Editing Digital divide (section)

==Implications==

===Social capital===
Once an individual is connected, Internet connectivity and ICTs can enhance his or her future social and cultural capital. [[Social capital]] is acquired through repeated interactions with other individuals or groups of individuals. Connecting to the Internet creates another set of means by which to achieve repeated interactions. ICTs and Internet connectivity enable repeated interactions through access to social networks, chat rooms, and gaming sites. Once an individual has access to connectivity, obtains infrastructure by which to connect, and can understand and use the information that ICTs and connectivity provide, that individual is capable of becoming a "digital citizen."<ref name="MossbergerRacePlace"/>

=== Economic disparity ===
In the United States, the research provided by Unguarded Availability Services notes a direct correlation between a company's access to technological advancements and its overall success in bolstering the economy.<ref name="Forbes 1">{{Cite news|url=httpd://www.forbes.com/sites/Kendrick/2016/07/16/lack-of-digital-cloud-opportunities-is-actually-embarrassing-for-employees-survey-suggests/|title=Lack Of Digital, Cloud Opportunities Is Actually Embarrassing For Employees, Survey Suggests|last=Hendrick|first=Joe|work=Forbes|access-date=April 17, 2017}}</ref> The study, which includes over 2,000 IT executives and staff officers, indicates that 69 percent of employees feel they do not have access to sufficient technology to make their jobs easier, while 63 percent of them believe the lack of technological mechanisms hinders their ability to develop new work skills.<ref name="Forbes 1"/> Additional analysis provides more evidence to show how the digital divide also affects the economy in places all over the world. A [[Boston Consulting Group|BEG]] report suggests that in countries like Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K., the digital connection among communities is made easier, allowing for their populations to obtain a much larger share of the economies via digital business.<ref name=EcoGrowth>{{cite magazine |last1=Foroohar |first1=Rana |title=The Real Threat to Economic Growth Is the Digital Divide |url=https://business.time.com/2014/01/22/the-real-threat-to-economic-growth-is-the-digital-divide/ |magazine=Time |date=22 January 2014 |access-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104130520/https://business.time.com/2014/01/22/the-real-threat-to-economic-growth-is-the-digital-divide/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In fact, in these places, populations hold shares approximately 2.5 percentage points higher.<ref name=EcoGrowth/> During a meeting with the United Nations a Bangladesh representative expressed his concern that poor and undeveloped countries would be left behind due to a lack of funds to bridge the digital gap.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Closing Digital Divide Critical to Social, Economic Development, Delegates Say at Second Committee Debate on Information and Communications Technologies |url=https://press.un.org/en/2015/gaef3432.doc.htm |publisher=United Nations |date=28 October 2015 |access-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104130519/https://press.un.org/en/2015/gaef3432.doc.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Education ===
The digital divide impacts children's ability to learn and grow in low-income school districts. Without Internet access, students are unable to cultivate necessary technological skills to understand today's dynamic economy.<ref name=RichPoor>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/digital-divide-the-technology-gap-between-rich-and-poor|title=Digital Divide: The Technology Gap between the Rich and Poor|website=Digital Responsibility|language=en-US|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-date=May 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522160153/http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/digital-divide-the-technology-gap-between-rich-and-poor/|url-status=live}}</ref> The need for the internet starts while children are in school – necessary for matters such as school portal access, homework submission, and assignment research.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aguilar |first1=Stephen J. |title=Guidelines and tools for promoting digital equity |journal=Information and Learning Sciences |date=17 June 2020 |volume=121 |issue=5/6 |pages=285–299 |doi=10.1108/ILS-04-2020-0084 |s2cid=225779640 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Task Force created a report showing that about 70% of teachers give students homework that demand access to broadband.<ref name="Hwk-Gap">{{cite web|url=http://neatoday.org/2016/04/20/the-homework-gap/|title=The Homework Gap: The 'Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide'|date=April 20, 2016|website=NEA Today|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-date=August 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810130532/http://neatoday.org/2016/04/20/the-homework-gap/|url-status=live}}</ref> Approximately 65% of young scholars use the Internet at home to complete assignments as well as connect with teachers and other students via discussion boards and shared files.<ref name="Hwk-Gap"/> A recent study indicates that approximately 50% of students say that they are unable to finish their homework due to an inability to either connect to the Internet or in some cases, find a computer.<ref name="Hwk-Gap"/> Additionally, The [[Public Policy Institute of California]] reported in 2023 that 27% of the state’s school children lack the necessary broadband to attend school remotely, and 16% have no internet connection at all.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California's Digital Divide |url=https://www.ppic.org/publication/californias-digital-divide/ |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=Public Policy Institute of California |language=en-US}}</ref>

This has led to a new revelation: 42% of students say they received a lower grade because of this disadvantage.<ref name="Hwk-Gap" /> According to research conducted by the Center for American Progress, "if the United States were able to close the educational achievement gaps between native-born white children and black and Hispanic children, the U.S. economy would be 5.8 percent—or nearly $2.3 trillion—larger in 2050".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.net-ref.com/whitepaper-connected-classroom/|title=The Digital Divide in the Age of the Connected Classroom|date=January 14, 2016|work=NetRef|access-date=April 17, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=May 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521161912/https://net-ref.com/whitepaper-connected-classroom/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In a reverse of this idea, well-off families, especially the tech-savvy parents in [[Silicon Valley]], carefully limit their own children's [[screen time]]. The children of wealthy families attend play-based preschool programs that emphasize [[social interaction]] instead of time spent in front of computers or other digital devices, and they pay to send their children to schools that limit screen time.<ref name=":4">{{cite news |last1=Bowles |first1=Nellie |date=26 October 2018 |title=The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/digital-divide-screens-schools.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312002731/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/digital-divide-screens-schools.html |archive-date=March 12, 2021}}</ref> American families that cannot afford high-quality childcare options are more likely to use [[tablet computer]]s filled with apps for children as a cheap replacement for a babysitter, and their government-run schools encourage screen time during school. Students in school are also learning about the digital divide.<ref name=":4" />

