Race and the Digital: Racial Formation and 21st Century Technologies

Conclusion

In conclusion, the role of social media in the Digital Divide, especially of media where minoritized communitires participate in and consume, can be seen as an arena for bridge building. This paper has explored Facebook as a platform for engagement on various levels, from the active users who have profiles, to those who are simply exposed to its content. The popular aura of Facebook reaches even into countries that are still developing and not popularly associated with technological advancement. Overall, we have largely not been able to attain data that includes all marginalized communities in their statistics. But, what is for certain is that people know about the internet and even, of popular websites like Facebook. There are segments of minoritized communities who create content and those who participate in sharing this content via the web or with other humans in face-to-face interaction (which can manifest itself into tangible action).

In the wider scope of the digital revolution, even those who participate in the creation of gadgets (like Chinese FoxCon workers) who may not possess iPhones, are reached by their existence. 


"A Chinese factory worker has become a celebrity after her smiling face was accidentally loaded onto an Apple iPhone and shipped to the other side of the world." - NBC News 

Moreover, it is important to note that the internet as a mass communication tool can help others with more power become aware of the injustices. For example, the picture above sparked controversy around the age of factory workers and their working conditions. The positive light and the hope that can spring forth from media can be thought of in terms of how this digital media complicates inequality issues that have existed in our society for many years. Hopefully, we, the users can be the catalyst to push the digital world into an arena of optimistic change.

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