ESZTER HARGITTAI'S RESEARCH Content Diversity Online: Myth or Reality? 2007. In Media Diversity and Localism: Meanings and Metrics edited by Philip Napoli. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. pp. 349-362. Abstract With literally billions of Web pages constituting the publicly available Web, it is reasonable to assume that diverse types of material are easily available to users. Nonetheless, it remains an empirical question to see whether people actually access the vast diversity of resources theoretically available to them online. In this chapter, I draw on data about people's actual online behavior to assess whether users visit diverse types of content on the Web or whether their online information-uses mirror off-line behaviors. Findings suggest that although people turn to a variety of sources for information online, their actions seem to resemble off-line media consumption patterns. I explore why these behaviors are not necessarily a reflection of user preferences, rather they are at least in part a function of how content is organized and presented online, and skill differences among users. Outline I. The Importance of Studying "Exposure Diversity" II. Studying People's Online Information-Seeking Behavior III. The Availability of Cultural Event Information Online IV. Accessing Cultural Event Information Online V. Conclusion Please note This is a pre-print version of the chapter to appear in "Media Diversity and Localism: Meaning and Metrics" edited by Philip Napoli. Please do not post this document on any Web sites or distribute it on any mailing lists. You can point people to its online location here: http://www.eszter.com/research/c07-contentdiversity.html Thank you.