Page 24 - Transformasi Sosial Menuju Masyarakat Informasi Yang Beretika dan Demokratis

Bagian I: Politik, Kebijakan Publik danKetimpangan Digital

associated with digital divides concerning access to and
use of a range of ICTs.
Family structure
Family composition, adult caring responsibilities (i.e. for
an older parent) tend to be associated with less contact
with ICT. Conversely, the presence of school‐age
children within the household tend to increase contact
with ICT.
Whilst gender differences were associated with digital
Gender
divides during the 1990s, more recent academic
research seems to indicate declining gender differences
in ICT access and basic levels of engagement. 8
Geography/ Levels of ICT use generally less in rural and inner‐city
rural‐urban areas, although often differences are not evident once
location other socio‐economic variables are taken into account.
Income/ socio‐ Lower levels of income are consistently shown to be
economic status associated with digital divides concerning access to and
use of a range of ICTs.
Race Some US studies report lower levels of access and use
amongst African‐American and Latino populations
However, many studies report that then racial
differences in ICT use disappear when issues of income
and education are taken into consideration.
Sumber: Yu, L. (2006).
Fenomena ketimpangan digital, terutama di negara‐negara
berkembang, dianggap oleh sebagian ilmuwan dari kelompok cyber‐
pessimists dapat menjadi faktor yang semakin meningkatkan ketimpangan
ekonomi dan proses marjinalisasi terhadap kelompok non‐digital (Castells,
1996). Oleh karena itu, ketimpangan digital sangat terkait erat dengan
ketimpangan ekonomi. Efek yang dibawa oleh perkembagan internet
dianggap oleh kelompok cyber‐pessimists ternyata semakin meningkatkan
ketimpangan ekonomi di seluruh dunia karena selama ini internet hanya
berfungsi maksimal dalam menciptakan berbagai sumber daya baru di
negara‐negara kaya (Franda, 2002).
Pendapat dari kelompok cyber‐pessimists ini dibantah oleh studi‐studi
yang dilakukan oleh kelompok cyber‐optimists bahwa munculnya internet