The Participation Gap and Mobile Media

Participation Gap vs. Digital Divide

After reading the articles by Kevin Guidry and Aaron Smith, I believe there is a larger participation gap than digital divide in the United States. The “participation gap” expands beyond the simplistic view of the “digital divide” because nearly every American has some form of access to the Internet and other media devices. However, Americans have differing experiences with the Internet, and that shapes people’s understanding and perspective of the Internet. For example, if an individual has instant access to the Internet on their mobile device, they will have a very different understanding of the Internet than an individual who just owns a computer, or has to go to the library to use the Internet.  The use of the Internet with someone’s own device is much more personal and occurs on a more consistent basis. These experiences will greatly affect the way an individual illustrates the Internet and other media devices.

Mobile Trends and the Participation Gap

The growing use of mobile devices to access the Internet in the next 3-5 years will likely shrink the digital divide and the participation gap. With more people having access to the Internet than ever before, it is inevitable that the participation gap will decrease to the point where it is nonexistent. With 88% of US adults owning a cell phone, and 49% of all US adults using their cell phones for the Internet, the participation gap between cell phone Internet users and non-cell phone Internet users is become less definitive. While the digital divide still exists for individuals without Internet access at home, the number of people with mobile devices with Internet access is increasing, and thus the way people experience the Internet is changing to be more mobile.

The Mobile Audiences of the Future

Mobile audiences are growing and becoming a greater factor in the way companies and people present media to the public. Now, every website must ensure that it is accessible on a mobile device because that is many people’s preferred way of accessing the Internet. Eventually, I believe that mobile devices will greatly outnumber laptops and desktops. People prefer to be able to access the Internet whenever they possibly can, and mobile devices allow them to do just that. I predict the mobile audience to continue increasing over the next couple of years, and then it will eventually level off because everyone will have a mobile device.