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Alina Bica-Huiu
The Internet and its explosive development has brought along with all the benefits
associated with its use a widespread concern that its use would exacerbate the
inequalities between the already existing information rich and poor. Digital
Divide sets out to examine the information on the use of Internet in 179 countries
throughout the world. Concerned more with the transformation process that characterizes
the Internet in the last decade, "the book focuses on understanding the
root causes and the major consequences of inequalities evident during the first
decade of the Internet age."
Digital Divide looks at the phenomenon that it discusses as a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing three distinct aspects: the global, social and democratic divide. The divergence of Internet use between developing and industrialized countries has come to be known as the global divide. The social divide, on the other hand, concerns the disparities between information rich and poor in each country. Analyzing the inside of the online community, the democratic divide refers to the gap between those who do and those who do not use digital resources to engage and mobilize participation in public life.
The book is structured in three different parts. The first four chapters try to explain the digital divide between countries and between different social groups, based on data from 179 countries. It is also in this part that Pippa Norris analyzes the correlation between other forms of media, freedom of speech, levels of democratization and Internet use. The second part of the book discusses different government and parliamentary approaches to the use of Internet. Chapter five through nine discuss the different approaches that governments throughout the world take towards informational transparency and how they make use of the Internet. Discussing parliaments', governments' and parties' approaches to informational transparency, communication, interactivity and quality, the second part of the book also analyzes the democratic divide between countries. The second part of the book focuses mainly on analyzing and comparing different existing examples of the use of Internet. The third part of the book focuses mainly on the democratic divide. Civic engagement and Cyberculture are discussed as main influencing factors, yet effects at the same time. The data presented shows a maybe shocking result, but imminent one, that the different cultural values result in different cultural and practical approaches towards the internet.
The data in this book is very interesting and often points to findings that are shocking, yet true. The data is also very interesting because it compares a very large number of countries and therefore varies a lot. One has to acknowledge that not only does the data in this book cover a large number of countries, but also a very large number of topics. While it is true that one could argue that the search engines used in the study of the number of sites, most of the data relating to use of specific tools on the Internet has very good documentation.
Reading the book was a very nice experience not only because of the interesting and well-researched data, but also because of a style very easy to read and pleasant at the same time. The book makes very important historical analogies drawn with previous technologies like electronic telegraph, telephone, or television, but admits that it is almost impossible to make any responsible predictions about the future of the Internet. By declaring at the very beginning that predictions would be somewhat irresponsible given the very short history that the Internet has, the book makes its job easier, and realizes all that it sets up to do at the very beginning. The data analysis provides some very interesting conclusions that it presents as possible, yet not ultimate predictions for the future. At the same time, the Pippa Norris tries to answer some of the questions regarding the digital divide. The answers provided are, however, sometimes related to social inequalities, and therefore have few solutions for a better life. It is, I believe for all the aforementioned reasons that Pippa Norris succeeds to create a very nice comparison between digital media and modern media, while at the same time keeping into consideration the main external factors that are not always changeable, but affect the development and influence of the Internet.