Graduate Project
 

Digital Inclusion and Houselessness: A Qualitative Exploration of the Impacts of Internet Access on Low-Income Participants

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_projects/41687s15h

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  • As the Internet has radically changed modern life, much attention has been paid to the outcomes produced by the diffusion of online access. In the modern economy, reliable Internet access is a crucial tool offering better access to information and opportunities, increasing work efficiency, and facilitating personal connection, leaving those without at a significant disadvantage. This project seeks to investigate the impacts that Internet access - or lack of it - has on the experience of the unhoused. I conducted interviews with local case managers and shelter staff and focus groups with their clientele - which includes both the local unhoused population and those in transitional and permanent, supportive housing - to gather their experiences. This project is exploratory in nature and focuses mostly on the stories of a small sample of local participants, but the results have been in line with the literature in reflecting the importance of Internet access. Accessing social services, housing and job opportunities, education, personal connections and community, and fun activities can all be done with the aid of reliable Internet access, and all participants stressed that it has been an important resource in their journeys (especially during the Covid-19 pandemic). These findings suggest that empowering access to the Internet would be a useful resource in aiding the unhoused, with impacts on their economic situation and personal well-being. This access also empowers them to be an active participant in bettering their situation.
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