Impact of Digital Communication: Social Inequality

Question 1

Berry: Old Users of the Internet (2011)

Answer 1

• He found out that old people who didn’t have the internet was due to lack of skills or lack of interest
• He found there are psychological barriers preventing older people going online
• These reasons appear to be more significant than material factors, such as cost
• There has been content designed to encourage older people to use the internet, based on web design
• E.g., social network websites with high contrast colours, large fonts and simple formats

Question 2

Mertens & D’Haenens: The Digital Divide (2010)

Answer 2

• Studied in Brussels, lower social class links to lower internet use
• People with lower social class tended to use technology for entertainment
• They wanted to measure the digital divide by ethnicity and gender, but found social class to be the most powerful factor
• They said the divide might be even bigger than their research shows
• Some people may not admit to being able to access digital media, due to the embarrassment of them looking poor
• However, this was an anonymous study

Question 3

Li & Kirkup: Attitudes Towards the Internet (2007)

Answer 3

• Investigated differences in the use of and attitudes towards the internet and computers
• They used a sample of 220 Chinese and 245 British students
• They carried out self-report questionnaires and found different experiences, usage, and confidence between the students
• Men in both countries were more likely than women to use chat rooms, email, and play games
• Men were also more confident with their computer skills
• Gender differences were higher in the British group than the Chinese group

Question 4

Garside: Age & Technology (2014)

Answer 4

• Garside argues that the average six-year-old understands more about digital technology than a 45-year-old adult
• With the introduction to broadband in the year 2000, a generation of children are born and never know about the dark ages of dial up internet
• Many are learning how to use smartphones and tablets before they can talk
• While half of adults say they know lots about smartphones, nearly half have never heard of Snapchat, which is overwhelmingly used by people under 25
• Two decades ago, teenagers devoted their evenings talking on the phone, whereas now they are socialising through sending messages, photos, or videos
• ‘The millennium generation is losing its voice’ Ofcom claims

Question 5

Boyle: Age & Technology (2007)

Answer 5

• Boyle argues that each generation becomes more and more reliant on digital communication
• This has led to a ‘digital generation divide’ between the old and the young
• Boyle suggests that young people are receptive to learning new skills demanded by new forms of technology and communication
• Young people place more importance on their peers and social networks, which may be another reason why they use digital communication so much
• Parents are also spending more money on their children, therefore children now have more expensive phones, tablets, and laptops
• Furthermore, young people have more free time on their hands and less responsibilities, unlike parents who spend a lot of their free time doing other tasks, rather than using digital communication

Question 6

Location

Answer 6

• Evidence of the use of internet in different parts of the world shows interesting patterns of access, which can partly explain the uneven distribution of globalisation
• More developed countries have greater access to and consumption of the internet