{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T02:08:54Z","timestamp":1778810934791,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,13]],"date-time":"2011-05-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1305244800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Future Internet"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In 2009, just 27% of American teens with mobile phones reported using their devices to access the internet. However, teens from lower income families and minority teens were significantly more likely to use their phones to go online. Together, these surprising trends suggest a potential narrowing of the digital divide, offering internet access to those without other means of going online. This is an important move, as, in today\u2019s society, internet access is central to active citizenship in general and teen citizenship in particular. Yet the cost of this move toward equal access is absorbed by those who can least afford it: Teenagers from low income households. Using survey and focus group data from a national study of \u201cTeens and Mobile Phone Use\u201d (released by Pew and the University of Michigan in 2010), this article helps identify and explain this and other emergent trends for teen use (as well as non-use) of the internet through mobile phones.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/fi3020144","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,13]],"date-time":"2011-05-13T11:42:42Z","timestamp":1305286962000},"page":"144-158","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":66,"title":["Mobile Phones Bridging the Digital Divide for Teens in the US?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"3","author":[{"given":"Katie","family":"Brown","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Communication Studies, The University of Michigan, 105 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA"}]},{"given":"Scott W.","family":"Campbell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Communication Studies, The University of Michigan, 105 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA"}]},{"given":"Rich","family":"Ling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Communication Studies, The University of Michigan, 105 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA"},{"name":"IT University of Copenhagen, Rued Lanngaarde Vej 7, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Associated Press Census: Income gap between rich and poor got wider in 2009. Available online: http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/money\/economy\/2010-09-28-census-income-gap_N.htm (accessed on 6 May 2011)."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Lenhart, A., Ling, R., Campbell, S.W., and Purcell, K. Teens and mobile phones: Text messaging explodes as teens embrace it as the centerpiece of their communication strategies with friends. Available online: http:\/\/pewinternet.org\/Reports\/2010\/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx (accessed on 5 May 2011)."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"664","article-title":"Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America","volume":"28","author":"Putnam","year":"1995","journal-title":"PS: Political Sci. Politics"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Putnam, R.D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster.","DOI":"10.1145\/358916.361990"},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Hampton, K.N., Session, L.F., Ja Her, E., and Raine, L. Social Isolation and New Technology. Available online: http:\/\/www.pewinternet.org\/Reports\/2009\/18--Social-Isolation-and-New-Technology.aspx (accessed on 5 May 2011)."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"130","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2010.513417","article-title":"Core networks, social isolation, and new media: How internet and mobile phone use is related to network size and diversity","volume":"14","author":"Hampton","year":"2011","journal-title":"Inform. Commun. Soc."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Ito, M., Baumer, S., Bittani, M., Boyd, D., Cody, R., Herr-Stephenson, B., Horst, H.A., Lange, P.G., Mahendran, D., and Martinez, K.Z. (2010). Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media, MIT Press."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Castells, M., Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Qui, J.L., and Sey, A. (2007). The Social Differentiation of Wireless Communication Users: Age, Gender, Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status, Mobile Communication and Society MIT Press."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"597","DOI":"10.1016\/S0308-5961(03)00068-5","article-title":"Comparing internet and mobile phone usage: Digital divides of usage, adoption, and dropouts","volume":"27","author":"Rice","year":"2003","journal-title":"Telecommun. Policy"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"277","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1083-6101.2010.01520.x","article-title":"Texting as a life phase medium","volume":"15","author":"Ling","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Comput. Mediat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1016\/j.telpol.2003.11.005","article-title":"Wireless diffusion and mobile computing Implications for the digital divide","volume":"28","author":"Wareham","year":"2004","journal-title":"Telecommun. Policy"},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Donner, J., and Gitau, S. (2009, January 20\u201321). New paths: Exploring mobile-centric internet use in South Africa. \u201cMobile 2.0: Beyond Voice?\u201d. Chicago, IL, USA."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Walton, M., and Donner, J. (2009, January 9\u201311). Read-write-erase: Mobile-mediated publics in South Africa's 2009 elections. New Brunswick, NJ, USA."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1257\/jep.24.1.225","article-title":"Retrospectives: Engel curves","volume":"24","author":"Chai","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Econ. Perspect."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Brown, D.L. (2009). The high cost of poverty: Why the poor pay more. Washington Post."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Ehrenreich, B. (2007). Nickel and Dimed: On (not) Getting by in American, Henry Hold Company."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1016\/0277-9536(92)90095-8","article-title":"Elasticity of demand for water in Khatroum, Sudan","volume":"34","author":"Cairncross","year":"2009","journal-title":"Soc. Sci. Med."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"521","DOI":"10.1016\/j.telpol.2008.06.002","article-title":"Can the poor afford mobile telephony? Evidence from Latin America","volume":"32","author":"Barrantes","year":"2008","journal-title":"Telecommun. Policy"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"756","DOI":"10.1016\/j.worlddev.2009.11.019","article-title":"When is cheap, cheap enough to bridge the digital divide? Modeling Income Related Structural Challenges of Technology Diffusion in Latin America","volume":"38","author":"Hilbert","year":"2010","journal-title":"World Develop."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Madsen, C.\u00d8. (2010, January 1). Measuring the use of mobile phones in Denmark and the EU. Copenhagen, Denmark."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"Ling, R. (2004). The Mobile Connection, Elsevier. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ling, R. (2008). New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication Is Reshaping Social Cohesion, MIT Press.","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/7568.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Livingston, G. Latinos and digital technology, 2010. Available online: http:\/\/pewhispanic.org\/reports\/report.php?ReportID=134 (accessed on 5 May 2011)."}],"container-title":["Future Internet"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/3\/2\/144\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T21:56:05Z","timestamp":1760219765000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/3\/2\/144"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,13]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,6]]}},"alternative-id":["fi3020144"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/fi3020144","relation":{},"ISSN":["1999-5903"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1999-5903","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,13]]}}}