The Domestic Digital Divide

Some of my classmates have discussed the international Digital Divide. One important thing to discuss, however, is the national Digital Divide. As someone who works with the internet and politics on a daily basis, I can tell you that internet audiences are almost exclusively upper and upper middle class citizens (including younger generations). One thing to always remember is who your internet audience is.

Myself and four other young politicos put together a campaign plan for the Mississippi gubernatorial race in 2003 between Barbour and Musgrove. Because Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the Nation and is almost one third black, our most targeted voters were citizens who rarely accessed the internet. Therefore, our campaign plan included and website that targeted our national audience instead of our targeted voters.

This campaign experience demonstrates the digital divide in national politics. In this particular campaign, the internet was tertiary to other methods of voter outreach. The digital divide is as much a domestic issue as it is an international issue.

NOTES TO PONDER: Will the digital divide only make it harder to reach lower and lower middle class voters? Will these voters only be further excluded from the political process?