midterm review- What is Content?

From the week 5 reading "Communities, Learning and Democracy in the Digital Age."

Question: "What if the build an Internet and no one came? In other words, once we have the first three Cs, what else is necessary to get the groups the authors identified into a participatory mode in an increasingly Internet-dependent society?"

As the author says: "Once individuals and communities become connected and have the capabilities and necessary skills to use the internet, they need a reason for use." In other words, once the three other Cs are taken care of, people need something to do on the internet in order to get them to actually use it. This content varies from person to person and from community to community a great deal. People that need to find jobs or homes will look on the internet if these services are provided, just like college kids will use the internet to study and to research for papers. Persons of ethnic minorities will not be able to use the internet if the websites they want to use are not in a language that they can speak or understand. Relevant content must be on the internet also, nobody will use the internet if all the information on it is out of date and useless. All these things must be present in the internet for people to get use out of it, content is the last but possibly the most important tool to bridge the digital divide we are currently facing.