Geographic Divide
- Mainly about access or lack of access to the digital media and Internet because of geographic location.
- It is multidimensional and can refer to national, regional and global disparities in levels of access to the digital media and the Internet.
- National and regional divides focus on Internet access levels in different localities or regions within a country, while the global divide is about disparities in access between people living in the highly developed economies of the north
- The global divide seems to follow the contours of the historical economic imbalances between the countries of the north and those of the south due to many reasons such as the colonial legacy of underdevelopment, the failure of post independence free market reforms and the current unfair trade policies that benefit the developed countries at the expense of he developing poor nations.
- Poverty is one of the major problems that is exacerbating the global digital exclusion between regions. Acute levels of poverty and deprivation have tended to force most of the countries of the Third World to prioritize development in the areas of public health, housing, provision of clean water and education, instead of developing the telecommunications infrastucture to ensure the inclusion of their citizens in the so-called information age. The focus on such basic social needs invariably means that the telecommunications networks which are so indespensible for Internet connectivity are still relatively poor in most of the countries in the south compared to those in the north, mainly because access to information is one among an endless list of social needs. The disparities in telecommunications also inevitably effect the level of digital opportunities that can be available to the people living in a particular region of the world because the Internet relies on telephone networks.
Social Divide
- About differences in access between various social groups due to socio-demographic barriers sich as class, income, education, gender, age and race.
- Affluent people tend to live in places with good telecommunications infrastructure with broadband and wireless networks, whereas poorer people who live in ghettos are less likely to have good sanitation, let alone a good telecommunications network.
- The general trend in both developed and developing countries is that the richer classes are the first to own and use these cutting-edge media technologies while the poorer people only get them as a result of the "trickle-down" effect when prices of computers and Internet connection become affordable.
- The Internet itself is capital-intensive and subsequently most poor people are kept in its fringes because computers, modems, software and Internet Service Providers' monthly subscription may not be affordable to them.
- As far as the income divide is concerned, popular access to computers and the Internet requires the elimination of the financial barriers which aggravate the physical access divide which, in turn, has a multiplacation effect on other types of the divide such as gender, race and literacy. However it most be noted that there is a significant number of people who have higher incomes but are digitally disengaged due to other impediments such as age, technological literacy, technological phobia and the lack of motivation. Similarly, lower income does not always result in digital exclusion because in many cities in Asia, Africa and India poor communities may not have access to the Internet in their homes, but can develop consistent use of it in public libraries, cyber cafes, rural Internet centers and other public acces points.
- Education is also one of the elements of the class divide. Most of the digitally excluded people are more likely to be less educated and be less well paid in their jobs, although this does not necessarily mean that they do not use the Internet. The general trend is that education or lack of it further amplifies the gap between those that can use the Internet and those who cannot because the probability of using the Internet always increases with one's level of education due to the mainstreaming of new ICTs in education.
- Other variables such as gender, race and ethnicity further complicate the social divide because social discrimination has led to the exclusion of meaningful participation of women and black people even in countries such as the USA. Studies show that, even in the US, the typical Internet user is a young white male because usage patterns are invariably embedded in socio-cultural values that predispose men to technology than women.
Democratic Divide
- Refers to the fact that there are people that can use the digital media and Internet as tools and resources for participation in political activism and those who cannot.
- In essence, the democratic divide is closely interwoven with the notion of citizenship where citizens (as opposed to subjects of a monarchy) are seen as constantly reviewing their social and political contract with the state against abuse. This divide is therefore about people who can and cannot use the Internet's plethora of resources and facilities such as information and news in websites, blogs, podcasts and other interactive forums like discussion forums, email and voiceovers for civic engagement.
- Participation in cyber activism ranges from the individual to the institutional where people organize themselves into civic groups to defend certain interests. The Internet has been central in civic engagement processes at both national and global levels.
- At a global level, civil society has also used the Internet to network and mobilize its members against certain inter-state decisions that determine global policy which affect people's lives at national levels.
- The democratic divide is also affected by other divides such as literacy/illiteracy, urban/rural, men/women and the young versus old. Regarding literacy; on the one hand of the divide there are cyber activists who may have physical access to computers and the informational literacy to decode political messages, while on the other hand there may be those who either have access but have no skills or those without both. The democratic divide is therefore complex because it does not merely end with access or lack of it, but also emphasizes media literacy which is not merely about active engagement with media messages at cognitive and affective levels, but also involves computer literacy and visual literacy especially as media and media texts continue to converge on the Internet in ways that demand reader and user sophistication. Although, the sophistication of users may vary according to class, race, age, and the rural and urban divide and this has ramifications on the democratic divide.
Main Source:
Authors:
Nigel P. Chapman
Jenny Chapman
Edited by:
Glen Creeber
Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at Aberystwyth University, UK.
Royston Martin
Journalist, documentary filmmaker and lecturer at the University of Wales, UK.
Purpose:
written as an introductory guide for media and communication studies students, as well as those with a general interest in new media and its impact throughout the world.
The authors basically want to share their research and knowledge with anyone who is interested in the subject. They explore new media’s most important issues and debates in an accessible and engaging text for newcomers to the field. Their book explains what new media is and how it is changing peoples’ lives. It debates whether or not new media has a positive or negative effect on culture and human communication and covers a great amount of other topics surrounding the digital divide. The authors and editors all come from a background in which they have studied and researched many aspects pertaining to digital cultures. They all have their own unique authority that allows them to provide thorough information on the digital divide. The information they provide also expands onto related topics, which helps improve the readers’ understanding and quality of data that can be collected in researching.
