Contents
Introduction
In a previous discussion, one of the obstacles preventing social media from affecting a positive influence on social capital was the Digital Divide. The problem of course is that like many singular issues, the digital divide is itself made up of multiple caveats.
Article
Note: The article posted for discussion was offline at time of writing.
Discussion
Physical Connection
Connected
This is the most obvious – if you don’t have a connection, you aren’t online. As cited by InternetLiveStats.com approximately 40% of the world’s population is online. This status is meant to sound impressive and it is – but viewed from the opposite angle, that means 60% of the population is NOT online.
Semi-Connected
Being online does not mean one has a quality or even a consistent connection. The statistic of population online is a binary, and a misleading one at that. After all, intermittent and or poor access is still “online”. There is little quantitative data on connection quality, but speculative heuristics paint a bleak picture for most of the 40% who have a connection at all. Only the first world – and not even all of that – enjoys a full fast connection.
Connection quality may sound like more of an annoyance than a real problem, but perspective applies. What we call a poor connection, most of the world calls unimaginable. Furthermore, most online content is designed and built by the very entities with the best connections. This includes government sites, information sources, non-profit organizations, and of course most social media applications.
End result is that as the first world moves more and more of its basic commerce and social interaction online – the rest of the world actually loses access rather than gaining as is a common assumption.
Linguistics
Another obvious issue. English is the language of business. Unfortunately though English is the third largest language by number of speakers – that still leaves most of the world behind a vast and for the moment virtually impenetrable wall of non-communication. As is often the case, it is the world’s poor yet again at the greatest disadvantage, for they are more likely to be native speakers of more obscure dialects, and the least able to obtain access to English education.
As communication goes both ways, native English speakers are often no more well equipped than their non occidental counterparts to deal with a linguistic divide, and many simply have no wish to.
Education
We love to joke about how inept our progenitors are when it comes to online savvy. The classic story of some random grandmother being preyed upon by schemers, scammers, and spammers is more prevalent than ever.
Try to imagine what happen if grandmother wasn’t a first world denizen with access to contemporary education, a modern connection, and the primary language of online communication. Now face the reality – that is exactly the situation most of our world happens resides in.
Online savvy goes well beyond dodging malefactors. The simple act of searching for information is a skill we take for granted. What about typing? Maintaining software? Or for that matter, hardware. There is simply more to getting online than having a neighborhood connection, and for the people who need it the most, it is these skills we consider perfunctory that are the domain of greatest privilege.
Hope
Logistical challenges of bringing the world online at all, let alone at a quality approaching that we in the first enjoy, is both astronomical and growing. Fortunately several entities have risen to take on this challenge. See below for a few in action.