Inequalities in the network society

Abstract

At the first sight, the claim that information and communication networks such as the Internet contribute to more inequality of information and communication seems rather odd. Aren’t networks particularly appropriate to diffuse and exchange information among all those connected? Isn’t the Internet a medium where you can retrieve most information for free and exchange emails, chats, twitters, SMS messages and others almost without cost? Hasn’t the Internet become much more accessible and user-friendly since the days the World Wide Web started? Yet, in this chapter the claim is made that the actual use of information and communication networks, such as the Internet, in contemporary society most likely leads to more instead of less inequality when no effective policies are invented to prevent this.