The Digital Divide as a Complex and Dynamic Phenomenon

Presently, hot discussions are going on in America and Europe, in particular, about the question whether there is a so-called ‘digital divide’ or not. And when it is deemed to exist, the next question becomes whether it will close or widen in years to come. Most of this discussion has a heavy political load. Old views reappear about markets and people solving all problems by themselves, or not, and about the need or rejection of government interference. In this paper we will try to postpone this ideological discussion in order to first develop scientific conceptual distinctions and to present reliable and valid empirical data of longitudinal research on this subject matter. The concepts of ‘digital divide’, ‘access’, ‘adoption of innovations following S-curves’ etc. will be carefully explicated. The most reliable and valid data from the USA and European countries will be summarized. Finally, some results of a large-scale official social survey in the Netherlands will be presented as it is one of the few that tried to go beyond the usual demographic background variables elaborating multiple regression models for the explanation of differences found in these background variables. The first obstacle in all research and discussion on information inequality is the multifaceted concept of access. It is used freely in everyday meanings with a lack of notice that it is used in very different meanings. The meaning of having a computer and a network connection is the most common one in the context of digital technology. However, according to Van Dijk (1999) this only refers to the second of four successive kinds of access, called ‘hurdles’ or ‘barriers’ on the way to the information and network society. Van Dijk distinguishes four kinds of access: 1) Lack of any digital experience caused by lack of interest, computer fear and unattractiveness of the new technology (‘psychological access’); 2) No possession of computers and network connections (‘material access’); 3) Lack of digital skills caused by insufficient user-friendliness and inadequate education or social support (‘skills access’); 4) Lack of significant usage opportunities (‘usage access’).