Digital Divide still is eminent in rural areas of America
Internet access and users have
increased tremendously since the start of the 21st century, but
there still are a significant amount of people who do not have their own
computers and have to rely on alternate ways to access the internet. In an
article on NBC News, Sarah Butrymowicz talks about how many people residing in rural
areas of the US still do not have their own computers because of their social
class and lack of resources. At Colorado Edison School in Yoder, Colorado for
example, 25 – 30% of students do not have internet access at homes.
In urban
areas, there are as many computers as there are students and so there is not
much digital divide in these areas. One would assume that almost everyone in
America has their own computer and access to the internet, but this is not true
because there are a lot of minorities and lower social classes, as Kevin Guidry
stated in Digital Divide or Participation
Gap? Will Mobile Affect It? Digital divide is prevalent in other areas in
addition to rural areas today. It all depends upon social class, income, and
environmental factors.
The Participation Gap remains diverse among various age groups
There
continues to be different cohorts that utilize the internet differently
according to their experience and knowledge. According to the Pew Internet and
American Life Project, many app users are skeptical about whether or not they
should keep apps on their mobile devices because they do not want third parties
to track them. Privacy of data is a major concern for mobile device users who
are technology literate. However, mostly young adults from ages 18-24 are
deleting and avoiding applications compared to older adults and seniors. This
shows how knowledge and privacy concerns affect how users utilize internet and
applications.
The surveys
and data collected by the Pew Internet and American Life Project delineate how
the younger generation is more tech-savvy and knows a lot of different ways to
use the Internet and technology of the like as compared to the older generation
who use technology for other purposes. As Guidry stated, the participation gap
shows a big difference between people who have computers and people who do not.
Both digital divide and participation gap remain prominent in today’s America.
Digital Divide and Participation Gap will both decrease within the next couple of years
As
technology and society advances, more people will become accustomed to
technology and will become technology literate. They will be able to understand
many of the beneficial uses of the Internet and will know how to use it to
their advantage. Privacy issues will also become better addressed because
action will be taken in order to limit the data that third parties can see. In
the next 3-5 years, the economy should also improve which would generate more
income for Americans. This in turn would lead to families being able to buy
their own computers and gain internet access which would decrease digital
divide. As long as people have computers or mobile devices and can learn more
about how to use them for their own needs, the participation gap will also
decrease.
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