Internet Use & Society

The core focus of Prof. Eszter Hargittai’s group «Internet Use and Society» is on how people use the Internet in their everyday lives. Most of the research looks at the relationship of Internet use and social inequality with a particular focus on how differences in Internet skills relate to what people do online.

We work on the following topics:

• Web-use skill differences and how these relate to differentiated online activities

• Variation in online participation, i.e., who creates and shares content online

• The relationship of Internet uses and health status, including mental health

• The adoption of social network sites and other online services

• How people find answers to questions in their everyday life

• Political participation and civic engagement

• Methodological innovations in studying people’s Web-use skills

• Construction of a survey data base of instruments that measure people’s Internet experiences with the goal of standardizing such measures across studies

The division hosts post-doctoral scholars, graduate students and undergraduate research assistants in addition to occasional visitors.