Open Discussion: What Side of the Other Digital Divide are You On?

You are not normal.

If you’re reading this blog or any blog about marketing, blogging, and social media, you’re not normal. If you spend more time on the computer than watching television, you’re not normal.

There’s a chasm separating folks who are fluent in the web and digital media from those who are not. If you never bothered to get online back in the 90s or make the web part of your daily life, you’re like a 1st-grader thrust into college as you try to learn it now. You feel like you need to catch up, but there is no catching up because everything changes so fast.

The so-called digital divide originally was a “haves” vs “have nots” term relating to money, class, and access. That’s still very real, but I’m talking about something else. Think of it as the “other” digital divide.

The difference between my digital fluency and that of many others is wide. Compared to many, I may as well be from the future. And yet living in Vermont where the mobile infrastructure is lacking, even I’m not up to speed on the wonders of smartphones and 3 or 4g networks.

Some folks did their best to ignore “the whole thing” until forced into it by the rest of society and now they’re at a disadvantage. Others have been immersed in digital media from nearly the beginning.

These are two very different groups. Which one are you, and which one is your customer?

Filed Under: Blogging

http://www.chicwriter.com dcfemella

My mother was a Computer Specialist for the Government, so she was always wanting to try out the latest technology. I think we were one of the first kids in our school to have the internet. However, my sisters were never really into it, while I always loved computers and what I could do on the internet, so it depends on the person, really
http://craftMBA.com megan

I think the question of which category your customers falls into is a really good one – if you're web savvy but your customers aren't really online, then all the blogging in the world isn't going to help you. Conversely, if you don't like a certain type of social media, but a large portion of your customers or potential customers are there, you need to suck it up and join the conversation.

I grew up with computers and a tech obsessed dad, so I've always been very comfortable with computers. Back in early 2008, I presented about web 2.0 to a conference of metalsmiths and jewelers, and you'd think I'd announced the end of the world! They couldn't understand or see the value. But now, many of those same people are online because their businesses are doing poorly and they were forced to try something different. But for many of them, it still isn't comfortable.
- remarkablogger
  
  Is it even worth dealing with people who act like they're being dragged
  kicking and screaming into the present? You can't “save” anyone who doesn't
  really want help, and passive-aggressive types are the worst. I'm not
  directing this specifically at you, just your comment prompted me to ask.
maryeulrich

Amen! Alleluia!

I'm old. I'm not particularly tech savy–in fact I suck. I don't have money or power. But I am a thought leader in my small niche, I love to learn, I'm a great problem solver, and I have the persistence to keep trying to make good things happen for those who can't speak for themselves. So, the internet has been my friend and allowed me to learn from people (like you) in fields I would never have known existed.

Most of the time, I feel like I'm crazy and am spitting in the wind. As you described, it is lonely. Most people I know and depend on, reluctantly have adapted email, pay some bills and even read the sports pages online, but they don't know (or care to know) about blogs, social media…and can't understand why I find the internet more interesting than “Dancing w/the stars” or “Survivor” (rolls eyes). My two nieces just got their “communication degrees” from a credible university and they think I'm talking nonsense.

Joel Barker talks about the three types of people involved in paradigm shifts: the “shifters,” “the paradigm pioneers” and the “settlers.” You and other experts may be the “shifters” but I like to think of myself as one of the pioneers: tilling the land, facing the droughts, plagues, and social isolation. I console myself that I'm still an important part in the evolution–making it safer and easier for the settlers who will follow.

