Review 8: "Revisiting the digital divide"

Farrelly, Michael Garrett. "Revisiting the digital divide." Public Libraries 48 (2009): 22-24.

The digital divide used to refer to the gap between people who had access to technology like the Internet and cell phones, and those who did not. Michael Garrett Farrelly writes, "The role of the librarian in bridging that gap has been one of the central drives in our profession for ages."

However, things in Library Land are quickly changing. Farrelly goes on to write, "Hearing the mainstream media yammer on about Twitter or sexting or whatever the latest online fad might be is often grating to anyone who spends time around the young adults at the bleeding edge of end-user tech." When even pretty sophisticated social media technology becomes obsolete, or not as popular, where does that leave the librarian?

Farrelly indicates that the new digital divide isn't as focused on access as it is about context. Most people in the United States have some sort of access to digital social media (through libraries, school, work, home, etc.), but not everyone uses this new type of media in the same way. For example, my mother is on Facebook and Twitter; however, she uses Facebook and Twitter in very different ways than I do. I might go on Facebook to ask a friend what time they are going out for pizza, and I use Twitter to communicate information about events I am planning. My mother uses Facebook to reconnect with friends from high school and college, and she uses Twitter to keep track of what's going on re: me.

Farrelly also discusses how librarians who work with teenagers can keep their patrons safe without being a policing force. He writes, "The ability to share information is always going to lead to the sharing of, shall we say, indelicate material."

In his conclusion, Farrelly says, "The divide for the born digital young adults though, is one of understanding: their parents, educators, and well-intentioned librarians trying to comprehend and protect them from the wilds of territories they are mapping all on their own."


Librarians who work with young adults could use this article in an attempt to wrap their brains around this issue: we are not teenagers. We will never be teenagers again. And yet, we try to connect with this age group through libraries. Trying to be a teenager makes you look like an idiot. Farrelly's point about understanding each other is quite valid. To really understand the social media that teenagers are using, one must use it themselves, and use it in similar ways as teenagers. I cannot tell you how many people have asked me why I like Twitter. It's difficult to explain "following," "retweeting," and "at-replies" to someone who thinks the tool you like are inane and worthless.