The Washington State University American Studies program's Institute for Digital Diversity is engaged in multiple efforts to lessen the cultural obstacles to overcoming the so-called "digital divide". The gap between those who enjoy the benefits of new communications technologies and those who do not is a major societal concern.
The Institute is dedicated to finding ways for new media technology to prove more useful to people facing economic inequality, discrimination and cultural misrepresentation.
The Institute is supported by the American Studies program, and Research Assistantships provided through the WSU Graduate School. We are currently seeking external grant funding to deepen and extend our efforts.
The Cultural Digital Divide
While much of the work addressing the digital divide has focused on the important task of providing access to hardware, software, and basic computer literacy, there is an additional issue -- the cultural digital divide -- that has received far too little attention.
Research increasingly shows that one of the essential ways to attack digital inequalities is by addressing the fact that technologies are always created with cultural biases built-in that limit their use.
This means that the divide will be lessened only when, in addition to providing basic access, we address seriously cultural differences and the differences in power that come with them.
We are committed to a unique approach that will help improve the quality and quantity of diverse cultural content in new media, and in turn make those vital communication resources more effective in dealing with issues of economic, social and political inequalities.
We know that one of the best ways to do this is by training graduate students who combine lived experience in underserved groups, intensive cultural study, and technical skills, to work with marginalized communities to empower them to represent themselves in digital media on their own cultural ground and via their own cultural terms.
Four Aspects of IDD Work
The Institute for Digital Diversity (IDD) seeks to bridge the cultural dimensions of the digital divide in four primary ways:
1) Through MA and PhD degree programs in multimedia mulitcultural studies that involve research on and engagement with marginalized communities seeking greater digital equity.
2) Through our Developing Culturally Relevant Web Resources for Underserved Communities project that involves a team of 15 faculty and graduate research assistants doing direct hands-on work with non-profit groups in underrepresented communities to assist them in overcoming the cultural digital divide.
3) Through our online guide to resources of use to anyone working on issues of digital diversity (see navigation bar on left).
4) Through educational outreach and work to support other like-minded efforts around the state, the nation and the world aimed at informing folks about the cultural digital divide, and working to lessen it.
The Digital Divide is Growing
While some aspects of the “digital divide” have narrowed in some communities around the world, due mainly to various private and government efforts over recent years, adoption and use of new communication media remains extremely uneven across lines of income, ethnicity/culture, gender and physical abilities.
Most attempts to solve the problem of the “digital divide” between technological “haves and have-nots” have focused on questions of hardware, infrastructure, physical access and a shallow interpretation of technical literacy as simply learning computer programs.
While these are all important elements to bridging divides, they are not sufficient, and projects limited to these elements have often failed.
Even when income and education levels are similar, there not only remain a disparities among racial and cultural groups in the use of digital technology, but the gap in technological literacy is actually growing.
In order for people to engage meaningfully with technology, they must feel it is relevant to their lives, provides real value, and is consistent with their beliefs and cultural styles.
It is increasingly documented that cultural assumptions have been built into nearly all aspects of the design of new media hardware and software, assumptions that have inadvertently limited access.
Significant lack or misrepresentation of particular racial, ethnic and cultural groups in the media has long been show to have profound negative psychological effects on the groups. In turn, this misrepresentation has strongly adverse implications for social justice and equitable social policy because of the broad consumption of these media by the general public and policy makers.Conversely, community-generated, culturally richer representations can contribute positively to economic, social and cultural changes that bring us closer to justice and equality.