I recently stumbled across an article from Time magazine.
I originally read it a few years ago, but I think its relevance still stands.
Called "To Tweet or Not to Tweet" it puts forward an interesting thesis called Economic Bifurcation.
In layman’s terms, it means those that can afford the best, get better. Those that can't, don't.
The author quoted a study which found only 45% of American adults making less than $30,000 per year have broadband access.
According to the author, this is an issue, because broadband is an essential component to accessing content-rich social media effectively.
But, haven't there always been deep divides when game changing advancements in technology and lifestyle occurred?
High Priced Printing
Back in the old, old, OLD days, the common man relied heavily on the church, the government, or the ruling classes for news. But Gutenberg's 15th century printing press permanently altered the way people became informed about issues.
Again, easy access to easily shared information helped people to make up their own minds about what was going on around them. It gave them knowledge, which gave them power, and ultimately, a certain freedom.
But, having something printed was expensive. When Gutenberg's famous bibles were sold at a Frankfurt book fair, they cost the equivalent of three years pay for the average clerk. So, a revolutionary medium of communication and opportunity was reserved – initially – for the wealthy and well connected.
Wheels for the Rich
When the automobile wheeled into our lives, it created an ease of mobility and spin off opportunities on a scale never known before. People could travel with ease and flexibility. Could go longer distances to work, or learn.
But, the automobile began its life as a rare toy for the very rich. It took decades before the Ford Motor Company developed the affordable Model T. Eventually, the car sold in the millions, and became as commonplace as owning a telephone is today.
Call me Maybe…Eventually
Speaking of the telephone, people sometimes compare the rise of social media to that of the telephone. Twitter and Facebook are often seen as nothing more than venue for sharing gossip, or dinner pictures.
And people said the same thing about the telephone many years ago. It took decades for it to become as ubiquitous as it is now.
The telephone took nearly 60 years to become commonplace. After being commercially available for near 20 years, at the turn of the 20th century only 1.4 million telephones served a population of 76 million Americans.
Some of that lag was due to difficulty in developing the infrastructure, but a lot of it was down to accessibility.
People in rural or outlying areas – an entire class of people – were the last to benefit from an innovation that provided security, safety, and the ability to communicate in real time with others.
Yet today, I don't know anyone who doesn't have a phone (or three!), no matter where you live or what your income.
Today’s Technology
Now, change happens at lightening speed. The author also explores similarities between today’s 'new world' of social media and the World Wide Web some 20 odd years ago. People questioned whether Netscape and the web were enhancing the economy – and by extension society – or just providing a new way to goof off at the office (if you were lucky enough to have a job).
In 1990 only 3 million'ish people worldwide had access to the internet. But, in less than 20 years, the number of worldwide internet users surpassed one billion.
Historically, it seems the latest and greatest advancements have always been available first to the wealthiest or best connected. It may not be fair, but it's fact.
But today, with technological advances happening every day, the pace of the rich/poor catch-up game has gone from turtle to breakneck. And the so called 'have nots', in the world of social and mobile media at least, won't be lagging behind for long.
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