The Digital Reproduction of Inequality

By the beginning of the 21 century, information and communication technologies (ICT) had become a staple of many people’s everyday lives and could exacerbate existing inequalities by increasing the opportunities available to the already privileged while leading to the growing marginalization of the disadvantaged.

Abstract

By the beginning of the twenty-first century, information and communication technologies (ICT) had become a staple of many people's everyday lives. The level of instantaneous connectivity—to others and to an abundance of information—afforded by advances in ICT is unprecedented. Variation in basic usage rates continues to exist, so considering the core digital divide of access versus no access remains an important undertaking. However, to understand in a nuanced manner the implications of ICT for social inequality, it is important to analyze differences among users as well. The uses of ICT can differ considerably with divergent outcomes for one's life chances. Therefore, it is imperative to examine variations in use among those who have crossed the digital divide fault line to the land of the connected. Autonomy of use is understood as the freedom to use digital media when and where one wants to.