Social inequality on the Internet also on the increase
A total of 97% of Dutch people now have access to the internet. Unfortunately, this does not mean that 'the digital divide' in the Netherlands has now been bridged. On the contrary, social inequality is increasing on the internet, too. Through conducting a series of surveys, researchers at the University of Twente's CTIT research institute have shown that over recent years there has been an increase in the difference between the digital skills possessed by the more highly educated and those with a lower level of education. In addition, more highly qualified people, when compared to those with secondary or lower levels of education, increasingly focus on applications that improve their social position, and those with lower qualifications use the internet more as a medium for entertainment, relatively speaking. The consequence is the creation of an information elite on the internet, and that elite is suspiciously similar to the existing...