BERKELEY, Calif., April 5 (UPI) -- Internet-connected African Americans are blogging more often than their white and Hispanic counterparts, researchers say.
A study by the University of California, Berkeley, found that while African-Americans as a whole are less likely to be able to afford laptops and personal computers, once online they blog one and a half times to nearly twice as much as whites or Hispanics.
"Blacks consume less online content, but once online, are more likely to produce it," said study author Jen Schradie, a doctoral candidate in sociology and a researcher at the Berkeley Center for New Media.
But, she said, "While blacks are more likely to blog than whites, it doesn't mean the digital divide is over.
"People with more income and education are still more likely to blog than those with just a high school education and Internet access."
Schradie's study did not look into why African Americans might blog at higher rates than whites and Hispanics.
However, she said, "Perhaps African-Americans, who have been marginalized from the mainstream news media, now have a platform for participation and are more likely to blog."
