America's New Digital Divide
The year 2006 was a good one for digital democracy. Citizens around the globe, equipped with broadband, new distribution channels and powerful search tools, reclaimed power they had ceded to well endowed, giant institutions. But what about everyone else?
In the United States broadband penetration has reached 75% of online users. According to Nielsen NetRatings, this is encouraging people to take up new pastimes such as games, instant messaging, e-mail and social networking. The report doesn't cite it, but clearly video on the Net is booming as well. Annual US revenues from Internet video services are expected to top $7 billion by 2010.
Dig deeper, however, and you will find that the majority of the broadband connected population is passive, not active. Despite all of the wonderful advances in technology, publishing and aggregation tools have been adopted only by only a small minority of users. It's this tiny community, more than any other, that is shaping the technology, media, business and even the geopolitical agenda. Our voices, not always the broader populous, is what rings loudest.
Consider RSS, for example. This is a fantastic resource brings virtually any kind of information you can think of to your desktop. Nevertheless, recent research shows that only 1 in 10 people have even heard of the term and a mere two percent actually use it.
OK, RSS is geeky you say? Fair enough. But consider that several studies conducted by the Pew Internet Center for American Life reveal that millions lurk but don't publish. For example, only 35% of Americans post their photos online and only eight percent have ever published a blog.
In 2007 our challenge is to bridge the digital divide that exists between the technophiles and the technophobes. It's staring us right in the face wherever we go. Consider how many of your friends blog or post to Flickr or even know what the heck del.icio.us is.
The Web may feel democratic. After all, if we're all connected by broadband the same tools are available to everyone. However, there's a chasm growing and my wish for 2007 is we bridge it.
