Digital Divide

People are developing unique online networks and relationships that would have not been possible without the internet. It is common to feel connected with a person or group you have never met in real life, but have spent time learning from, teaching, discussing, debating, developing, and sharing experiences and passion for a particular topic. It is safe to say that without these mediums to connect: forums, blogs, social networks, websites, these people would have never met. The ideas gone undiscussed. Progress never made. The development and progress that these networks facilitate is changing the new world and shaping the way people interact with each other.

Online environments give subcultures a place to gather and build relationships.

Although the internet, social networks, and gadgets seem common place there are people still people who are not able to access these online environments. These people may not be able to connect with online communities for a a number of reasons:

• An older generation who have not grown up with technology
• Lack of access based on location, rural environments where the internet is not available
• Lack of resources, people not having enough money to pay for the internet 
• Lack the basic cognitive skills needed to use the technology
• Then there are Luddites and people who choose use technology

This is what is known as the Digital Divide.

dig·it·al di·vide

noun

1. 1.

   the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the Internet, and those who do not.

   "a worrying “digital divide” based on race, gender, educational attainment, and income"

The digital divide adds another level of inequality among people. The ramifications of not being able to access these online communities are immeasurable. The lack of access to peers, information, and online ways of making money places these people at a disadvantage.