If I can figure out how to use this knowledge for the good of other people, I will have done something important.
http://marketingartfully.com Tara Jacobsen

I have to say this came up the other day and I got slammed for saying what you just posted…:) I have been doing internety stuff for over ten years now and have gone through the html to the flash to the asp and back to the html. I don't have to agonize about how to fill out a form or make a bulleted list. Those are all skills like learning to drive or type (don't get me started on how typing was a stupid thing to learn to do in high school)

The non-internety clients that I have found do well recognize that while they may never catch up, they have to start somewhere. They also realize that ignoring the internet will not make it go away! It is impossible to convince someone that the internet will help their business grow BUT if they have opened the door, even a little bit, there is hope. Then when they get their first internet lead WATCH OUT…:)
- remarkablogger
  
  Tara, one of my favorite sayings is a Chinese proverb: The best time to
  plant a tree was twenty years ago; the next best time is now.
http://www.zadling.com/ Zadling

Hey! I'm on the internet more than I watch TV and I consider myself pretty normal. Just kidding. You make a good point though. I was developing websites over 12 years ago when I was still in high school and you would think that my peers would have gotten their tech skills caught up-to-date, but if you weren't a big internet user then, in all likelihood, you're still pretty clueless about it today, even after all this time.
http://evengrounds.com/blog Julius

I feel fortunate that I've been exposed to digital media at a young age. I think our readers are a mixture of the two groups you mentioned.
http://blogtechguy.com/ Joel Williams

People often think it's a generation problem, but the other weekend a 15 year old asked me what a blog was. Then what Flash was. Every day I try to de-jargon what I see as normal and am still surprised by how much I work on every day that some people don't care about in the slightest.
- remarkablogger
  
  Joel, you're right, it's not generational at all. The “godfathers” of the
  internet and computing are all fairly old dudes, now. How many kids play
  games or use a mobile device without understanding in the slightest what
  goes into creating those experiences?
melindasuperwahm

I was talking to a group of Coaches a few weeks ago and we started talking about websites – one of others looked at me and asked “What's a blog?”

And then there was the discussion of putting out a directory of the Coaches in our area as a PDF and one of the other leaders is saying “but nobody uses a cd when you give it to them at a function, it's a waste of time” and she just didn't get the point that a pdf was emailed or downloaded and didn't have to be burned on a CD.

The directory never did get done, simply because the team couldn't get past this issue and I was stonewalled.

So I'm on the technical side of the digital divide, and I suspect that 90% of my friends and colleagues are on the other side. Most of my clients tend to be somewhere in middle as they've had to become at least a little tech savvy to run their business.
http://www.homewiththekids.com/blog/ Stephanie – Home with the Kids

The ones that amaze me are the ones who want to be on the tech side of the digital divide but have no clue and try to pretend otherwise. My mother was working with someone who was supposed to be doing the website design for their town council. He wasn't even capable of linking from a web page to a PDF on his own – had to ask how.

My mother eventually had to take it over, even though she's not that tech savvy. But she could use a free template from the host and asked me how to do the rest.

I'm not bad on all this. Only reason I don't own a smart phone is because I'm home too much to bother with one. I want one, but it would be a toy, not something practical.
wendikelly

I am only know beginning to realize how true this is. Hanging out IN the blogging world, I still feel like a blogging & techie newbie with so much to learn and soak up still, even after three years. I must spend at least two hours a day reading and learning. Then I step into the “Real world” and am shocked and scratching my head to hear such questions as what is g-mail, what is a blog, what is that thing you are talking on? ( a blackberry). I really knew I had moved into a whole new world when I was the one teaching my mother and the church how to use the computers and set up g-mail accounts and teaching them the world of blogging and the internet and how to upload information. Four years ago, someone was teaching me.
http://www.travel-writers-exchange.com Trisha Miller

Great roundup of links! I found all of them useful except for the last one (Stupid Fight), which is merely enormously entertaining. Since stupid people seem to attract their like in greater numbers than intelligent people, it would appear that the way to get more twitter followers is to get more stupid followers (quantity), and encourage them to be even more stupid (quality). Hmmmm……(*twists end of imaginary handlebar mustache*)
http://www.insinuate.org mark

I agree totaly that if you watch tv less than time spent on computer your not normal, but like most of us, were after that internet dollar thats more appealing than being a tv slob.