Smart divide: Paradigm shift in digital divide in South Korea

Abstract

There is still much controversy about whether the broad dissemination of smart devices is closing or deepening the digital divide. However, it certainly is clear that the adoption of smart devices has fundamentally evolved the traditional digital divide. This research empirically identified the existence and factors making up the smart divide, which is the evolving digital divide generated by the use of smart devices. After analysing the effects of smart devices, it has identified that the smart divide is being generated among the traditional information-haves not only by external factors such as gender and economic status, but also by an internal factor which is the literacy of smart devices. The smart divide, instead of generating a dichotomic divide, rather is evolving a multilayered interdigitated segmentation within groups of people who own smart devices. In addition, it is a future-oriented divide because it is tied to the opportunities to get information through more information channels on smart devices.