the use of technology. Second, beyond providing the means of internet access, community institutions shape the ways technology can be used and thus effect rare opportunities for people experiencing homelessness to bond around the leisurely use of digital media. Third, people approach online social networking influenced by different offline experiences of poverty, explaining why some in poverty may avoid sites like Facebook altogether and others may engage in risky practices in an attempt to make up for resources lacking in their offline lives. In light of the findings, I offer suggestions for policymakers and community institutions to adapt to digital-age realities for people experiencing homelessness, such as the sharing of “government phones”, the playing of audible music at the library, and the over-exposure to Facebook scams. The dissertation advances a “community” approach to digital inequality research that acknowledges everyday and local processes affecting the broad outlines of marginalization in the digital age.

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