Tiffany B. Brown

a mish-mosh of stuff

On the mobile digital divide

But now some see a new “digital divide” emerging—with Latinos and blacks being challenged by more, not less, access to technology. It’s tough to fill out a job application on a cell phone, for example. … Fifty-one percent of Hispanics and 46 percent of blacks use their phones to access the Internet, compared with 33 percent of whites, according to a July 2010 Pew poll. Forty-seven percent of Latinos and 41 percent of blacks use their phones for e-mail, compared with 30 percent of whites. The figures for using social media like Facebook via phone were 36 percent for Latinos, 33 percent for blacks and 19 percent for whites.

From For minorities, new ‘digital divide’ seen in the Washington Post. (Log in may be required.)

Emphasis mine.

This is why it is so troubling that many companies are shifting to online-only applications, even for jobs — such as janitorial positions — where computer use and required computing skills are minimal. I remember sitting in the human resources office at Georgia Tech when a middle-aged (black) man to ask for a job application for a janitorial job and was told to sit at a computer (one set aside for such things) to fill out an application online. He didn’t know how. He walked out a few minutes later.

I tell this story to ask: who is excluded by your technical decisions?

  • http://patricia-elizabeth.com Patricia Elizabeth

    When my mother had to look for a job a couple of years ago, she was forced to learn the basics of email and web surfing. Till then, she’d been one of those people who never even touched a computer. Because she simply had no need. she was fortunate in that my brother was able to provide her with a laptop and she has people to teach her how to get around otherwise, she would have been like the gentleman you wrote about, confused and lost. Even now, with a few years under her belt, she sees it as a necessary evil and I can’t say that I completey disagree.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BVV2P6MTRB2NLT3HZPMS7DKEYE DannyC

    I’ve seen this happening for decades now. Even filling out the form can be a barrier. But it is true that the web available on a hand held computer is not the same as the web.