The privileged and the underprivileged of the digital world

I’ve grown up knowing that there is a line separating the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the educated and the uneducated, the employed and the unemployed as well as those that earn high income and those that don’t but I didn’t realise the extent to which this division also exceedingly exist in the digital world! I’ve learnt that our demographic characteristics affect our opportunity to have access to or use the internet, making us either fortunate or disadvantaged.

I’m neither rich nor poor. I’m in my 30s, studying at university, working on a full time basis and earning a moderate income. I have access to the internet at home, at work, at university and anywhere there is Wi-Fi connection; using several devices I own as well as the ones provided by the aforementioned premises. However, I know that some of my family or friends experience varying circumstances. In Australia alone, only 86% have access to the internet in 2014-2015, whilst only 85% of 15+ year olds use the internet. 94% of ACT residents are connected to the internet whereas only 85% of NSW residents are connected. Moreover, 66% of low income households compared to 98% of high income households have internet connection. 77% of those that studied up to Year 12 use the internet compared to 96% of Bachelor degree holders (The Conversation, 2016).

It seems as if the rich are getting richer and the poor are losing out. First of all, people who can afford to buy technological devices and have internet connection are obviously better off than those who can’t. Secondly, individuals possessing modern devices, up-to-date software and faster connection enjoy more opportunity to search the internet than others. Finally, those that have access to the internet and have more experience with it are better skilled and are capable of making use of the internet in a more complex way to locate better information than those who don’t (Hargittai, 2003).

It’s very interesting to discuss the split between the advantaged middle school students’ access and use of internet in comparison to their lesser counterpart. Children that have insufficient access are only able to use the internet for a short time, which inhibits their chance to learn better online skills or obtain satisfactory information for their school work. In contrast, the advantaged experiences unlimited internet access. Unfortunately, this not only means obtaining useful online skills and vast online information, but it also provides children the option to stay online for an extended period of time for other activities apart from studying, that it’s becoming detrimental to their educational performance (Robinson et al, 2015). Which of the two situations would you rather your kids to experience?

Unmistakably, there are numerous ways in which our demographic attributes shape our digital participation and the benefits we can acquire through our use of the internet. I wonder if this discussion makes people reconsider whether having the ability to have internet access is actually beneficial or is it only paving way to amplifying the inequality we are experiencing in the society; offline and online.