Is there a Digital Divide or Participation Gap?

With advancing technology and interfaces, it is clear that there is a “digital divide” and a “participation gap”. As Kevin Guidry stated in his article, “Digital Divide or Participation Gap? Will Mobile Affect it?” it is almost like the “haves vs. the have-nots”. A digital divide is most defiantly here because there are disparities between different ethnicities. These individuals who are less privileged, such as Hispanics or Blacks, are less likely to have internet access at home, creating this digital divide. A participation gap is also an ongoing issue because there is an unequal opportunity for some students to engage in these new technologies and interfaces when they do not have the finances to purchase them. Although they still have the public library to go to when in need of a device, it still is a different relationship then owning a device personally.

Another factor to consider that contributes to the “digital divide” and the “participatory gap” is an individual’s access to cell phones and it what ways they are used and protected. In an article, “Privacy and Data Management on Mobile Devices” by Jan Boyles, Aaron Smith and Mary Madden draw attention to what type of people are protecting their privacy and who isn’t. According to their studies, although minorities are less likely to have smartphones, they are also more likely to loose or have their phone stolen. Forty four percent of African Americans cell phones have been lost or stolen, compared to that 28% of whites. I believe this plays a part in the digital divide and participatory gap because it is obvious that the usage of smartphones is correlated to ethnicity and race. Even people that have the same type of technology also have each had different experiences with each interface. Some people may prefer an iPad over a laptop, and vice versa. Therefore the participatory gap has helped us define the use of unequal access to different devices, which results in different ways we use the internet.

Within the next three to five years, I believe this digital divide and participatory gap will only increase because there will always be a chance of unequal access for people. Individuals who have their own personal use of technology use it differently then those who have to use a public interface. There will always be people who will be able to afford the newest technological devices, but there will also people who won’t be able to afford a smart phone. However, it is important in this day and age to understand the use of these different devices because they are so crucial in our culture. I see how colleges are trying to help this because just like in our class, we are given the chance to take an iPad home with us for the remainder of the semester. I think that this will help eliminate a digital divide or participatory gap. Historical, cultural and financial factors all play in a part of the relationship to technology, which help us understand these two concepts of the digital divide and participatory gap. 

Citizen Journalism: Benefits or Consequences?

         Citizen journalism can easily be linked to mobile devices, because it is such a quick way to “journal” what is going on at that particular time. An individual can snap a picture, make a phone call, send a text, create a tweet, post a status, etc. These are all connections that spread news by word of mouth, creating this concept of citizen journalism. According to an article called, "7 Things You Should Know About Citizen Journalism", citizen journalism is defined as a “range of activities in which everyday people contribute information or commentary about news events”. With the creation of new media interfaces, such as our mobile devices, there are unlimited amount of way to broadcast your own “news”, even faster than actual news sites.

            Although citizen journalism may seem like a relatively new concept, it has actually been a process in the making, starting with the printing press, the telegraph, tape recorders, then there was television. Each of these new creations created a vast of opportunities for individuals to engage in journalism. It just so happens, that in our society today, we have many more interfaces to create and spread news, with just a touch of a couple buttons. The evolution of citizen journalism has shaped so much in our world today. It is obvious that a telegram message would take much longer to spread news, compared to a text we can send and then be received in just a few seconds. Not to mention, the use of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc that are all included on any smart phone. All of these social media sites allow people to become citizen journalists by giving them the opportunity to promote what they want, spreading news and sharing any other information that they want to disclose to others.

            According to an article, "Blogs and Citizen Journalism: The Effect on Our Culture" by Laura Riggo, citizen journalism can actually benefit traditional journalism. One particular example of this would be the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Bloggers were actually able to document the scene better than actual news outlets with cell phones. The viewers were first account witness’s to it and able to give insight to others from their point of view. Personally, I would enjoy this type of journalism more than just watching the news, because it makes it seem more personal coming from another ordinary individual, and not some big journalist.

            Another prime example of citizen journalism would be Occupy Wall Street. According to Harmon Lee in his article, "Citizen Journalism: Cell Phones help tell the story of Occupy Wall Street", the spread of word about this movement was attributed to citizen journalism. The participants and observers were able to personally document Occupy Wall Street with their cell phones, and then spread the word to others. In this article, there is a video documentation of the arrests, which spread across social media sites very quickly, thanks to a video by a mobile device. Could some of the Occupy Wall Street controversy be attributed to the use of citizen journalism?

