Abstract
This article contributes to a better understanding of patterns of social support in relation to digital inequalities. Based on an extensive qualitative study, the diversity of support networks and supports seeking patterns are unveiled. A typology of six patterns of help-seeking is presented and described: the support-deprived, the community-supported, the supported through substitution, the network-supported, the vicarious learners, and the self-supported. The article also critically engages with the often unnuanced academic literature on social support. The research and the typology reveal that the quality of support, as well as the availability of potential or actual support, is not only influenced by socio-economic factors. Rather, the strength of the relationship and the level of intimacy between individuals is an important predictor of support-seeking. As such, this article shows that mechanisms of in/exclusion are highly social, as they entail a diversity of formal and informal support-seeking patterns, which in turn have an important influence on the adoption and use of digital media. The article argues that understanding such mechanisms is rooted in reconciling micro-level interactions to macro-level patterns of inequalities. To show the specificity of social support within digital inequalities research, and to demarcate the concept from definitions of other academic disciplines, the concept of social support for digital inclusion is introduced. It is defined as the aid (emotional, instrumental, and informational) that an individual receives from his/her network in his/her use of digital technologies.
Highlights
According to Cobb (1976), social support is information that leads the subject to believe that (s)he is cared for, and that (s)he belongs to a social network of communication
Looking at digital inequalities, recent research shows that soSocial Inclusion, 2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages 138–150 cial support has an important effect on mechanisms of digital in/exclusion
This article contributes to a better understanding of digital inequalities in two ways: It questions existing classifications by introducing a more complex typology of social support in relation to digital inclusion, and it nuances the causality between socio-economic factors and support
Summary
According to Cobb (1976), social support is information that leads the subject to believe that (s)he is cared for, and that (s)he belongs to a social network of communication. Despite extensive research on digital inequalities and their consequences on mechanisms of in/exclusion (DiMaggio, Hargittai, Neuman, & Robinson, 2001; Helsper, 2008; van Deursen, 2018; van Deursen, Helsper, Eynon, & van Dijk, 2017; van Deursen & van Dijk, 2019), digital inequalities studies present two main shortcomings when discussing social support. This article contributes to a better understanding of digital inequalities in two ways: It questions existing classifications by introducing a more complex typology of social support in relation to digital inclusion, and it nuances the causality between socio-economic factors and support. We highlight the limitations of current research and present our own definition of social support for digital inclusion.
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