Digital diversity is the expression, convergence, and clashing of people’s ideas, culture, language, politics, religion, and anything in between; and this is all happening through the digital mediums of the internet, social networking sites, and mobile phones. Digital technology today has “greased” the transfer of information (of whatever kind) from any form or medium to the next. Because of this convergence (DME, p.10), people are now interacting on a global scale. Due to this massive communications grid, new forms of diversity, old ways of living, and recognizable patterns from history all now take shape in this new medium called the World Wide Web.
There has always been diversity: among families, neighborhoods, cities, and nations. However, the extent and capability to interact with other and more diverse people has exploded within the last decade. Because of this interconnectedness, there is a need to reassess if the way we all used to do things is now relevant in today’s society. The “Always-On” culture has swept the U.S. and other nations around the globe, but the way we interact has more or less stayed the same: we are disrespectful, intolerant, blindsided, biased, and antagonistic toward anyone that can be labeled as “The Other.” This goes for everyone. It doesn’t mean we haven’t become slightly more accepting of other people due to our more frequent interactions with them. It means, whether we are aware of it or not, our seeded tendencies dictate the way we socialize and then categorize different people. The digital age, this age, illustrates more people connected to each other, but still the same amount of people with complete apathy toward prejudice of ”
The Other,” whether they like it or not.
Sources Cited-
Ess, Charles. Digital Media Ethics. 2009.
Watkins, Craig. The Young and the Digital. 2009.