            With this being said, there are the negative impacts of citizen journalism. Although it does allow people to voice their opinions and share interests with others, it can start controversies. It is hard to trust just any outlets and to distinguish between what is real news and what has been manipulated. It can be, “inaccurate, offensive, or otherwise lack credibility” (7 Things). Also, traditional news outlets try to not let their opinions in, but citizen journalism creates a bias, which can cause tension between the journalists and the viewers. Another concern is the fact that if we start to feel we can’t trust citizen journalism, then we start to also feel like we can’t rely on traditional journalism (Riggo). An example of this lack of credibility would be Matt Drudge’s Drudge Report, which is a conservative news website. Drudge has made false assumptions before, such as stating that Senator John Kerry had an affair with an intern, which was inaccurate, ruining his credibility. It has came to the point where we have to become skeptical on who to trust, who is a professional, and what news is real news and what is biased.

             The evolution of citizen journalism has its benefits and it’s negative effects. Mobile devices have defiantly contributed to the use of citizen journalism because we are connected to so many people in just a few clicks. We can reveal anything we would like at any given time. Right now I could send a picture to instagram, post a status, and send a tweet, and it would be broadcasted to over hundreds of people. It is incredible how such a small object connects us to so much. With that being said, there are so many opinions and stories that circulate, and you have to ask yourself sometimes what is true and what isn’t. The main difference is that traditional journalism does there homework before they state their information, and if they then are wrong, there are consequences. However, citizen journalism allows  more of an opinion based approach. Citizen journalism allows a vast of opportunities for those who wish to spread information, but what we need to focus on is credibility so we aren’t receiving wrong information. 

Are We Too Plugged In?

William Powers and Katie Couric make very accurate points while discussing Powers’s book, Hamlets Blackberry. This book was written to enlighten people about how connected and dependent we are on technology. Powers explains the type of impact this has on us and elaborates about what he and his family are doing about it.  Although I love my MacBook, my iPhone, my iPod and all of my other technological devices, I still do believe that we are very “plugged in” society.

            In the beginning of the interview, Powers states “We have adopted this approach that the more connected we are, the better”. This theory is very true-we do believe this in our world today. It usually is a shock to other people if an individual doesn’t have a cell phone, a Facebook, a twitter, etc. He even compares our attachment in a metaphor to sugar. He says that when we actually see the red light on our phone, alarming us that we have a notification, that there is actually a squirt of dopamine that is sent from our brain-just like if we were to see a cookie.

            Another point he makes is how it is impairing our ability to focus. It takes time from our attention span to go from our cell phone to a conversation-back to that text message, etc. He believes that it “prohibits deep thinking”.  According to an article in the New York Times, scientists say that dealing with all different media sources at one time (e-mails, text messages, tweets) affects they way we behave because all of the incoming sources of information (Ritchel). I completely agree with this statement because I know how much a text message can completely mess up my studying for an exam. One text can send my mind in a hundred different directions, distracting me from what I really should be focusing on. Powers even says “I found that all of my original thoughts were going away” [from using to much technology]. When he started to get too attached to groups online-he became a victim of groupthink.

            Katie brings up the theme of self esteem- are we now in the age where we have to “Google” ourselves to see if we matter? Powers responds with “People have always been looking outward, but now we have it all in our hands”. This is such a great observation because our phones are with us all the time and are linked to our friends in so many ways. For the people who look outward for acceptance may depend on the amount of comments they get on Facebook, or the amount of texts they receive in a day-which is attached to us constantly. I do agree with Katie when she says that these texts, phone calls and comments will have an affect on our communication with others because we are missing body language and eye contact. This is something that I agree with because it a crucial part of the way we associate with others. According to an article by Barbara Wheeler called "Texting Affects Communication Skills", children say things over texting that they would never say face to face (Wheeler). Therefore, you could never know someone completely over the phone or via email, because you are missing the majority of the communication. Words can only speak so much.

            Speaking on a personal level, I studied abroad and actually went with out my cell phone for four months. I can’t explain how nice it was too be “unplugged” for such a long period of time. It was so refreshing. I felt like I got to enjoy scenery and nature more than I have ever before. So, overall I do agree with William Powers and his theories about our physical and emotional connections with technology. I also truly condemn him for going weekends with out technology-I think it is very healthy. As much as I love the advances in our world, and having everything be a click away, I sometimes do wonder what it would be like if we didn't have all of this media and technology thrown in our face. Would I have better relationships with people? Would I enjoy nature more? There is no way to really know, considering technology has played a huge role in my life for such a long time.  However, I also do believe that this is a digital age, and it is time to adopt it and accept it-because there is no turning back.