Chapman, N.P. and Chapman, J. (2009). G. Creeber and R. Martin (Eds). Digital cultures. Chichester, England: Wiley.
- Mainly about access or lack of access to the digital media and Internet because of geographic location.
- It is multidimensional and can refer to national, regional and global disparities in levels of access to the digital media and the Internet.
- National and regional divides focus on Internet access levels in different localities or regions within a country, while the global divide is about disparities in access between people living in the highly developed economies of the north
- The global divide seems to follow the contours of the historical economic imbalances between the countries of the north and those of the south due to many reasons such as the colonial legacy of underdevelopment, the failure of post independence free market reforms and the current unfair trade policies that benefit the developed countries at the expense of he developing poor nations.
- Poverty is one of the major problems that is exacerbating the global digital exclusion between regions. Acute levels of poverty and deprivation have tended to force most of the countries of the Third World to prioritize development in the areas of public health, housing, provision of clean water and education, instead of developing the telecommunications infrastucture to ensure the inclusion of their citizens in the so-called information age. The focus on such basic social needs invariably means that the telecommunications networks which are so indespensible for Internet connectivity are still relatively poor in most of the countries in the south compared to those in the north, mainly because access to information is one among an endless list of social needs. The disparities in telecommunications also inevitably effect the level of digital opportunities that can be available to the people living in a particular region of the world because the Internet relies on telephone networks.
Social Divide
- About differences in access between various social groups due to socio-demographic barriers sich as class, income, education, gender, age and race.
- Affluent people tend to live in places with good telecommunications infrastructure with broadband and wireless networks, whereas poorer people who live in ghettos are less likely to have good sanitation, let alone a good telecommunications network.
- The general trend in both developed and developing countries is that the richer classes are the first to own and use these cutting-edge media technologies while the poorer people only get them as a result of the "trickle-down" effect when prices of computers and Internet connection become affordable.
- The Internet itself is capital-intensive and subsequently most poor people are kept in its fringes because computers, modems, software and Internet Service Providers' monthly subscription may not be affordable to them.
- As far as the income divide is concerned, popular access to computers and the Internet requires the elimination of the financial barriers which aggravate the physical access divide which, in turn, has a multiplacation effect on other types of the divide such as gender, race and literacy. However it most be noted that there is a significant number of people who have higher incomes but are digitally disengaged due to other impediments such as age, technological literacy, technological phobia and the lack of motivation. Similarly, lower income does not always result in digital exclusion because in many cities in Asia, Africa and India poor communities may not have access to the Internet in their homes, but can develop consistent use of it in public libraries, cyber cafes, rural Internet centers and other public acces points.
- Education is also one of the elements of the class divide. Most of the digitally excluded people are more likely to be less educated and be less well paid in their jobs, although this does not necessarily mean that they do not use the Internet. The general trend is that education or lack of it further amplifies the gap between those that can use the Internet and those who cannot because the probability of using the Internet always increases with one's level of education due to the mainstreaming of new ICTs in education.
- Other variables such as gender, race and ethnicity further complicate the social divide because social discrimination has led to the exclusion of meaningful participation of women and black people even in countries such as the USA. Studies show that, even in the US, the typical Internet user is a young white male because usage patterns are invariably embedded in socio-cultural values that predispose men to technology than women.
Democratic Divide
- Refers to the fact that there are people that can use the digital media and Internet as tools and resources for participation in political activism and those who cannot.
- In essence, the democratic divide is closely interwoven with the notion of citizenship where citizens (as opposed to subjects of a monarchy) are seen as constantly reviewing their social and political contract with the state against abuse. This divide is therefore about people who can and cannot use the Internet's plethora of resources and facilities such as information and news in websites, blogs, podcasts and other interactive forums like discussion forums, email and voiceovers for civic engagement.
- Participation in cyber activism ranges from the individual to the institutional where people organize themselves into civic groups to defend certain interests. The Internet has been central in civic engagement processes at both national and global levels.
- At a global level, civil society has also used the Internet to network and mobilize its members against certain inter-state decisions that determine global policy which affect people's lives at national levels.
- The democratic divide is also affected by other divides such as literacy/illiteracy, urban/rural, men/women and the young versus old. Regarding literacy; on the one hand of the divide there are cyber activists who may have physical access to computers and the informational literacy to decode political messages, while on the other hand there may be those who either have access but have no skills or those without both. The democratic divide is therefore complex because it does not merely end with access or lack of it, but also emphasizes media literacy which is not merely about active engagement with media messages at cognitive and affective levels, but also involves computer literacy and visual literacy especially as media and media texts continue to converge on the Internet in ways that demand reader and user sophistication. Although, the sophistication of users may vary according to class, race, age, and the rural and urban divide and this has ramifications on the democratic divide.
Main Source:
Authors:
- Nigel P. Chapman
- Jenny Chapman
Edited by:- Glen Creeber
- Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at Aberystwyth University, UK.
- Royston Martin
- Journalist, documentary filmmaker and lecturer at the University of Wales, UK.
Purpose:Chapman, N.P. and Chapman, J. (2009). G. Creeber and R. Martin (Eds). Digital cultures. Chichester, England: Wiley.