Digital Divide, Data Trash, and the Commodification of Information

Abstract

In an attempt to build a theoretical framework for new media within the African context, this chapter considers terminology that routinely surface around ICTs. Terms such as knowledge economy, information poverty, the digital divide, information, knowledge and data though used interchangeably or roughly to mean similar things, they are laden with value, meaning and reflect power relations within a global and local context. Routinely used terms in a field create discourses which in turn reveal sociocultural, economic practices and power relations which reflect certain hegemonies. This chapter attempts to review some of the terms in the field of ICTs in order to make visible the sociocultural and economic power relations embedded in them. The digital divide offers a key entry point into ICT discourses and the opportunities and challenges presented by new media technology within the context of Africa. The theoretical concepts of the digital divide are reviewed within the larger context of global constructions of information wealth and information poverty.

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