The relationship between the knowledge gap and the digital divide

Research on the digital divide has focused on the access to and use of digital technologies, the so-called first and second digital divides. The study of these two dimensions of the digital divide does give a relatively clear picture of the distribution and unequal application of digital technology. However, a more important question, whether the gap in access and use of digital technology has led to a gap in people's knowledge, has been ignored by researchers. In the information society, this is directly related to the survival and development of individuals and communities.

1) People's access to political knowledge can be obtained by the difference in access to the Internet, and (2) people's use of political information on the Internet can be used to obtain their political knowledge.

3) Internet use is better than Internet access, and people's access to political knowledge is better. A reanalysis of data from a national survey conducted in the United States supports the above three hypotheses to varying degrees.

The findings provide empirical evidence for the assertion that the unequal distribution and use of digital technologies have negative social impacts, and that the knowledge gap is one of the negative social impacts, for example. What's more, Internet use has a greater impact on people's access to knowledge than Internet access. Therefore, with the increasing popularity of Internet access, relevant policies should pay more attention to people's Internet use.

In addition, as far as communication theory is concerned, the knowledge gap can be seen as a direction of digital divide research, on the one hand, as an intermediate variable between the access gap, the use gap and other social injustices; On the other hand, with the help of the study of the digital divide, knowledge gap research also has the potential to develop, and among the various factors affecting the knowledge gap, new media technology has become a variable that significantly influences and shapes the knowledge gap. In this sense, the theory of the digital divide can be integrated with the theory of the knowledge gap.

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In August 2020, a section of "the elderly are blocked from taking the subway without a health code" went viral on the Internet, triggering heated discussions among the public about the dilemma of the elderly encountering the "digital divide". On November 24, according to the news of China's ** network, it is required to adhere to the traditional service mode and intelligent service innovation in parallel, and effectively solve the outstanding difficulties encountered by the elderly in the use of intelligent technology.

The digital divide refers to the degree of ownership of information and network technology between different countries, regions, industries, enterprises and communities in the process of global digitalization.

There is also a trend of polarization of information and the polarization of the rich and the poor caused by the difference in the degree of application and innovation ability.

The digital divide is a global issue of information time. It touches on many major issues such as economic equality in today's world, poverty alleviation and debt relief for poor countries, and breaking up monopolies.