Redefining the Digital Divide in 2009

 
When the term Digital Divide started to surface, it referred mostly to those that have access versus those who do not, taking into account economic, geographic and social barriers.
 
 This was perhaps an adequate definition prior to the Web 2.0 revolution, a critical point when the internet was no longer a one-way portal for information, but rather, a society in its own, with it's own citizens, engaged actively in responding to the information.

 To properly define the Digital Divide in 2009, one must take into account the technology's evolution over the last fifteen years. What was once a very anonymous, one-way cyberspace is now a dynamic world where users create and manage their own content, modify others, and work collaboratively.

 Digital Divide is no longer an argument of infrastructure, though that plays a significant role - for the purpose of this argument, we will assume that every citizen has de facto access to the internet. Increases in infrastructure, in a purely one-way internet, theoretically "narrow" the gap between those who have access and those who don't, however, in a world where everyone has access, the Digital Divide has not narrowed, but multiplied.

 Simply put, in 2009, the Digital Divide is the gap formed between those who have access to the technology and those who don't (we will call this the first Digital Divide), but there is an increasingly alarming Digital Divide between those who have the skills to become Digital Citizens, and those who do not, regardless of access to the technology (we will call this the second Digital Divide).

 We have, however, passed the fulcrum in a sense, making the second Digital Divide wider than the first. 

 The Digital Divide among those who have de facto access, can then be analyzed further. The underlying concept is the gap between an entry-level user who merely gathers information, and an e-competent user or Digital Citizen.

Entry level user

• Awareness (knows it is there)

The critical divide here is among those who understand the relevance of Digital Citizenship (legal & ethical behaviour) in a knowledge based economy,  and those who don't.

• Technological Literacy (knows how to use basic functions)

This is perhaps closer to the first Digital Divide, however this is a divide between citizens confident & critical of the use and operation of the technology for work, study, leisure and communication, through formal though   mostly auto didactic training, and those who lack the confident & critical use, or training.

Moderate user

• Informational Literacy (knows how to adjudicate & use critically)

This is limbo - or rather, this  *IS* the Digital divide in 2009.  This is the thin line where the Digital Divide is no longer about access to the technology, but to the quality of it's use. This is where the entry-level user begins to develop the ability to read with meaning, to understand and asses the reliability and veracity, to connect and and critically use the information in a variety of formats and digital sources. 

Digital Citizen

• Digital Literacy (uses the internet to manage, create and share information)

There is a Digital Literacy Divide when one citizen has only the capacity to consult the information, while his neighbor may have the capacity to interact with that same information, or perhaps even create it. Digital citizens employ information management skills, combined with strategy, creativity and innovation, to access, retrieve, store, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, present, share exchange & communicate information or knowledge in multiple formats. 

• Media Literacy (understands how traditional mass media and digital media are merging, user constantly evolving to a new media landscape)

The very e-competent user has a fundamental understanding of how new and traditional media are merging together, and is constantly evolving to a new media landscape.  The divide is between those who can keep up, and those who can't.