The Digital divide

In today's times, I'm sure you've come across/are aware of this term- The Digital divide and therefore I'm not going to spend time elaborating on it's meaning but rather on what influences it and it's role in society. (Have a look at this article if you're interested in a clear and accurate definition and overview of the digital divide).

The digital divide deals with access, use and who reaps the benefits of the digital sphere in the world. If this was a financial matter, for example, we would analyse the building blocks, i.e. the capital. From there we would look at how this capital is managed, owned and provided. Let us do the same in this case, and look into digital capital.

Let's highlight a few constituents of digital capital: virtual communities, enlargement and engagement of social networks, increase in visibility, knowledge, trust and freedom. Virtual communities and the idea of being together in a digital sense has allowed the world to become much smaller and accessible. Communities by definition are formed of people with similar ideals, traits and characteristics; in summary there is a reason a particular group of people is together. The ability of people to connect with others all over the world, with literally the click of a button has given rise to virtual communities.

Within these communities there exists networks. It must be noted that these networks can exist without a community. The enlargement and engagement of social networks would deal with the ability of people to simply connect via digital means, from mobile apps to email. Does everyone have access to resources that allows them this ability?

With the access and ability to use the above resources comes with the idea of visibility. How accessible are you? Yes, we have access to resources that allow us to join virtual communities but how easily can we be found by others? How is our digital presence portrayed? It's one thing being able to use digital resources/capital to connect but it is another issue regarding how others can connect with you. Are we visible enough? In the end, the biggest question and concern is, do we have control over our visibility in the digital world? Have a look at my blog entitled Do we have control over our own life? for more insight.

Now that we understand some of the constituents of digital capital, we can understand how they work and influence the overall digital divide. Naturally, this divide and access to/ availability of digital capital results in digital inequality. Again, I'm not going to get into the definition of digital inequality but rather let's look at the place that this inequality has in our world.

Digital inequality is just one of the many inequalities that exist in the world. My question is, how does this type of inequality (Digital inequality) align itself with the other inequalities found in the world. Are there possible links between these? Is the presence of one inequality resulting in the immediate presence of another inequality? There are many inequalities in the world based on race, class, status, gender and sexuality (to name a few). If you are a victim of one inequality does that immediately make you a victim of another? For example, in South Africa the presence of Apartheid resulted in/ was based on racial inequality. The victims of this were disadvantaged in accessing other resources for example higher-paying jobs and due to this, they could not afford devices that would allow them to access digital capital/resources. In the end, it almost felt as if they were victims of digital inequality by default.

Similar to other inequalities in the world, it is about how we can manage it finally end it. We know how untameable the spread of digital culture is, will it's inequality be the same?

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