• 1 . Hiromi Ono and Madeline Zavodny, “Immigrants, English Ability and the Digital Divide”, Social Fo (...)

1Multicultural societies are characterized by the existence of different groups that hold different positions in the stratification system (natives, immigrants and disadvantaged minorities). As the use of the Internet is becoming universal it is important to know how these different groups are using the Internet and if the motivations for the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) differ according to their differential position in society.1 This study was set out to investigate the use of the Internet in a multicultural society (Israel) with particular emphasis on similarities and differences in the use of a disadvantaged minority (Arabs), and the native majority. In doing this, I expand previous studies in which I suggested a comprehensive conceptual framework for the understanding of the association (namely the diversification hypothesis) between social standing and the motivations for using ICT and I will test the hypothesis of this framework with the actual use of a variety of social media platforms (Social Networking sites, chat rooms, weblogs and electronic mail).

• 2 . James E. Katz and Ronald E. Rice, Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement and I (...)
• 3 . Eszter Hargittai, “Second-level digital divide: Differences in people’s onlines kills”, First Mo (...)
• 4 . Hiromi Ono and Madeline Zavodny, “Immigrants, English Ability…”, art. cit.

2As Internet access has increased in Western countries, the literature on digital inequality has moved from a focus on the first-level to the second-level of digital divide. Early studies focused on the socio-economic determinants of physical access to information and communication technologies (ICT) mostly reporting differences in access according to income, education, gender and ethnicity.2 But as Internet access is reaching saturation in Western countries, there are more scholars that are calling for a shift to the study of the second level, i. e., from examining the extent and causes of differences in the Internet access to focusing on differences in intensity and types of use.3 This shift in research rests on the belief that differences in access are becoming less problematic as computer ownership has become widespread and as public access in libraries and community centers have made computers and Internet widely available.4 While inequalities of access are not completely over, this study is located on the second level of the digital divide tradition. The central research questions that this study attempts to answer are: What are the differences in the use of Internet social applications according to ethnic origin? And to the extent that they exist, is it possible to identify that the differential social position of groups in society is associated with different motivations of media choice?

• 5 . Nan Lin, Social Capital. A Theory of Social Structure and Action, Cambridge, Cambridge Universit (...)
• 6 . Douglas S. Massey, Categorically Unequal. The American Stratification System, New York, Russell (...)
• 7 . Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and James M. Cook, “Birds of a feather: Homophily in social n (...)

3In this study I rely on the Diversification hypothesis that deals specifically with the differential use of the Internet, according to social position in society. The diversification hypothesis relies on existing knowledge on the nature of associations in stratified and multicultural societies and the expanding literature on social capital. From the literature on social networks the assumption is that multi-cultural societies are segregated according to ethnic and social class lines.5 In societies that reward individuals differentially according to their income, prestige, and power, stratifications systems result in a differential ability of individuals to gain access to jobs and residential locations.6 As a result, individual social associations tend to be with others of similar social characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, religion, and nationality.7

• 8 . Douglas S. Massey, Categorically Unequal…, op. cit.
• 9 . Gustavo S. Mesch, “Social Diversification: A Perspective for the Study of Social networks of Ado (...)
• 10 . Hiromi Ono and Hsin-Jen Tsai, “Race, parental socio-economic status…”, art. cit.

4Minorities are disadvantaged in society among other reasons because the segregated nature of society is a barrier for relationship formation and membership in out-groups.8 According to the diversification hypothesis9 computer mediated communication provides a platform to overcome the existing social segregation in society. Residential and social segregation prevents members of minority groups from creating interactions across ethnicity and migration status and reduces their access to social networks that enhance the Internet use and networks that provides information on available education and job opportunities.10 Therefore this perspective proposes that disadvantaged groups (according to their migration status and ethnicity) will use the Internet to expand their social circle and overcome existing physical and social barriers to information and association. At the same time majority groups will use the Internet to keep the existing relationships and less to expand their social ties. The advantage of the majority group is in their access to educational and job resources, which they have much to gain in keeping their existing ties.

• 11 . Gustavo S. Mesch, “Social Diversification: A Perspective…”, art. cit.
• 12 . Eszter Hargittai and Yu-li Patrick Hsieh, “Predictors and consequences of Differentiated practic (...)

5From this discussion it follows that another important assumption at the center of the diversification approach is a conceptualization of ICT’s as a space of activity and social interaction.11 The Internet is not only about communication with existing ties. Although it is true that many individuals are using the Internet as another channel of communication with existing relationships, the innovative aspect of the Internet is to provide opportunities for activities that induce social interaction resulting in providing a space for meeting new individuals, lowering the barriers for accessing information and weak ties.12 Consequently, an important motivation for minorities and immigrant use of computer mediated communication is to diversify their social network and identify other individuals who share their interests, concerns, or problems but are not part of their face to face social circle.

• 13 . Marleen Huysman and Volker Wolf, Social Capital and Information Technology, Cambridge, MIT Press (...)

6Diversification is a concept that can be linked to social capital. Although there are several accepted definitions and operationalizations of this concept, it is agreed that social capital refers to network ties that provide mutual support, shared language, shared norms, social trust, and a sense of mutual obligation from which people can derive value.13 The definition emphasizes the central role of the size, structure, composition, and trust in social networks. Based on these qualities, networks provide differential access to resources that include opportunities, skills, information, social support, and sociability.

• 14 . Darius K. S. Chan and Grand L. Cheng, “A comparison of online and offline friendship qualities”, (...)

