Food and discussion begins at 12:30 pm. Everyone invited.

Do different population segments engage with information technologies in varying ways? If so, which segments are most likely to benefit and which are most likely to be left behind? Based on original data collected in the United States, the talk will look at disparities in people’s Internet uses focusing on a range of domains from political participation to content creation and sharing with special emphasis on the use of recent Web developments such as social networking sites.

Bio:

Eszter Hargittai (www.eszter.com) is Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Sociology, and Faculty Associate of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University where she heads the Web Use Project. This year, she is also Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She
received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Princeton University in 2003 where she was a Wilson Scholar. She spent the 2006-07 academic year as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.

Hargittai’s research focuses on the social and policy implications of information technologies with a particular interest in how IT may contribute to or alleviate social inequalities. Her research projects have looked at differences in people’s Web-use skills, the evolution of search engines and the organization and presentation of online content, political uses of information technologies, and how IT are influencing the types of cultural products people consume. Her current work is funded by grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, Nokia Research and the Robert and Kaye Hiatt Fund at Northwestern University.