Are there any poor people on the internet?

[Fumesucker]

I just had a conversation with a DUer who implied that no poor person can be on the internet. To my ears at least he sounded just like the Republicans who claim if you have a refrigerator, a cell phone or a flat screen TV you can't be poor.

I can get an internet capable computer complete with monitor for $20 at yard sales, flea markets and thrift stores, I'd have to pay more than that for a flat screen TV at the same places because they are more in demand than old computers. An internet connection can be had for free or very low cost if you know what you are doing.

In my view that poster was full of shit but I'm wondering what you think.

[polly7]

1. Oh good grief.

I know plenty of poor people on the internet. Many who are close friends.

[w0nderer]

62. wish du had a like

so do i , people i go home to and they can offer 'beans rice and broth'...and i can offer the same back

[JackInGreen]

2. Paycheck to paycheck, hand to mouth

We have community Internet here and public wifi all over, so we're blessed. If not for those we'd be toast for connectivity.

[upaloopa]

3. Thery would need a service to connect to the internet. It is hard to do if you have poor credit and

need to make a deposit.

[polly7]

10. More and more, you can't look for employment,

scout out housing, find affordable services, aid organizations, gov't services, etc. etc. without the internet. Public wifi in libraries, coffee shops, hot-spots all over the place are easily accessible free of charge. What are they supposed to do, NOT take advantage of this in order to try to get help for their situation, or even be able to communicate with family and friends? I can't imagine anyone even trying to survive today without it.

[upaloopa]

23. I'm not saying they should live without it. I work with grants to provide housing

for homeless. Many of the places where people get shelter have wifi and the social workers help them have access to the internet to find other services and jobs.

[polly7]

25. That's great!

I admire your work.

[cwydro]

24. Anyone can use the internet at their local library for free.

I've done it myself.

[MADem]

55. You can connect to the internet on a smart phone. And you can get a pay-as-you-use smart phone now.

Walmart and other places sell hotspots with cards where you can buy a gig of 'internet' for ten bucks. Use that sparingly and stretch it out. You pay as you go, you meter your use, you try to cadge off Starbucks, that diner with wifi, that hotel with an open signal, that nearby dentist, doctor's office, anywhere people gather and have to wait, etc. to stretch out your usage.

And then, of course, there's the library.

[w0nderer]

71. cheap contract less smartphone

problem solved
hotspot software
problem doesn't even exist

[hobbit709]

4. Whoever said that was an idiot.

I live on $968/mo. SS. You want to call me rich just because I have a computer, internet, TV and a cell phone.

[ruffburr]

11. Me Too, Exactly

[Fumesucker]

17. My SS is a little bit less than that...

[Iggo]

32. Fuckin A.

[haikugal]

64. Same here and I qualify for everything...well under the poverty line.

I get the exact same amount a month.

[jberryhill]

5. Define "on the internet"

You may find these maps of mobile devices interesting:

http://www.businessinsider.com/android-is-for-poor-people-maps-2014-4

[Fumesucker]

6. Let's say able to read and post to DU

Would that work for you?

[jberryhill]

42. Yes

Then the answer is LOTS.

There are guys with pedal rickshaws in Delhi who use smartphones.

It doesn't even have to have telephone service.

A lot of people are on pay-as-you-go plans for telco data service, but use WiFi in order to Skype for calls and Whatsapp for text messaging.

[Kilgore]

28. Fascinating maps and article, thanks for posting the link

I really never gave any thought to who uses what platform.

Personally gave up on the iPhone two generations ago and went android. Probably will never go back.

[dixiegrrrrl]

58. Fascinating that Google play is so BIG in Japan vs. other countries

Very educational maps on the page.

[ruffburr]

7. AS one of the-

Poor let me answer, Yes i'm online, Yes it is quite possible to be poor and online, Depends on ones priority's, Even some of those who are homeless stay connected in order to find work etc. Just because one is financially screwed does not mean that they were so always nor does it mean that they are ignorant.

[LiberalArkie]

16. And it is very cheap entertainment and very cost effective. I saved up and bought a heat pump water

heater for $1200. Why would I spend so much for a water heater? It cut my water bill in half and will pay for itself in January 2016. And I will continue to enjoy the savings.

[2naSalit]

54. +1

[Cairycat]

8. computers at public libraries n/t

[demmiblue]

9. Of course.

Also, some people are given cheap tablets/computers as presents or hand-me-downs (or have an old computer/tablet that they got before becoming poor due to a myriad of reasons). Wi-fi hot spots are all over the place! Libraries also provide free internet access.

I think of the internet as a necessity in this day and age. Basic no-cost or low-cost internet service should be provided to the poor.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

12. Obviously it depends on what you want to call 'poor'.

I've known of multiple homeless folks who have post over at DK over the years. And many public libraries have machines to let folks get online for free, at least half an hour or an hour a day.

Also whether you're talking wealth vs income. I've still got a house, but my income the last 6 years has been well below the poverty line. I strongly suspect some of my other online friends are below the line as well, even if they are unwilling to say so, but just note that their financial situation is precarious to dire constantly.