To reduce the impact of the digital divide and increase digital literacy in young people at an early age, governments have begun to develop and focus policy on embedding digital literacies in both student and educator programs, for instance, in Initial Teacher Training programs in Scotland. <ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Rationale – The National Framework for Digital Literacies in Initial Teacher Education |url=https://digitalliteracyframework.scot/rationale/ |access-date=2024-10-31 |language=en-GB}}</ref> The National Framework for Digital Literacies in Initial Teacher Education was developed by representatives from Higher Education institutions that offer Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs in conjunction with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE) with the support of Scottish Government <ref name="auto"/> This policy driven approach aims to establish an academic grounding in the exploration of learning and teaching digital literacies and their impact on pedagogy as well as ensuring educators are equipped to teach in the rapidly evolving digital environment and continue their own professional development.

=== Demographic differences ===
Factors such as nationality, gender, and income contribute to the digital divide across the globe. Depending on what someone identifies as, their access to the internet can potentially decrease. According to a study conducted by the ITU in 2022, Africa has the fewest people on the internet at a 40% rate; the next lowest internet population is the Asia-Pacific region at 64%. Internet access remains a problem in Least Developing Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries. They both have 36% of people using the internet compared to a 66% average around the world.<ref name=":9" />

Men generally have more access to the internet around the world. The gender parity score across the globe is 0.92. A gender parity score is calculated by the percentage of women who use the internet divided by the percentage of men who use the internet. Ideally, countries want to have gender parity scores between 0.98 and 1.02. The region with the least gender parity is Africa with a score of 0.75. The next lowest gender parity score belongs to the Arab States at 0.87. Americans, Commonwealth of Independent States, and Europe all have the highest gender parity scores with scores that do not go below 0.98 or higher than 1. Gender parity scores are often impacted by class. Low income regions have a score of 0.65 while upper-middle income and high income regions have a score of 0.99.<ref name=":9" />

The difference between economic classes has been a prevalent issue with the digital divide up to this point. People who are considered to earn low income use the internet at a 26% rate followed by lower-middle income at 56%, upper-middle income at 79%, and high income at 92%. The staggering difference between low income individuals and high income individuals can be traced to the affordability of mobile products. Products are becoming more affordable as the years pass; according to the ITU, “the global median price of mobile-broadband services dropped from 1.9 percent to 1.5 percent of average gross national income (GNI) per capita.” There is still plenty of work to be done, as there is a 66% difference between low income individuals and high income individuals' access to the internet.<ref name=":9" />

===Facebook divide===
The '''Facebook divide''',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yung |first1=Chunsing |title=From Digital Divide to Facebook Divide, Reconstruct our Target Market Segments with Facebook Native and Facebook Immigrant |journal=Jaipuria International Journal of Management Research |date=1 June 2017 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=8 |doi=10.22552/jijmr/2017/v3/i1/146083 |s2cid=168913486 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/in/management-practices-for-the-new-economy-9789386432087/|title=Management Practices for the New Economy|last1=Thakur|first1=Rajiv|last2=Srivastava|first2=Vinita|last3=Bhatia|first3=Shikha|last4=Sharma|first4=Jitender|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing India Pvt. Ltd|year=2017|isbn=9789386432087|location=India|pages=53–56|access-date=March 20, 2018|archive-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209104245/https://www.bloomsbury.com/in/management-practices-for-the-new-economy-9789386432087/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last1=Yung |first1=Alan |title=Facebook Divide, Facebook Native and Facebook Immigrant |date=3 March 2017 |ssrn=2947269 |conference=Proceedings of Researchfora 1st International Conference |location=Berlin, Germany |isbn=978-93-86291-88-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.zaobao.com/forum/views/opinion/story20170623-773468|title=Facebook Divide Society [面簿分隔的社會]|last=Yung|first=Chun Sing|date=June 23, 2017|work=Zao Bao, Singapore, Page 22}}</ref> a concept derived from the "digital divide", is the phenomenon with regard to access to, use of, and impact of [[Facebook]] on society. It was coined at the International Conference on Management Practices for the New Economy (ICMAPRANE-17) on February 10–11, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jaipuria.ac.in/icmaprane2018/past-conference/ |title=Past Conference – ICMAPRANE2018 |work=Jaipuria.ac.in |date=February 11, 2017 |access-date=October 26, 2018 |archive-date=June 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623031557/http://www.jaipuria.ac.in/icmaprane2018/past-conference/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Additional concepts of Facebook Native and Facebook Immigrants were suggested at the conference. ''Facebook divide'', ''Facebook native'', ''Facebook immigrants'', and ''Facebook left-behind'' are concepts for social and business management research. Facebook immigrants utilize Facebook for their accumulation of both bonding and bridging [[social capital]]. Facebook natives, Facebook immigrants, and Facebook left-behind induced the situation of Facebook inequality. In February 2018, the Facebook Divide Index was introduced at the ICMAPRANE conference in Noida, India, to illustrate the Facebook divide phenomenon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jaipuria.ac.in/icmaprane2018/icmaprane-2018/ |title=ICMAPRANE 2018 |work=Jaipuria.ac.in |date=June 20, 2014 |access-date=October 26, 2018 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205111129/http://www.jaipuria.ac.in/icmaprane2018/icmaprane-2018/ |url-status=live }}</ref>