Digital Usage Behavior: A Sense Making Perspective

The proliferation of information technology has led to a concern about the ability of the digitally underserved to cope with life's challenges and opportunities. Although there has been recognition that the digital divide is more than technology access, there is an implicit belief that solving the access problem will also solve other aspects of the digital divide. We make the argument that variance in use involves cognition and is different than variance in access. We also argue that the context in which information technology is used makes a difference. We add to the digital divide research by proposing a model of digital sense making. The model helps explain the divide as a function of how information available through technology affects the ability to cope. We then test the model with empirical evidence derived from a study of 151 military families that had universal Internet access for a period of more than one year. We find that use of the Internet to scan, interpret and act is correlated with increased ability to cope.