There are surely millions of hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck folks online.

[TexasProgresive]

13. I've seen apparently homeless people using the library PCs

True the use is time limited.

[marble falls]

14. Your first inclination was correct: he's full of shit. Good call....

tell him to check out the free internet section of his local library. It will be full of people with no home connection.

[Android3.14]

15. The library

Mrs. 'Droid is a librarian, and she has many-many low income patrons who use the computers for web access.

[pinboy3niner]

18. I vote full of shit

[1939]

31. Not sure

Intuitively, I believe that those who post on the internet (as opposed to those who just view it) would tend to have a median income a little higher up the scale though there would be a lot of overlap with some very poor posting and some very rich not posting. Just like the median income of newspaper subscribers will tend to be a notch above non-subscribers. That is just my intuitive feel for it.

[Orrex]

19. My butler screens the internet for me so that I'm not exposed to poor people

[pinboy3niner]

20. Your butler is a hit man for the 99 percent

He's just waiting for his cue.

[Orrex]

21. You know, he has been acting kind of funny lately.

I'm on to you Jeeves--your days are numbered!

[JackInGreen]

27. If you'd just pay off the guild

We wouldn't have it out for you; and te-...I mean Jeeves, would happily be an armed body guard instead of waiting for your turned back

[ileus]

22. Lot's of poor afford beer and smokes, why not the innerwebs also.

[Rebkeh]

26. This person ever heard of libraries? Eom

[sunnystarr]

29. Comcast has a program ...

Internet Essentials from Comcast offers low-cost Internet service, computer equipment and free digital literacy training to families with at least one child eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program.

Bringing more families online:
As the nation’s leading Internet provider, we want to help make the Internet more accessible to more people. That’s why we’re pleased to introduce Internet Essentials, a program designed to help increase broadband adoption.
Comcast agreed to offer Internet Essentials starting in the 2011–2012 school year. Internet Essentials is only available to new XFINITY Internet customers who have at least one child who is eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

Internet Essentials Includes:

Fast home Internet for just $9.95 a month + tax
No activation fees and no equipment rental fees
Optional computer available at initial enrollment for just $149.99 + tax
Access to free Internet training – online, in print and in person
WiFi N sidecar router
A wireless gateway is available for less than $10.00 per month

Internet Essentials is available in all areas where Comcast offers Internet service. For additional information about Internet Essentials, including program eligibility criteria, please visit www.internetessentials.com or es.internetessentials.com.

http://customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support/internet/comcast-broadband-opportunity-program/

[TexasBushwhacker]

67. Only for families with kids

It's so kids can access educational materials online.

[roody]

30. Many at the public library

[TexasBushwhacker]

41. Yup, and McDonalds

You can get an old laptop for $100, sometimes less.

[Faux pas]

33. Do you mean poor

or broke? Poor to me means no friends, no hope, no joy. We all know what broke means.

[eppur_se_muova]

34. Yep, the library. I did a year-long job search from the public library.

Typically you have available an hour or two per individual per day. Printing carries charges, but there's a lot you can do without printing anything.

[restorefreedom]

35. yes, libraries as many have mentioned

have free access

and basic dialup can be as little as $10 a month. i would hardly call that rich

[tenderfoot]

36. I agree with you. Also, many are able to connect at their local library

eom

[PowerToThePeople]

37. There are many millions who do not have internet.

The library is not always convienient.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

60. Correct, but that is not what was said.

The person the OP is talking about said no poor people use the Internet, which is completely absurd. Internet capable devices can be very cheap and even given to poor people by others. Internet service can also be very cheap or even free through hot spots throughout many cities or neighbors that let others have access to their wifi. It may be more difficult for poor to have reliable access 24/7, but to say no of them have access is extremely ignorant.

[PowerToThePeople]

61. I would agree with that. eom

[Union Label]

38. damn right there are

and I'm one of them!

[redwitch]

39. I'm here.

I didn't use to be poor but I am most definitely poor now.

when the economy crashed and burned our incomes did too.

It is stressful and I see no way out at the present time.

We still have internet because we have to have it for work.

[bunnies]

40. Even the winter we spent with no heat...

we still had internet. We need internet to look for work, etc. Of course poor people are online.

[MrScorpio]

43. I just bought an Internet capable iMac for 84 bucks.

When you don't have a lot of money, you find a way.

[Elwood P Dowd]

45. That's the secret.

I haven't bought a new Mac since the late 1990s. Every few years buy a nice used Mac for a good price because I absolutely hate using Windows. Which iMac did you get?

[MrScorpio]

46. I got the 21in white 2 Core Duo 2.16GHz model

Last edited Tue Nov 10, 2015, 09:51 PM - Edit history (1)

I found a local tech rehab joint. They're getting my business from now on.

[Elwood P Dowd]

47. Dam, that thing is worth at least 3-4 times that price.

Does that place have a web site?

