The rapid spread of smart devices has created a new digital divide which is called smart digital divide for the information minority group. However, little research has been conducted to examine smart digital divide. This study aims to investigate how the ability to use smart devices and the degree of use have an impact on life satisfaction of users by comparing people with and without disabilities. This study found that the increases in the ability to use smart devices and the degree of use for networking, social participation, and economic activities are related to improving life satisfaction of the people without disabilities. In addition, the ability to use smart devices and life satisfaction are positively related to social capital. Yet, the effect of the ability to use smart devices on the life satisfaction of the people with disabilities is not statistically significant. Meanwhile, social participation and economic activities through smart devices have shown to increase the life satisfaction of the people with disabilities. Moreover, networking, social participation and economic activities are all found to be positive control variables in the ability to use smart devices and life satisfaction of the people with disabilities. The results of this study suggest that the actual use of smart devices (on networking, social participation, economic activities) plays a greater role in the life satisfaction rather than the use ability of smart devices.
Volume 11 | 07-Special Issue
Pages: 1231-1241