The Internet in Latin America

Abstract

This article addresses the diverse patterns of internet access, uses and appropriations by different populations in Latin America. The correlation between nequalities in access and economic disparities is not sufficient to define or explain the region’s complexity. In an attempt to avoid economic and technological determinism while simultaneously visualizing the general picture of the internet in Latin America without disregarding its finer grain idiosyncrasies, the text is organized in three sections. First, a brief overall picture of the global position of Latin America with respect to the internet. Second, a discussion of three profiles of internet penetration and appropriation vis a vis similar local socioeconomic conditions. Third, qualitatively significant examples of the forms of use and appropriation of the internet in Latin America.