Another attempt at live blogging a talk. Will clean up … eventually.
Jan van Dijk (Twente) is talking about “The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society”
Professor of communication science in a department of communication … written three books that related to digital divide … including the book, “The Deepening Divide” (2005)
ABSTRACT
This lecture will consider the present state of the digital divide worldwide. It will do so by inventorying the achievements and shortcomings of five years of digital divide research (2000-2005). Achievements are classified under four successive types of access: motivational, physical, skills and usage. A shift of attention from physical access to skills and usage is observed. In terms of physical access the divide seems to be closing in the most developed countries. In contrast, in terms of digital skills and the use of applications, the divide persists and perhaps widens or deepens. Among the shortcomings of digital divide research are its lack of theory, conceptual definition, interdisciplinary approach, qualitative research and longitudinal research. The second part of the lecture will discuss more basic questions about inequality in the information society.
The focus is on three questions:
- To what type of inequality does the digital divide concept refer?
- What is new about the inequality of access to and use of ICTs as compared to other scarce material and immaterial resources?
- Do new types of inequality exist or rise in the information society?
Divide not done, depending on definition of “divide” … much more than physical access
Topics:
Four basic questions
* has the digital divide closed? … almost closed (physical access) or deepening (skills and usage)
* type of inequality refered in “digital divide” … emphasize motivation, skills and participation
* what is new about digital media access (as compared to old media access)? … digital media are multi-functional and becoming more important for society than media of the past
* dealing with old or new inequalities in society? … both. old reappears in terms of resources (education, ethnicity, gender, age, etc). new -> information, ability to process info, use for particular purposes (related to information and network society, not industrial)
Inequality of what?
Technical view … techn opportunities
idealist view … life chances, freedom
materialist … capital (social, economic, cultural)
resource-based approach … resources (including temporal), positions, power … that is cause, the effect is participation
educational … capabilities, skills … education is vital. We will be more required to educate
Methodological views
Individualist and relational views of inequality … acquisition of technology happens in community (The Network Society, analysis in terms of relations)
Individualist view – attribute of individuals
Relational – part of the relationship between social categories (male-female, high-low educated, management-executive, young-old, ethnic majority-minority, rich/poor regions) … competition in appropriation of technology … (“who is taking the remote control?”)
Kinds of access … building on each other
Motivation (of use)
Physical/material access … computer/internet possession … many think the problem is solved at this point
Access through Digital skills … strategic (improving position in society through use of technology), informational, operational
Access through Usage and Usage gaps … similar to knowledge gaps
Every time a new innovation appears, the process starts anew (motivation – material – skills – usage)
Motivation
* ranges from preference not to use -> anxiety, technophobia
* reduced since 1980s
* appears with new tech … anxieties disappear as people get used to it
* not completely — UCLA (2003) report: 30% of new users and 10% of experienced user were technophobic
* Not oniine (42%) – truly unconnected (24%), net evaders, net dropouts
* Online (58%) – intermittent, steady users, home broadband users (13%) (from PEW Internet study, 2002)
Physical
* in 20-25 years (almost as fast as television), penetration is 75% for Internet and 85% for PCs in advanced high-tech countries
* In 2007, there are about 20% completely unconnected, but another 15% with computer never uses it … total non-participants 1/3
* Less than 2-5% of young (age 12-18) has never used the Interent
* some people refuse access
* even telephone access has not completely closed (perhaps 4%) … digital divide will never fully close
* still widening gaps in developing countries (1990-2002), from ITU estimates … difference is more pronounced with Internet than PC
Digital Skills
* Operational skills – to run computer and network hardware/software
* Information skills – to search, select, process info … formal (navigation), substantial (distinctions between reliable/unreliable, for example) … younger people are not better than older at this
* Strategic skills – to use these info sources for own goals
Usage
* Frequency (hours of use) – In Netherlands, males use 5.2 hours a week, females 2.4 hours a week … education is less important than age and gender … gap is increasing
* Number of Users / Variation of Applications –
* Productive & Consumptive – who has own website: young people, males have more
* Kinds of applications (“serious” vs. entertainment applications) – serious (information, news/current affairs, jobs/vacancies, internet banking, buying/selling good) … entertainment (games/pictures/music, chatting) … pattern emerges everywhere and is getting stronger
Probability of a Usage Gap
some sections of population will use advanced applications, while others will use the simple ones
* cause: information, strategic skills + social positions occupied
* familiar to knowledge gap thesis (differential knowledge derived from the mass media)
personal (age, gender, ethnicity, intelligence, personality, health/ability) and positional (labor, education, household, nation) categorical inequalities -> Distribution of Resources (temporal, material, mental, social, cultural) -> Access to ICTs -> participation in society (economy, social networks, geography, culture, politics, institutions)
charactieristics of ICTs -> participation in society
participation influences inequality, resources and access
Consequences
What stakes? Why worried? … participation in society … “If you don’t have access to computers and the internet now and in the future, you are at an economic disadvantage.” … need this part to explain to politicians why something should be done, awareness is important
* Economical – access necessary for jobs, skills
* Social – social capital (contacts in community)
* Mobility – spatial and social, more mobile have more access (Manual Castel)
* Political – those interested will profit more
* Institutional – gov’t expects increasingly that citizens can reach services through Internet, concentration on public e-services
Shift: from absolute to relative inequality … not “in” or “out” but rather “more” or “less” opportunities to move ahead (i.e. differences in trading stocks is greater, because information differences are greater) … who has best position of gaining and losing
Matthew-effect in participation – “rich get richer” phenomenon, power-law … people with strongest positions and most resources are far better equipped to use the digital media (NOTE: is this bad, in context of complexity?)
Approaching a network society with a structural characteristic of inequality … this is what he wants to prevent
Information shift, emphasizing the kinds of applications that benefit those on the “wrong side of the digital divide” (where to find low-income housing instead of how to get the best rates on mortgages)
Plead for a very focused approach to include those who are currently neglected.
Tripartite Network Society
Information Elite (15%) – densely connected in many ways, deeply integrated
Participating Majority (50-60%) – more or less participate in information society, but fewer connections
Unconnected & Excluded (the rest) – socially isolated
Q&A
* putting a great deal of importance on technology as deterministic (i.e. in the future, the way to make connections is dependent on the tech)
* how much of divide is attributable to changes in education in schools between generations?… physical access issues are age-based, in terms of exposure to tech … people who are good at traditional literacy are also good at information search and critique, with younger people underprivileged in this area (haven’t learned it yet)
* there are probably direct causal relationships between resources and participation (bypassing access) – access is one of the mediated channels. … already existing path … the causal diagram is too individualistic; that’s the thing to be changed
* different kinds of usage choices are made, multiple sources are used … most important thing is what they are doing with the information they get, but this research is a framework to facilitate that kind of inquiry … to build a relational framework, even this research has to be re-done from the ground up, looking for different things
* … educators should recognize, understand and incorporate the tech experiences of young learners into the curriculum, rather than forcing them to switch their brains to a completely different mode (more than being “up to date”)
NOTE: Is the divide not attributed to the mode of information dissemination/acquisition but rather the speed at which it is accessed?
