The Digital Divide

We all know that men and women find the internet useful these days. The internet has changed everybody's lives, and not just in the United States, but other countries as well. It has changed the way we see things, communicate, learn, express ourselves, and educate others, along with so much more. 

But do any of us really stop to think about the differences between men and women and their use on the internet? In a 2010 article on a website discussing the digital divide and women, we can see that women use the internet more often than men for social networking and communicating with others, whether it be on women's issues, current events, or personal relationships. Even when it comes to portable social networking, via cellphones or other networking devices, women are ahead of men.

So it is easy to infer that women prefer the internet more than men for social networking use. But when it comes to the technology "behind the scenes", such as running or creating websites and software, running servers, etc, these areas are still seen as a man's industry. But some women want to change the stereotypical idea that men are the only brains behind the creation of software and technology. For example, Shireen Mitchell, in the article from the Washington Post by Kim Hart, says she had an interest in video games and technology since she was a teenager. 
      
       "I was never encouraged to be interested in technology," said Mitchell, 39. "Even my mother thought I was going to the arcade room to hang around boys -- not because I actually loved the games . . . There just aren't a lot of women who feel comfortable in the field." 


This is a great example of how women are not seen as technological, including with video gaming, or software production. 

But with the so called Second Digital Divide, this may affect women more than men. The second digital divide includes digital literacy, which may make it more difficult for women to get the education they need to get into technological industries. In an article discussing the Second Digital Divide, the writer makes a statement that there are circumstances that will affect those working in the technology sector.
"Computers and Internet demand specific skills if you want to use them as a tool, which creates a relative advantage for the people and organisations that use them" - Cecilia Castaño.

 This video from Youtube identifies the problems associated with the digital divide and offers suggestions to how we can change the sexist stereotypes.

How often are women recognized when they do work on the internet?  We know that women tend to use the internet more for communicating and social networking, such as blogging and such, but are they really being appreciated for it? I personally would like to see the men's perspective on Feminist blogging, and what his appreciation is towards it.  Blogs to women's issues are still gaining popularity, but by who? Just women? Or men too? When is the female "Bill Gates" going to hit the scene? How can we fight the sexist ideas that women cannot be major software and technology creators and still enjoy being a feminine woman as well? 

Video: Interview with Nadine Moawad

I watched a video on an interview with a woman named Nadine Moawad, who discusses issues of the use in the internet in Lebanon from a feminist perspective. Nadine discussed issues of intersection of sexuality and gender differences on the internet. Nadine stated how so many networks on the internet seem to encourage violence against women, or how they encourage controlling women and censorship  on women. she also mentioned how many places that offer free internet use such as coffee shops are usually very male dominated, and most women cannot feel completely safe being there, because some of the men even look at pornography there, or play video games, so there is obviously a lot of sexism that influences these behaviors. She also said that the internet is very slow in Lebanon, and that because there is no censorship in Lebanon on the internet, people are able to say whatever they want. She said  the no censorship can be useful and negative, because of the slow internet and poor connection qualities, it makes it difficult. The nicer internet connections can be purchased but she said they are very expensive.
I thought this video was interesting because i thought it is important to see from other women's perspectives from other parts of the world on the internet and the impact it has on men and women. It is safe to say that sexism plays a very big role in the influence of the internet and how women's rights and roles are impacted because of it. It really shocked me that the men in the coffee shops openly look at pornography right in public, creating an unsafe environment for the women who come there. The men's needs and interests are obviously more important than the women's and i like how Nadine believes in researching these issues and bringing change to create equality/

Class and gender impact youth internet use

I read the article on class and gender impact youth internet use from a report in Sweden. According to the article, children are using the internet at younger and younger ages today, depending on their class status and gender. The article stated that children of more educated parents typically used the internet at least once a week, compared to children of less educated parents who typically used the internet on a daily basis. School age children will be known to have some knowledge of the use of the internet, although the article stated that most teachers do not assign homework assignments that require internet use. The article also mentioned that girls typically tend to the use the internet more than boys do for social networking, blogging, sharing personal information, or instant messaging. i found it quite interesting too that although girls seem to use the internet more than boys do, boys still consider themselves more knowledgeable in technology than girls. As i had stated in my earlier blog on the Gender Differences in the Use of Facebook, the use of internet has really become a part of our lives and among people around the world. Social networking has substantially become a big replacement for traditional telephone calls, or writing letters to relatives. I have mixed feelings on the expansion of social networking on the internet. I think it can have a positive and negative effect on children. Twenty years ago, if someone wanted to keep in touch with a distant friend or relative, they would have to call them, write to them, or even go visit them in person. Email has for sure helped with that, but even today, email isn't as popular of a use compared to uses on Facebook or instant messaging. Text messaging is also a big impact on the way people communicate today.
But girls are advancing more in the use of the internet, with the expansion of social networking and blogging and keeping in touch with friends. An interesting study would be to see why girls find blogging and reading and commenting on others blogs is such an interest to them, since both of the past articles i read stated that girls seem to have such a high interest in it.

Gender Differences in the Use of Facebook

After reading the entry called Gender Differences in the Use of Facebook, I felt like i really learned a lot about some of the facts that deal with how people use communication on the social network. I thought it was very interesting how the statistics showed the differences between genders and the differences in their uses on the Facebook website. For example, it showed that female students are more likely to post more photos of themselves and with friends, and more likely to comment on their friend's facebook's photos and statuses, including using the "like" button. I was also surprised to see that the statistics showed that men are more likely to post news events and current event related topic than women, because on my personal experiences on Facebook, i've seen an equal number of men AND women posting news and articles related to current events on their Facebook pages. I think that women stay just as involved as men in news and current events, but they just might not choose to post or share it with their friends on Facebook. I also thought that the entry on sharing personal information was interesting too. According to the statistics, men and women are likely to share more of certain personal information. For example, it said that women are more likely to share what their relationship status is and men are more likely to share their religious or political views. Grad students seem to not stay as involved with Facebook activity as much as high school or college students, and i think it is because grad students take their careers and other affairs outside of the social network more seriously. Grad students also do not seem to worry as much about the number of friends they have on their Facebook as much as students, and I personally find the whole hype about having as much friends on Facebook to be quite ridiculous, because I doubt that the people who have over 1100 friends on their friends list really talk to every single one of those people on a daily basis, or keep in touch with their lives. I think that so many people have the assumption that having so many friends like 100+ may show they are "popular" but really i do not think that has anything to do with it, because what is important is how much you really know all the people on your friends list and how often you keep in touch with them. Today so many people are just "adding" or "friending" anybody, or people who they have only met once, or someone who is just a friend of a mutual friend.
While this entry was a very interesting and useful source to me, it got me thinking that we really need to see how social networking has shaped and influence our communication and socializing with the people in our lives. It's also interesting to see how the differences between genders shape how we communicate and share our information about our lives with others. Social networking can be good and bad, depending on how serious we take it, and how much it has progressed into our lives.