Dijital Bölünme Bağlamında Dijital Beceri Düzeyi ile Politik Katılım Arasındaki İlişki: Kuzeydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi Örneği

Digital divide is among the most

important problems required to be overcome by our contemporary information

society; whereas, skills are among the principle determinants of such

inequalities. This study examines the digital divide in a non-Western

population which has not been studied before, and specifically it measures the

digital skill levels of the people living in the Northeastern Anatolia region

of Turkey. The primary contribution of the study is confirmatory of previous

research regarding digital skills, though in the context of a

previously-unexamined population. By using a sample representing the region (n

= 400), the digital skills levels of the participants were measured. Data were collected

through performance tests developed by van Deursen and van Dijk. Findings

indicate that the digital skill level of the participants is generally low. The

users are most successful at the formal level, followed by operational,

informational and strategic skills respectively. The level of strategic skill

is quite low, which hints at the fact that the users studied are not able to

translate their Internet use into real-world tangible benefits. It is also

found that age, gender, education, household income significantly predicts

digital skills level.<o:p></o:p>