7Recent studies of computer mediated communication also indicate that an alternative major use is for the maintenance of existing social ties.14 While the use for diversification can be explained as an attempt to increase bridging social capital, the use of the maintenance of family and friend ties can be assumed to be a motivation for maintaining and increasing bonding social capital. What is unique in the diversification perspective is to point to the possibility that the differential use, for the formation of “bonding” and “bridging” social capital might be directed by the social position of minorities and immigrants in the social structure vis a vis the majority. One is to maintain existing relationships, a function that is important as it allows the continuation of significant relations despite distance and rapid pace of life, the exchange of information on economic and employment opportunities, the exchange of social support. Another use of computer mediated communication has been for the expansion of existing ties, as the anonymity of the medium, the flattering of social hierarchies and the lowering of barriers of social interaction encourage the formation of social ties with unknown others that belong to a different social circle. Both uses, for expansion and for maintenance of social ties are linked to the formation of social capital.

• 15 . Kaveri Subrahmanyam, Stephanie Reich, Natalia Waechter and Guadalupe Espinoza, “Online and offli (...)
• 16 . Eszter Hargittai and Yu-li Patrick Hsieh, “Predictors and consequences of Differentiated…”, art. (...)

9Open chat rooms and weblogs are spaces of interaction in which users maintain their anonymity by using nicknames and interact with others who might not be known, and may reside in a different city, state or country. Individuals join chat discussions or post blog comments according to the topic around which the platform is defined. The defining characteristics of the developing social interaction are the existence of common topics or interests. As the context of the interaction is based on mutual emotional or intellectual interests, much of the interaction occurs with unknown individuals who share concerns, hobbies, or other interests.15 Social networking sites differ from other online communication channels in a variety of characteristics. The adoption of the technology is social, as it results from a group of friends settling on a particular social networking system. A specific social networking site is adopted because of peer pressure that helps to create a critical mass of users in a social group. Using a SNS (social networking site) requires having an active list of “friends” and being on a friends’ list by the authorization of peers. In that sense, the use of SNS is more common with known and offline friends than with strangers. While chat rooms and forums are technologies that link individuals around a shared topic of interest and concern, social networking sites are technologies that link individuals who have some knowledge of each other and belong to the same social circle or to the social circle of their friends.16 Given these features of channels of communication, it is reasonable to expect that the motivation for the use of chat rooms and weblogs is to expand social ties and the use of social networking sites to conserve existing ties.

• 17 . Noah Lewin-Epstein and Moshe Semyonov, The Arab Minority in Israel’s Economy: Patterns of Ethnic (...)
• 18 . Ytchak Haberfeld and Yinon Cohen, “Development of Gender, Ethnic, and National Earnings Gaps in (...)
• 19 . Nohad Ali, “The unpredictable status of Palestinian woman in Israel: Actual versus désirable”, p (...)

10Israel is a multiethnic society. Approximately 79% of the population are Jewish, and the remainder is Arab. Jewish immigrants have come to Israel in a sequence of waves. As a result, the Jewish population consists in various groups from different backgrounds.17 The Arab minority is disadvantaged according to education and socio-economic status.18 In addition, most of the Arab population residence is in peripheral areas of the country and in small localities in which they are the vast majority of the population. The high residential concentration restricts the access of the Arab population to widespread networks and they tend to associate with residents of the same locality and neighbor localities in the periphery of the country.19

• 20 . Rebeca Raijman and Moshe Semyonov, “Best of times, worst of times, and occupational mobility: th (...)

12Studies report a number of differences and similarities between the first and second waves of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. Whereas the immigrants of the 1970s were more evenly distributed across regions in Israel, those of the 90s were more concentrated in urban centers and peripheral towns. As a group they show a high level of participation in the workforce with 90% of males and 80% of females able to find jobs after four years in the country.20 Regarding social integration, studies indicate that Former Soviet Union immigrants largely confine their social encounters to other immigrants from their country of origin. Five years after immigration, about 60% of the 1990s immigrants as compared to 40% of the 1970s immigrants, reported meeting frequently with their former compatriots.

• 21 . Majid Al-Haj, Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided Society. The Case of the 1990 (...)

13The spatial distribution of the immigrant population in the county is uneven and they have become the majority of the population in many towns in the periphery of the country. In large urban centers, one of the main features of the settlement of immigrants is their high residential concentration. Some sociologists have reached the conclusion that because of their high residential and social segregation and high level of language and culture conservation, the group of immigrants that arrived from the Former Soviet Union has become a new ethnic group.21

• 22 . Asmaa Ganayem, Sheizaf Rafaeli and F. Aziza, “Digital divide: the use of the Internet in the ara (...)
• 23 . Gustavo S. Mesch and Ilan Talmud, Wired Youth…, op. cit.

16While Internet use is widespread, it is also differential according to ethnic lines. Overall 71% of the Jewish population report access to Internet but only 50% of the Arab population report so (CBS, 2008). The ethnic gap in Internet access is wider for low income individuals of both groups and narrower for the ones having more than high school education (CBS, 2008 ). Studies on the digital divide according to ethnic lines in the Israeli society have concluded that Arab Israelis have less access and use of the Internet.22 Studies that attempted to identify the sources for low access and use among the Arab population concluded that structural barriers, associated with their disadvantaged status in society, are the main source of access and use disparities. Specifically, the Arab population is concentrated in blue collar occupations and less exposed to Internet, social networks of support for its use. Lack of exposure contributes to the development to negative attitudes towards its use and the result is that they tend to refrain from access and use of ICT.23