Topic 1, Page 5

As a Web Science student, people around me use the web all the time, but I’m aware of differences other people have getting access to the web and the types of activities the web is used for. Although it seems sensible to assume there’s a divide between the 50% of people who do have access to the web and the other half that do, it’s more complex than that, to the point that digital inequality should be seen as a “traditional form of inequality” (Robinson et al. Continue reading →

Digital Differences Following my previous posts about Digital ‘Natives’ and ‘Immigrants’, it is worth highlighting the concept of ‘Digital Differences’.  The assumption that all internet users use the web for similar practices has initiated discussions regarding personal factors impacting our web usage.  Factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, disability and class all impact if and how people use the internet. Continue reading →

Digital Differences Following my previous posts about Digital ‘Natives’ and ‘Immigrants’, it is worth highlighting the concept of ‘Digital Differences’.  The assumption that all internet users use the web for similar practices has initiated discussions regarding personal factors impacting our web usage.  Factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, disability and class all impact if and how people use the internet. Continue reading →

Introduction The term ‘digital differences’ considers the inequalities and factors that affect one’s access to technology (FutureLearn, 2018). This consists of age, gender and more. The list does not stop here, showing the diversity of digital differences. Made by Chloe Cheung using PowToon (Click on Image to View Video) Individuals may choose to not use the Web, as they feel it is not relevant to their lifestyle. Continue reading →

Today we see a new inequality, referred to as ‘Digital Difference’ (Robinson et al, 2015). Watch my video below to learn more! (created by Boyle on Biteable, 2018).  Digital Differences include many aspects… Aspects of Digital difference (Robinson et al, 2015). Created by Boyle on Piktochart (2018) Although it’s important not to generalize certain populations, research has revealed certain patterns in how people engage with the web… Patterns in Digital Differences. Continue reading →

Today we see a new inequality, referred to as ‘Digital Difference’ (Robinson et al, 2015). Watch my video below to learn more! (created by Boyle on Biteable, 2018).  Digital Differences include many aspects… Aspects of Digital difference (Robinson et al, 2015). Created by Boyle on Piktochart (2018) Although it’s important not to generalize certain populations, research has revealed certain patterns in how people engage with the web… Patterns in Digital Differences. Continue reading →

Digital differences are the way in which individuals or groups of individuals interact with the web in different ways. Some of the factors that influence this difference are age, gender, race, country of residence and economic status. According to an Ofcom report, that analysed adults’ media use and attitudes, non-internet users are more likely than users to be aged 65 or over. Three in five (62%) non-users are in this age bracket, compared to 12% of internet users. Continue reading →

What are Digital Differences? ‘Digital Inequality defined expansively in terms of access, usage, skills, and self-perceptions, as well as future lines of research.’ (Robinson et al. 2015) When researching this topic, I was interested to find out; whilst  digital inequality continues to expand globally in many directions, the relationship between online inequalities being affected by offline inequalities is yet to be fully recognised. Continue reading →

When we think of inequality the first things that come to mind are traditional forms of inequality: class, race, gender, health etc. However a new emerging type of inequality is digital inequality (van Djik, 2013). Digital differences refers to how your offline context, hinders or advances your ability to access the internet, resulting in digital inequalities. Different macro and micro factors lead to this digital divide. Continue reading →

Many assume that everyone uses the internet in similar ways. Indeed, my use of ‘everyone’ underlines how blind some can be to the idea that in 2017, 9% of the UK population had never used the internet. Using the internet isn’t a highly specialised skill, but it is a highly individualised one. Web usage is contextual — it depends wholly on its relevance to one’s everyday life, and is directly affected by the implications of class, gender, ethnicity and social standing. Continue reading →

Living on the web has a clear set of identifiable advantages, as covered last week on my blog. However, when access to the web is difficult this has a detrimental effect on individuals (Robinson et al., 2015); thus leading to digital differences. This then reflects inequalities within society onto the web (Badger, 2013) – which in turn allows us to understand how macro factors can play into digital differences. Continue reading →

Fig 1: My Representation of van Dijk’s conceptualisation of Digital Users Digital Differences is a concept I find is often overlooked, so I was pleased to have time to explore the concept. In Web Science, I looked it Digital Differences last year in Prof Susan Halford’s excellent SOCI3073 module. I noticed that this module chimed closely with Section 1.11 of the Learning in the Network Age MOOC. Continue reading →

Created by Author on www.wordclouds.com Having researched what it means to be a ‘native’, ‘immigrant’, ‘visitor’ and ‘resident’, I understand their strengths and weaknesses and the assumptions underpinning them. Before I started this topic, I made assumptions on how I would fit into Prensky’s digital ‘natives’ and ‘immigrants’ idea (Prensky, 2001). Continue reading →

For this week’s topic, we were given the task of explaining the concepts Digital ‘visitors’ and ‘residents’. These terms originally seemed new to me until I realized that they were developments which had been made to the infamous terms of Digital ‘natives’ and ‘immigrants’ popularized by Prensky. Continue reading →

I’ve discussed the differences in digital competencies of family and friends before, but never knew that there were theories surrounding this until this module.  I’ve since found myself analysing my friends’ online behaviour more, and classifying them as either Digital Residents or Digital Visitors (White and Cornu).  I also looked at my own past online behaviour, mainly through looking at my Facebook timeline, and classified myself as a Digital Resident. Continue reading →

Although Topic 1 was about us dipping our toes into the blogging water, it had a great impact on me. At first I was more focused on creating a clear image of what “digital residents” and “digital visitors” are. I read through Prensky’s, Le Cornu, and White’s papers so I could understand their theories. Continue reading →