"Digital Divide" and the role of new media in creating it

Digital divide is a term that refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that don't or have restricted access. This technology can include the telephone, television, personal computers and the Internet. In other words it is a term used to describe the discrepancy between people who have access to and the resources to use new information and communication tools, such as the Internet, and people who do not have the resources and access to the technology. The term also describes the discrepancy between those who have the skills, knowledge and abilities to use the technologies and those who do not. The digital divide can exist between those living in rural areas and those living in urban areas, between the educated and uneducated, between economic classes, and on a global scale between more and less industrially developed nations.

Well before the late 20th century, digital divide referred chiefly to the division between those with and without telephone access; after the late 1990s the term began to be used mainly to describe the split between those with and without Internet access, particularly broadband.

The digital divide typically exists between those in cities and those in rural areas; between the educated and the uneducated; between socioeconomic groups; and, globally, between the more and less industrially developed nations. Even among populations with some access to technology, the digital divide can be evident in the form of lower-performance computers, lower-speed wireless connections, lower-priced connections such as dial-up, and limited access to subscription-based content. ‘Digital divide’ divides the society into two i.e. information rich and the information poor.

The convergence of new media technologies, digitization, computerization and high-speed data transfer create new pathways for the transmission, exchange and storage of both existing and new forms of information and entertainment. But these technologies have played important role in creating a digital divide in the society rather than creating the society into a well networked society. With the technology continually advancing, the issue of the "digital divide" cannot be ignored. In our society, where the distribution of wealth is already heavily unbalanced, access to computers and the Internet is unbalancing the situation even more. Those with computers and access to the Internet are becoming even richer through the power of information, while those without them are becoming even poorer in comparison thereby creating a knowledge gap in the society.  As technologies are emerging day by day this knowledge gap in the society is expanding instead of decreasing.

With socio-economic divisions already present in today's society, the digital divide is compounding the effects. It is not just the cost of new media technologies that results in the digital divide, but also the presence of widespread illiteracy among overlooked populations. 
The society needs to change its attitude towards new and emerging technologies. Rather than perceiving new media technologies as a superfluous luxury, the public should view them as crucial necessities. The public must come to realize the incredible power of new technologies and embrace them as tools for their future and the future of their children.

Negative impact of new media on society

Previously I wrote about how new media has made our life easier and has helped in shaping the society. But just like there is two sides to a coin new media also has two sides that is it has both positive and negative effects on the society. New media technologies have created some challenges and made our lives more complicated than we imagined.  We have become consumed by these technologies that we have lost interpersonal communication among our family, friends and professional colleagues. The person who watches television does not interact with anyone while watching television. Robert Putnam who is best known for his work called,” Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community”. In this book Putnam shows how we have (mainly referring to the American citizens) become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and our democratic structures and the main reason for this is the new media around us.

One of the best examples of new media today are the social networking sites that we use like for instance MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the list goes on. It’s true that these sites have increased our reach in communicating to the world around us but it surely has also had negative impact on the society. It is because of these sites that today we are more comfortable having a virtual conversation rather than a face to face meet up in the real world. In a way it gives the society a false sense of connection. Social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media. By focusing so much of our time and psychic energy on these less meaningful relationships, our most important connections, are weakening.

Another disadvantage of new media (social networking sites) is that encourage people to be more public about their personal lives. Because intimate details of our lives can be posted so easily, users are prone to bypass the filters they might normally employ when talking about their private lives. While most sites allow their users to control who sees the things they've posted, such limitations are often forgotten, can be difficult to control or don't work as well as advertised.

The immediacy provided by social media is available to predators as well as friends. Kids especially are vulnerable to the practice of cyber-bullying in which the perpetrators, anonymously or even posing as people their victims trust, terrorize individuals in front of their peers. The devastation of these online attacks can leave deep mental scars.  The negative psychological effects of media are seen in terms of media changing the people’s outlook on life. New Media has changed the cultural and moral values of society. A majority of the audiences believe in what is depicted by the media. Youngsters and children often tend to mix the reel and the real world under the influence of the mass media.

Any sort of technological advancement, after all, has both its pros and cons in the context of social change. This is especially true when it comes to new media technological advancements. It has a lasting impact on molding cultural attributes—ways of thought, attitude and lifestyles. Whether this impact is healthy or not from the viewpoint of developing a ‘culturally’ sustainable society is a crucial question.

Positive impact of new media on the society

New media has both positive and negative impacts on the society. Today we are going to look at the positive effects of new media on the society. As I have mentioned in my earlier blogs new media can be described as any present form communication. The word communication in its definition itself shows that new media help us as a society interact and communicate with each other. The greatest example of new media today is the internet. The internet has become the fastest growing and widely used medium, especially in the Western world. It was estimated that as of August 2010 there were 700,410,000 internet users worldwide its growth is faster any other media like television or radio. Technological convergence has made it increasingly easier for employees to work from home or anywhere instead of always being physically present at a particular location.

Many researches has revealed that media is responsible for influencing a major part of our daily life. New Media contributes to a transformation in the cultural and social values of the masses. Media bring about a transformation in the attitudes and beliefs of the people. The persuasive nature of the content presented over media influences the thoughts and behaviour of the general public.

