Communication Strategies

The development of Information and Communication Technologies has had impacts in the social setting of different people. This paper gives an overview of the concept of digital divide and the difference it has brought. It also analyzes the various aspects of transferring information from one person to the other in an effective and efficient way.

Digital divide is defined as the huge social and economic gap seen in two groups of people those with opportunities and those either without it or incompetent to these opportunities. In Digital divide, opportunities are offered by Information and Communication Technologies. The latter group does not get the equipments and or have no knowledge on how to use them (Norris, 2006).

The digital divide implies that there are two distinct groups of population. There are those who are bound to benefit compared to others in the economy. These populations have better economic opportunities. There are three stages of digital divide namely Economic Divide, Usability Divide and Empowerment Divide. Economic Divide basically means that there are a group of people who are not able to own computers. Usability Divide is considered worse than Economic Divide and it implies that due to the complexity of technology, few people are not able to use computers. Even for the few who use them, they do not benefit wholly from these computers due to illiteracy. There are many people who are illiterate when it comes to website use. The companies have not established easier versions that could be understood by the illiterate in the society. This illiteracy affects even people who are senior in the society (Nielsen, 2006).

Internet use has been widely spread among the younger generations. Most companies have ignored the poorer and the older generation. Empowerment divide implied that people would still not make full use of the available technology such as internet. As the internet use grew, there has been participation inequality which means that only a small percentage of the population contributes in the social networks that they use. Very few users know how to use features like search engines (Nielsen, 2006).

The internet has both the good side and the bad side. Many unskilled users have been conned via the internet. Access to technology leads to an improved and better life with various opportunities (Arrison, 2002). Digital divide still exist today in internet and media accessibility and use. Some people are still illiterate while others still cannot access the technology. Due to the hard economic times, this technology will still be a mirage to them (Foulger, 2002).

A good information resource should have five qualities namely accuracy, clarity, flexibility, availability and integrity. Clarity covers aspects such as the language, method of presentation in relation to the target audience whether male or female and the age. The integrity of information refers to how the audience will react to the information. The source of the information should be a trusted one. The information should be flexible and easy to update at any time. Lastly, the information resource should transfer the message to many of its audience to ensure that everyone benefits (Payne, 2010).

Information should be shared with others and this process is known as replication. It helps to enhance consistency and reliability. Data can be replicated and stored in different devices. The previous information can be updated over and over (Schafer, 2001).

Conclusion
There is need to embrace the ever changing technology to ensure that every person benefits from it. Accessibility to these technologies such as computers and the use of internet will help in achieving this. Moreover, education on the use of the different technologies used in communication will assist in improving the speed at which information is transferred from one person to the other.