[MrScorpio]

48. Here you go…

http://greentechrecyclers.com

[Elwood P Dowd]

44. I'm on the internet living on a small Social Security check

and a tiny bit of interest income. Every thing I own is paid for -- truck, home, furniture, stereo, TV, computer, etc. so I don't have any huge monthly bills. Now if I had to pay rent and a car payment, I would be in big trouble.

[Fumesucker]

49. I'm in the same boat, small income from SS but everything is paid for

And I too would be in very deep doo doo if I had to pay rent and a payment.

[loyalsister]

50. Yes there are

Public housing in my area offers computer labs. Libraries also make computers available. Some poor people have access to the internet even if they don't have computers.

[w0nderer]

51. can i repost in working poor (even better with a url)

I'd love the DU'ers name so we know who we speak against

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1284

working poor group

if he was to stick his nose into working poor i'm sure a rhinoplastic might be needed

[w0nderer]

52. please feel free to give ingnoramus the url to

working poor group http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1284

and we'll chew it off!

he's full of it
internet is how we learn, how we add skills, how we get better jobs

most of the time

[Hydra]

53. I've seen that meme on DU before

And it's pretty toxic. Internet is one of the most inexpensive ways to get information and communicate with others, and I've been in various stages of working poor to just plain destitute over my 11 years hanging out on DU and 8 years non-lurking.

I think some dems want to believe that we are all affluent and benefiting from the policies of 3rd way, and have enormous blinders on.

[SheilaT]

56. How are we defining poor in this context?

My best friend does not have a computer at home, but he goes to the library almost every single day and is on the internet there.

He's not quite poor: has SS, a pension, owns his own small condo (still being paid for) and can afford to do much of what he'd like to do. Not a lot of excess in his budget, but he's not on the edge of homelessness, either.

[Half-Century Man]

57. Family of four living on my disability check.

Wife's business nets 700 a year.
Daughter just starting out, nothing saved, factory job at 9.50hr
Grand Daughter on last year of High School.
9 year old computer or 7 year old laptop.
Rent takes 42% of disability income, We are nearly living on top of each other.
Internet approx $72.00 month
Today I bought my wife the first new coat she has owned since 2008.
Life is good today...an ongoing challenge, but good.

[xmas74]

59. I would be considered poor, according to the federal government guidelines.

I have internet instead of cable and am frugal in other ways with my household supplies. We use the internet for our entertainment but it's also important for my teenager's homework. She has a number of classes where the assignments must be submitted online.

[zalinda]

63. It really depends

there are some people who are just not that interested in the Internet. Their lives are lived differently, they have all the friends they need and all the information that they need. Believe it or not, there are people who have never set foot in a library after they left school. My mother was like that, she used her computer to play solitaire, but would call me up when she had a question, so I could look up the information. And, my sister is like that, as well as her friend, they have their lives and it doesn't include the Internet, even though both of them have it, nor does it involve the library.

This world has a lot of different shades of gray.

Z

[840high]

65. I got a flat screen monitor for $12.00 at thrift store.

[Melurkyoulongtime]

66. +1000

I'm poor (I mean really, really poor right now - income is on low side of $600/mo. right now w no gov. assistance to help @ this point, sigh, but according to many where I live I'm still a "taker" though I was a "responsible" citizen prior to 2012 when I got laid off) and I get internet thru my smart phone. I'd be lost wo it as I have no access to the libary right now. The poster who said that poor people can't be on the internet is naive at best and a moran at worst. Ha! I finally got to use "moran" in a sentence! Woohoo!

[B Calm]

68. I see them on computers at my local libraries.

[gollygee]

69. I know very poor people on the internet. Homeless people are on the internet.

You can't find jobs or keep up with work issues without email. Almost everyone finds a way to access the internet, and there are many ways.

I know someone who was homeless until recently and shelters she lived in had internet access. She had to have a way to search for work. She also had a smart phone because she had to have a way to get calls and emails from places where she'd applied for work. Government services need a way to contact you too.

These things are no longer really optional.

[LiberalArkie]

70. They are probably looking at their 100mb home internet as normal. A lot of DUers think of a

house as 2 story and a 4 car garage. A lot think of the $10,000 stainless fridge as a normal refrigerator etc. I have known many solid Democrats like that. What is funny most is executives think that their employees like high on the hog also. They just can not imagine how people in the real world just barely get by.

[w0nderer]

72. So much truth in this post

My former boss used to think i lived high on the hog

he or she (married couple were owners of company) would look at where i lived and say..this is not a nice neighborhood
then every once in a while they'd drive some of us 'workers' somewhere and they'd try to make 'conversation'

like saying, hey w0nderer, this is a nice neighborhood (pointing to an area where apts go at $2000 a month )
or asking if i had eaten at restaurant X (where standard bill is 50-60 bucks)

after politely saying no for a couple of years, i started answering, 'you sign my paycheck, every month, and you think i can afford that?'

probably not a clever thing to do but i had a better job lined up