With smart phones only getting smarter, it is no surprise Internet usage via mobile phone is on the rise, and according to Pew Research Center’s, Internet and the American Life Study, the increase was greatest among African-Americans. 

NYTimes.com Bits Blog states mobile Internet is shrinking the digital divide:

Not only are African-Americans the most active users of mobile Internet, they are also the fastest growing group to adopt the technology: the percentage of African-Americans using mobile phones or another type of connected gadget to share e-mail, exchange instant messages and access the Internet for information on an average day has more than doubled since late 2007, jumping to 29 percent, from 12 percent.
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The surge is helping to close a looming digital divide stemming from the high cost of in-home Internet access, which can be prohibitive for some.

Bits Blog quotes John Horrigan, associate director of the Pew Internet Project, who notes this shift could spark a new wave of mobile development that caters to a different set of online needs and use patterns.

Just another example of how American’s use of the Internet and ways we access digital information are constantly changing.  It is important for policymakers to bear in mind the quickly evolving nature of technology when developing regulatory policy and encourage access to technology without predetermining how the market creates that access.

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