The Digital Divide is the gap between people with effective
access to digital information and technology and those without it. This doesn’t
just mean knowing how to log into a computer but how to access information and
use the different tools. People need the education and resources. Global divide
is on the global scale, but social divide is the breakdown within the nation,
and that is some of what this article discusses.
This article discusses one towns attempt to close the space
in the digital divide (social divide) by offering Google Fiber for a $10
deposit to members of the community. With this could come new educational
opportunities and incentive for developers to further build and strengthen the
communities. But only the areas where enough people registered and paid the
deposit would get the services. The city has already been affected by racial
segregation, so they don’t want this to increase just because not everyone can
afford access to Google. The community members need to convince the whole town
that it is worth it to get access to the Internet. They are expressing the
importance of it for jobs, research, education, government services and more. Many
people didn’t even know what Google Fiber was. It is a long article but the
general message being the importance of access to the Internet and getting
awareness out.
This article is a good example of the social divide of our
country. By bringing in Google Fiber they are hoping to improve education and
job opportunities in the area. But it is not as easy as everyone would hope it
could be. In this case, thought it’s rather cheap, it’s not free. This steers
some people away either because they cant afford it or don’t feel like paying.
And those who have never used a computer or Google before would need to be
educated on how to operate the system. But it has great potential to close the
divide.
For this town, if everyone had access to the Internet it
would help close the digital divide and also help to stop segregation. It would
help to create economic equality, information sharing, social equality and
social mobility. Right now the town is segregated, and some feel having to pay
for this service will further segregate them. But in reality it has the
potential to close the social divide of the community.
The article just helps to highlight that it is not going to
be easy to close the divide. But we all have to start somewhere and members of
this community are spreading awareness to pave the way for further changes.
