The digital divide often refers to those who lack access to computing hardware or software, those who do not have the technological skills (or digital literacy) to use information or communication technologies. These include rural and remote populations without high speed internet access, and demographic segments such as those who are older, of lower socio-economic status, or the infirm. But I raise the question of whether the digital divide might also include those on the opposite end of the spectrum; those who are so 'plugged in' to new media and new communication channels, those who are so intimately connected to their handheld devices and networked technologies, that they miss information that might be shared with the masses through traditional media channels.
Many emergency managers and public officials consider this one of their key issues as they develop means and mechanisms to reach a broader population at risk to hazardous conditions. Indeed, this is one of the reasons cited for establishing Twitter or Facebook profiles and creating aggressive Twitter campaigns. This weekend, however, I read about one of the most creative strategies yet, designed not to reach the Twitter crowd, or the Facebook crowd, but the gaming crowd.
As part of their Empire 2.0 initiative, New York State announced their plans to send alerts issued by the Emergency Management Office over video game networks. For those who spend their time on television plugged in to video games, the Emergency Alert style system will get their attention by tapping into networks such as Xbox LIVE, the PlayStation Network, and the Nintendo WiFi Connection . While few details are available, New York State Deputy CIO Rico Singleton has announced that the plan is in its testing phase.
While we don't yet know how these alerts will be received or acted upon by the New York State youth that are its target, one can be assured that such creative outreach ideas will spur innovation across the United States. This is the beauty of social media; we are no longer limited to traditional dissemination channels or to our own limited capacities to design and innovate for the future. Crowd-sourced information will spur creative solutions and increase the reach of communications across distributed networks.
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Many emergency managers and public officials consider this one of their key issues as they develop means and mechanisms to reach a broader population at risk to hazardous conditions. Indeed, this is one of the reasons cited for establishing Twitter or Facebook profiles and creating aggressive Twitter campaigns. This weekend, however, I read about one of the most creative strategies yet, designed not to reach the Twitter crowd, or the Facebook crowd, but the gaming crowd.
As part of their Empire 2.0 initiative, New York State announced their plans to send alerts issued by the Emergency Management Office over video game networks. For those who spend their time on television plugged in to video games, the Emergency Alert style system will get their attention by tapping into networks such as Xbox LIVE, the PlayStation Network, and the Nintendo WiFi Connection . While few details are available, New York State Deputy CIO Rico Singleton has announced that the plan is in its testing phase.
While we don't yet know how these alerts will be received or acted upon by the New York State youth that are its target, one can be assured that such creative outreach ideas will spur innovation across the United States. This is the beauty of social media; we are no longer limited to traditional dissemination channels or to our own limited capacities to design and innovate for the future. Crowd-sourced information will spur creative solutions and increase the reach of communications across distributed networks.
