The Digital Divide, the term used to describe the disparity of internet access among various population groups within society. Within Sociology, inequalities are defined as an unequal access to social resources and make their way into all facets of life including healthcare, housing, education, and modern day communications. The digital divide is an economic and social inequality relative to the level of access one has to information and communications technology (Brown, 2020). This article will delve into the topic of the Digital Divide and make the case why it is an important issue that needs to be continually re-assessed.
Often the digital divide is focused on geographical location, but can also be explained in terms of sex, race, age, income, and education (van Dijk, 2012). Each of these items can be, and should be, explored fully and independently of each other. However, for the sake of this article, we will be looking at the disparity between the urban and the rural. What does it mean to be rural? What does it mean to be urban? Both of these terms can only be understood in relation to each other, they are relative. To understand one you must understand the other.
According to the U.S. Census, a rural area is any area that is not considered urban. An urban areas is defined as any area which contains 50,000 people or more. Furthermore, an urban cluster is an area with more that 2500 people (Anonymous, 2022). Thus, a rural area is any area that is not considered urban by these two measures. Based on the 2010 Census, 19.3.% of the U.S. population (59.5 million) lived in rural areas, while 97% of the land is considered rural (Anonymous, 2022). While the rural may not be clearly defined on its own, and relies solely on the definition of what urban is, there are characteristics that are uniquely rural.
Based on these definitions, we can move towards Information and Communications Technology (ICT) access in Rural areas. According to the PEW Research Center, about 72% of households in rural areas reported to having high speed broadband at home. This represents a 9 percentage point increase from 2018 (Vogels, 2021). Whereas, urban and suburban households saw almost no change in the same time frame. Rural populations tend to access the internet using home broadband less often than there urban counterparts 80% vs 88%. Of the residents surveyed in 2018, 24% of rural respondents said that access to high speed broadband represented a major problem in their community, while only 13% of urban and 9% of suburban residents said the same thing (Vogels. 2021). The lack of broadband infrastructure is a prominent reason as to why many rural households have not been able to take advantage of highspeed internet access.
Broadband infrastructure, and its deployment, has been addressed over the years and has been seen as an important aspect in lessening the digital divide among the digital have and have nots. Many government agencies have taken a active role in providing rural areas with broadband access through grants and other types of funding (Taylor, 2022). Linking this back to education, many students in rural areas face an uphill battle compared to their rural counterparts regarding access to reliable and consistent internet access. As more instruction is moved online, students with limited resources will face an education gap, moving forward with undeveloped skills, and increased isolation from their peers (Taylor, 2022). Access to reliable internet access as it represents an investment in our educational and economic future.
Included Resource:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzokRz1pgb0
References:
Wilmon Brown, P. D. (2020, August 28). The digital divide. Learning in the Digital Age. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://open.library.okstate.edu/learninginthedigitalage/chapter/the-digital-divide/
van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2012). The Evolution of the Digital Divide: The Digital Divide turns to Inequality of Skills and Usage. Digital Enlightenment Yearbook, 57–75. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-057-4-57
Anonymous. (2022, March). Defining rural population. HRSA. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural
Vogels, E. A. (2021, October 19). Some digital divides persist between rural, urban and Suburban America. Pew Research Center. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/19/some-digital-divides-persist-between-rural-urban-and-suburban-america/
Taylor, K. (2022, September 30). The digital divide: What it is, and what's being done to close it. Investopedia. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/the-digital-divide-5116352
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