–Hello Bloggies and Bloggettes!
For this week I’ve decided to talk about the Digital Divide and why it’s important to close the gap between developed and under developed communities.
So, lets start with the basics: what is the Digital Divide? it’s actually a simple definition. The Digital Divide is the difference between those who have access to the internet and those who do not. You might be thinking, “No internet access, how are they functioning?”
The Washington Post reported on an article from a 2016 Information Society Report, which stated there are 3.9 billion people in the world who do not use the internet. The study also found these numbers heavily represented the less educated, elderly, rural, and female (Taylor 2016).
The Digital Divide falls into three categories: global, social, and personal. Global being lack of access or policy restrictive communities, social focusing more on a persons demographics, and personal being the user’s choice to refrain from internet use maybe due to privacy concerns for example.
Without the internet, people go without all the internet has to offer and the benefits of being in tune with those around you. For example while I was doing research for this blog post I learned the internet has helped families 98% with education, 71% with social networking, 55% with entertainment, 62% with job seeking, and 52% with government services (NCTA 2018). So as you can see those suffering from a global, social, or a personal divide are missing out on furthering an education, getting that dream job, tuning into leisure content, networking, etc. With technology constantly changing and expanding it is necessary, in my opinion, to work to close these gaps.
We should be implementing technology literacy programs for those unsure or unaware of the different aspects that come with the internet. Legislators should be putting pressure on making internet access more accessible across the board. There should be less of a monopoly around service providers and more options that allow different individuals in different demographics to find their right fit. Now, this is just me brainstorming because I feel it is important we identify the problems with the gap and then begin to see how we can get it under control.
–until next time,
Works Cited
“Closing the Digital Divide.” NCTA, 2018, http://www.ncta.com/positions/closing-the-digital-divide.
Taylor, Adam. “47 Percent of the World’s Population Now Use the Internet, Study Says.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Nov. 2016.
Taylor's 