Manlapaz, Francis Philip D.

SEG22

Technical Difficulties
Digital Divide is the gap between individuals that have access to modern information and
communication technology and those who don’t have access. In our country, it is very common because
most of the communities here are dealing with poverty and that is one of the problems that we are
currently facing right now, especially today that we are not allowed to have face to face meetings,
classes, and discussions because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are required to have a gadget or a
device that can help us communicate with other people so that we can learn, work or discuss some
important matters. There are 3 types of Digital Divide, first one is the Gender Divide, according to a 2013
report, there is an internet gap that has a huge impact especially in developing countries, though the
mobile connectivity is spreading drastically, it is not spreading equally. Women are said to be lagging.It is
said that Men in low-income countries are most likely to own a mobile phone or device than women.
Even among women that own a mobile device have no access to the internet.

The second type of Digital Divide is Social Divide, it is where the internet access creates relationships and
social groups among the people with shared interests. There are many social media platforms, examples
of these are Facebook and Twitter that create an online community based on their similar interests.
Social media platforms like these heavily impacts the internet usage and social layers which is evident in
societies among to those who are connected and those who are not. People who are not connected to
the internet are put aside since they don’t share some internet benefits with those who are connected.

Lastly, the third type of Digital Divide is Universal Access Divide, this is where people living with physical
disabilities are often disadvantage when it come to having access to the internet. They can still access
the internet but it will be hard for them because of their disabilities. Some parts of the world will remain
having lack of internet because it is due to lack of digital literacy skills, lack of education and broken or
ineffective internet provider.

In Developing countries such as the Philippines, even though access to computers and internet
continues to grow, there are still some digital divide happening to this day due to some circumstances
such as: Education, Income Levels, Geographical Restrictions, General Interest and Digital Literacy.
Education is healing in digital divide because now adays, there are so many jobs that are associated with
computer and internet. College degree holders are more likely to tap into their full potential when using
the internet compared to those who people with high school education or lower, but now adays, schools
implements subjects that are related to computers which helps healing the digital divide but because of
the pandemic it will be very tough for us to deal with it due to lack of resources.

Another cause of digital divide is the Income Levels of each individual, due to low income or not having a
job at all, there is a great increase in the digital divide. High-income earners are more likely to have
access to the internet than low-income earners. High-income earners can pay for their fast speed
internet while the low-income can’t because of their income and it is very difficult for them because
their earnings are for their basic needs but today, some of the internet providers made a promo or low
price internet for people with low-income and some computers are high in demand so people lower the
prices.

Geographical Restrictions, it is one of the problems here in the Philippines because places like in rural
regions, it is very difficult and they lack necessary technology and infrastructure to set up internet
connection but now adays some provinces have internet providers. In General Interest, it is necessary to
have income that is stable, education and computer literacy but at the same time some people have no
interest in learning about computers and the internet instead they only use it for their entertainment
and other stuff. Lastly in Digital Literacy, developed countries with schools that have sufficient
computers and learning mechanisms has the upper advantage over students in other countries that lack
the resources.

Digital Divide is one of the most common problems today and we need to find a solution in order to help
others develop, It is essential in today’s standard because there is something new invented every day
and we keep evolving that it would be difficult for us to live in the future if we don’t have modern
technology.