Article Corresponding author: Alexander J.A.M. van Deursen, University of Twente Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Department of Media, Communication and Organization, Cubicus Building, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands Email: a.j.a.m.vandeursen@utwente.nl Internet skills and the digital divide Alexander van Deursen and Jan van Dijk University of Twente, The Netherlands Abstract Because of the growing amount of information on the internet and people’s increasing dependence on information, internet skills should be considered as a vital resource in contemporary society. This article focuses on the differential possession of internet skills among the Dutch population. In two studies, an in-depth range of internet skills are measured by charging subjects assignments to be accomplished on the internet. Subjects were recruited by applying a random stratified sampling method over gender, age, and education. While the level of operational and formal internet skills appeared quite high, the level of information and strategic internet skills is questionable. Whereas education appeared an important contributor to all skill levels, age only appeared a significant contributor to operational and formal skills. The results strengthen the findings that the original digital divide of physical internet access has evolved into a divide that includes differences in skills to use the internet. Keywords digital divide, inequality, information, internet, internet skills, literacy, online Introduction The term ‘digital divide’ initially referred to gaps in access to a computer. When the internet diffused rapidly into society and became a primary type of computing, the term shifted to encompass gaps in not only computer but also internet access. Early research on the digital divide focused mainly on a binary classification of physical access. Theories of internet adoption have recognized this limitation and an increasing number of researchers have argued that more attention should be paid to social, psychological, and cultural backgrounds (Van Dijk, 2006). This has resulted in several conceptualizations new media & society 13(6) 893–911 © The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1461444810386774 nms.sagepub.com