 It helps in moulding ideas and attitudes. It influences lifestyle and culture. Media has brought about a major transformation in the way people think. Media has given them an excellent platform to present themselves before the world and contribute in their own way to the changing world scenario. Media has been responsible for making the world a smaller place to live in. The recent advent of blogging in the media world and practices like public polls and citizen journalism have led to the achievement of a social control.

New media technologies have made our communication life easier than we ever imagined. Unlimited media is becoming less expensive for many people to purchase. Our society has moved from writing, printing to instant interaction among family, friends, and organizations. There is internet with emails, blogging, chatting, twitting and Facebook.  Other new technologies include the smart phone that can take pictures, text, video, calculator, organizer, music player or games.  We have unlimited media in our society today and our desires of today’s world have been altered by unlimited media access.  

The media has a pivotal role in not just informing the people, but in influencing their thinking along with shaping their attitudes. Exposure to the different forms of media leads to an increased awareness about what's happening around the world. Newspapers, web portals, and modern-day mobile apps that serve us news feeds, lead to a speedy spread of information. The latest in every field, be it entertainment, sports, or any other, news about major events across the globe, and information about what's new, what's trending, what's in, and what's out, reaches us within minutes, thanks to media. New media has changed and molded the society keeping us connected as well as updated at the same time.

Technology and media

Technology and media walk hand in hand. As one evolves so does the other. Technology has grown and changed over the years and the media industry has also transformed rapidly. Technology and the media are interwoven, and neither can be separated from contemporary society.  From the time the printing press was created (and even before), technology has influenced how and where information is shared. Today, it is impossible to discuss media and the ways that societies communicate without addressing the fast-moving pace of technology.  It is through technology that the concept  of new media has been framed. The media industry is undergoing a major transformation due to the introduction of digital technology.  Today digital media and technology is one of the fastest growing concepts in the world. It has changed the way we do just about everything. It has made a considerable transformation in how we communicate.  As technology grows we discover new ways of communicating with world around us. 

New media bears new qualities and new characteristics such as interactivity, convergence, digitization, and openness. New media technologies have helped us introduce new ways of producing, storing, retrieving, disseminating, receiving or consuming information. These new ways represent big changes from traditional mass communication models. New media allows more interactivity between global communications network. It has opened up alternative ways of publication that combines text, sound, and visuals in one, for example movies produced from the early 1900s. Today if there growth in media it’s because of the growth in technologies.  New media technology is the application of digital (computer) technology to mass communications. The Internet has emerged as a great communication medium. Its impact on society, commerce, and the government is phenomenal. In addition, the interactivity and immediacy inherent in digital technology have changed the models of media production and business for all media. Traditional and new media incorporate characteristics of and influence each other; that is, media converge.

Technological convergence has accelerated the speed of media technologies.  It is important that we understand different new media technologies that are available today.  Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, are examples of how new media technologies has helped us unite with the people around the world. Today through these new media technologies we are able to sit in one corner of the world and have a face to face conversation with our loved ones who are present in the other end of the world.  This proves the new media really does overcome space and time. This possible today only because of the role technology plays in media. It through new landmark technologies that we get acquainted with new media every day that gets us one step more closer to world. Technology enables one to do a lot of things or talk to a lot of people at the same time, having more time to do other things.

Marshall McLuhan has said rightly that technology and media make the world a global village.  The entire world is connected with each other through new media and that is possible only because of the growing technologies around us. Technology creates media, without technology media does not exist.

Defining 'New media'

Defining new media is not that easy. In 21^st century ‘New media’ is a catchall term used to define all that is related to the internet and the interplay between technology, images and sound. It can also be described as a present form of communication. In other words any current form of media that is trending can be termed as new media. The definition of new media changes daily, and will continue to do so. New media evolves and morphs continuously.

Wikipedia defines ‘new media’ as a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content. Another important promise of new media is the "democratization" of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content. What distinguishes new media from traditional media is the digitizing of content into bits. There is also a dynamic aspect of content production which can be done in real time, but these offerings lack standards and have yet to gain traction.

Whereas Encyclopedia states that new media is the form of communicating in the digital world which, includes publishing on CDs, DVDs and, most significantly, over the Internet. It implies that the user obtains the material via desktop and laptop computers, smartphones and tablets. Every company in the developed world is involved with new media. Contrast with old media. Another definition that it gives is that it is a concept that new methods of communicating in the digital world allow smaller groups of people to congregate online and share, sell and swap goods and information. It also allows more people to have a voice in their community and in the world in general.

Most technologies described as "new media" are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, and interactive. Some examples may be the Internet, websites, computer multimedia, computer games, CD-ROMS, and DVDs. New media does not include television programs, feature films, magazines, books, or paper-based publications – unless they contain technologies that enable digital interactivity.

Amongst all these mixed and varied definition “new media” seems to escape its very definition. Loosely, new media is a way of organizing a cloud of technology, skills, and processes that change so quickly that it is impossible to fully define just what those tools and processes are. For example, the cell phone in the late 1980’s could be thought of as part of new media, while today the term might only apply selectively to a certain type of phone with a given system of applications, or even more commonly, the content of those apps. Today social media such as twitter, Facebook, myspace, linkedin and etc and can be categorized as new media.  Regardless, new media and new media communications is continually evolving and as a result, its definitions evolves as well.