Posted November 29, 2005 to Education News | Section Home | Print

Report: Black Online Use Increases

Sacramento Observer, News Report, Staff Report, Nov 28, 2005

NEW YORK — The gap in Internet usage between African Americans and Whites still exists, but a report published by eMarketer shows that the gap is narrowing, and will continue to narrow over the next decade.

eMarketer’s new report, “African Americans Online: Crossing the Digital Divide,” finds that usage among the African American population is now 48.7 percent, which is still short of the 68.8 percent level among Whites.

However, as the number of African Americans online increases and growth among Whites plateaus, that difference will decrease.

“The African American online market is gaining some momentum as more users come online and as blue-chip advertisers reach out to this growing audience,” says the author of the report, Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.

African Americans now make up 10.5 percent of all U.S. Internet users.

“Put another way, there are nearly as many African Americans online as there are teens online in the U.S.,” says Williamson. “African Americans are a strong potential market for broadband services and for education, career-oriented and informational content. They will also be among the early adopters of the mobile Internet.”

Critical barriers do remain. Chief among them is that many African American households still do not have a computer.