Document Type
Journal Article
Department/Unit
Department of Geography
Title
Cyberspace: Connected or segregated? examining virtual segregation among Hong Kong Internet users
Language
English
Abstract
In this paper we discuss how cyberspace has been interwoven in the geographies of social stratification and segregation nowadays. It conceptualizes 'virtual segregation' as an extension of the 'digital divide' and sociospatial segregation in urban spaces. A case study was conducted in Hong Kong in 2010, when 770 Internet users were surveyed. A comparison of their patterns of Internet use shows that these individuals, all of whom possess devices and Internet access, have varied levels of connectivity in cyberspace. A typology of Internet users was then derived from the perspective of virtual segregation. The findings suggest that people may be stratified and segregated in cyberspace in similar ways to the physical world, and that segregation studies should pay more attention to virtual segregation. © 2014 Pion and its Licensors.
Keywords
Connectivity, Digital divide, Hong Kong, Internet users, Virtual segregation
Publication Date
2014
Source Publication Title
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design
Volume
41
Issue
2
Start Page
323
End Page
340
Publisher
Pion
DOI
10.1068/b39010
Link to Publisher's Edition
http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/b39010
ISSN (print)
02658135
ISSN (electronic)
14723417
APA Citation
Li, F., & Wang, D. (2014). Cyberspace: Connected or segregated? examining virtual segregation among Hong Kong Internet users. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 41 (2), 323-340. https://doi.org/10.1068/b39010