Different Questions on Digital Inequality
The shift in academic focus from the digital divide to digital inequality is clear. With increased access and use over time, "...new forms of inequality have surfaced alongside [ ] long-standing [ones]..." (Robinson et al., 2015). Across the readings, authors asked similar questions. In response, I'm posing different questions and points-of-view.
1. Digital inequalities and why they matter (2015)
A primer on digital inequality, Robinson et al. (2015) illustrates how digital inequalities continue to grow and through lenses yet to be explored.
Robinson et al. (2015) presents important economic-related insights that are, in-so-far, frequently missing from published research. Life chances in relation to entrepreneurial activities is a salient one. Hence, Robinson et al. (2015) frames elite producers and occasional producers, in light of access, self-efficacy and gender. This take on economic activity is crucial, and I suspect, recent changes in the American workforce and public policy will soon lead to questions not unlike the following:
What implications might the end of net neutrality impose among college degree holders?
The salary spectrum for degree holders is wide. As such, if internet access is tiered by price and/or service provider, how will producers be affected? Despite education, there's potential for more nuanced inequality within this group (based on geography and service). In short, geography can potentially weaken the income and education linkage. Perhaps, revitalizing the digital divide at the first-level to some extent.
What implications might the rising costs of a four-year college education and crushing student debt have on the correlation between income and education?
More Americans are starting to pursue vocational pathways to technology jobs (e.g.: bootcamps, coding academies, self-teaching) than ever before. The NPR article, "12 Weeks to a 6-Figure Job" (Kamenetz, 2014), figures that immersive web development programs "[took] in an estimated $73 million in tuition" between 2011 and 2014. Will we see a shift in inequality as high school (only) graduates complete certificates for high-tech training? Will the income gap between them and those holding non-STEM 4-year degrees narrow? Will the lesser educated group eventually be on-par or out earn the former? Given the same skillset and earlier entry into the workforce, will the label "lesser educated" hold the same meaning?
On another note, Robinson et al. (2015) states, "Minorities may use ICTs to reduce network homophily and increase the number of weak ties to others, allowing them to increase the size of their network and reduce its homophily."
While true, intergroup dynamics on SNSs should also be considered. Are minorities self-segregating or have deeply entrenched off-line structural behaviors, like in-group/out-group conflict, led to the formation of homophily online activities and spaces, like Black Twitter and Pantsuit Nation?
2. Content creation on the internet: a social cognitive perspective on the digital divide (2015)
Hoffman, Lutz, and Meckel (2015) does a good job discussing the theoretical and methodical conflicts that pose barriers across the body-of-knowledge. However, there are serious limitations within their own study. Among them is their analysis on privacy.
Hoffman et al. (2015) claims that German usage of the internet is comparable to that of America, but In regards to privacy, major differences between federal regulation (or lack thereof) isn't considered. Currently, America has yet to establish any sweeping laws or regulatory bodies for enforcing privacy or censorship on the internet. On the contrary, Germany has stringent laws on file sharing, cross-boarder information transfer and censorship. Resulting in holding social media companies more accountable for the digital production that's published on their platforms. The absence of this cultural (confounding variable) compromises the study's outcomes.
In 2017, Germany enacted its NetzDG law, which imposes steep fines on social media companies who fail to delete hate-oriented paid and user-generated content (The Hill, 2018). Also, it's illegal to produce: (1) manuals teaching the masses how to make homegrown weapons, (2) political propaganda, (3) and defamatory content online; while the right to publish such content is federally protected in the U.S. Furthermore, Germany has limited public wi-fi. "One barrier to access is "cafe and shop owners [being]... held liable for [the] illegal activity that happens on their [wi-fi] network[s]..." (BBC, 2017). The opposite is true in the U.S., where the country's largest coffee chain advertises free wi-fi, and affords access to customers without risk (Starbucks, n.d.).
3. Other Assigned Articles
There are more thoughts and questions I'd like to share. Mainly on Schradie (2011) and Sasaki (2017). I look forward to in-class discussion.
References
Breland, A. (2018). Germany to fine social media that don't remove hateful content. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/policy/technology/367040-germany-will-now-penalize-social-media-firms-that-dont-remove-hateful.
Fumiko Sasaki (2017) Does Internet use provide a deeper sense of political empowerment to the Less Educated?, Information, Communication & Society, 20:10, 1445-1463, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2016.1229005
Kamenetz, A. (2014). 12 weeks to a 6-figure job. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/12/20/370954988/twelve-weeks-to-a-six-figure-job
Laura Robinson, Shelia R. Cotten, Hiroshi Ono, Anabel Quan-Haase, Gustavo Mesch, Wenhong Chen, Jeremy Schulz, Timothy M. Hale, Michael J. Stern. Digital inequalities and why they matter. Information, Communication & Society, 2015; 18 (5): 569 DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2015.1012532
Miller, J. (2017). Germany's public wi-fi dilemma. YouTube. Retrived at http://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-39640704/germany-s-public-wi-fi-dilemma
Obell, S. (2014, 07). Looking for black twitter? Essence, 45, 40. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/docview/1540488892?accountid=14553
Pantsuit nation rocks facebook with soaring membership numbers. (2016). Media Report to Women, 44(4), 4-5. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/docview/1860273731?accountid=14553
Starbucks. (n.d.). Website. Enjoy fast wi-fi. Retrieved from https://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/wireless-internet.
Tyler News. (2017). YouTube. German cafes' public wi-fi dilemma. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzbSjsFElE8.
