The concept of “information poverty” is one that is highly relevant to the global era and the changing nature of mass communication brought about by the Internet. While the Internet has led to great advancements in communication and convenience in the last two decades, those benefits have fallen much more heavily on certain nations than they have on others. Information poverty refers to the idea that “gains in productivity resulting from the new technology may widen differences in economic growth between the most affluent nations and those that lack the skills, resources, and infrastructure to invest in the information society.”[1] Many nations are without the proper means to institute broad access to and information about the Internet. As such, these nations experience a broadening social gap with the areas of the world that do have such widespread access. Specifically, the information age has brought with it an increase in social inequality between the North and the South.[2] This issue is of great concern to the developing situation of the global era and will certainly prove a contentious and relevant matter in years to come.
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