Massimo Ragnedda and Maria Laura Ruiu (2016), Exclusão digital: como é estar do lado errado da divisão digital (Digital exclusion: be on the wrong side of the digital divide), Revista Online de Comunicação, Linguagem e Mídias, 10(20): 90-113.
Abstract: The development of the information society has highlighted the existence of obstacles preventing
certain social groups from accessing and properly using technologies, leading to new forms of exclusion from the job market, governmental institutions, leisure and academic activities. However, reducing the gap between those who connect and those who do not by offering cheaper and faster physical access does not automatically translate into closing the gap in terms of digital inequalities. The technological determinist position, which sees access to technology as being able to solve social problems, including problems of social inequality, democracy, freedom, social relationships and sense of community, is misleading. In fact, several dimensions and patterns can generate and reinforce inequalities, further increasing the distances between citizens/users. The term “digital divide”, often used as a binary expression, is confusing, because it suggests a one- dimensional gap, mainly based on the economic factor – possession of technologies –, while there are gaps in multiple dimensions that go beyond the simple access to or possession of resources. These dimensions create digital inequalities that, if not mirrored, can produce and reinforce social inequalities. The concepts of social and digital stratification are intimately intertwined
Massimo Ragnedda 