A study by Pew Internet Surveys sheds light on the particular Internet preferences of African-Americans, and has concluded that those with access to the Internet are more likely to appreciate the information they find than whites. The Pew survey was based on random telephone interviews with 12,751 adults from March 1 to Aug. 20. Of that group, 1,501 are African-American and 586 of them use the Internet. The findings about African-Americans online have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
More than 23 percent of African-American households had access in August 2000, up from 11 percent in December 1998. On the other hand, 46 percent of white households had access in August, up from 30 percent in 1998.
Of those with online access, 45 per cent of African-Americans use the Internet to find health information, compared to 35 per cent of whites.They were also more likely than whites to use the Internet to find information on religion, jobs and housing.
Women make up 56 percent of the African-American online population, while white users are evenly split between men and women.
As a group, the African-American online population has less income and less education than whites with Internet access.
A little more than a third of African-Americans with access go online on a typical day, compared with some 56 percent for whites.
