Zero Geography: My BBC Radio 4 talk on Internet and Information Geographies
▻https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/fourthought/fourthought_20140514-2100a.mp3
The informational divides that we’re seeing reproduced can’t simply be explained away by a lack of connectivity. Connectivity is a necessary, but, by no means, a sufficient condition. But so is a broader ecosystem of information, an educated and tech literate population, having reliable infrastructure, not excluding half of the population (in other words, women), having the internet be trusted rather than subject to surveillance by the state, and having the critical mass for local-language tools, platforms, and communities.
We’ve always had inequality, but the digital layers of places mean that the internet and the ability to produce digital and coded information might start to amplify those older imbalances of voice and power and participation. We’re not just deepening the divides between different parts of our world, we’re also creating layers of places that aren’t necessarily representative of the underlying people, processes, and contexts that exist there.
So let’s think about that the next time we use Google to find a restaurant or look something up on Wikipedia. Let’s remember that our digital tools are usually just amplifying the already most visible, the most powerful, and the most prominent things, and let’s maybe look for alternatives; different stories; different narratives; different mediators. Our world is always going to be augmented by digital information, but let’s always try to remember what it leaves out.
Dr Graham from the Oxford Internet Institute talks about first level digital divide (material) and second level digital divide (information access and contribution) withing the framework of information economies and information imperialism.
Information-rich get richer and information-poor get poorer
#digitaldivide #informationeconomy #informationimperialism #oxfordinternetinstitute