Untitled - socium.ge

The network society in Catalonia 235So, the digital divide is not only between the top and the bottom of the socialstructure, but also within managerial groups between those working on informationand those directing their work on the basis of their positions of power.We suspect that the technological conservatism of the managerial elites may bea relevant feature in other societies as well. The implications are that the decision-makersin the moment of transition to the network society are relativelydistant from the technological system of the new society, and of its organizationalcorrelates. As a result, their decisions will be dependent on technologicalpractices in other societies, unless they develop applications specific to theirown social context.However, the most important factor in explaining the differential diffusion ofthe Internet is age. Thus, between 15 and 19 years, 72.8 percent are Internetusers, and between 15 and 29, 64.7 percent, but the percentage falls to 39.3percent for those in the age group 30–49, and drops to 8.4 percent for those over50, with less than 4 percent of users among those over 60. Age also conditionsthe effect of all other variables on the use of the Internet. Thus, in the youngergroup (15–29 years) the gender gap works in favor of women: 67 percent areInternet users in contrast to 62.5 percent of men, while in the group over 50 yearsof age, only 4.3 percent of women are users, versus 13.3 percent of men. Incomeand occupational status are also largely conditioned by age in their effect onInternet use. Among young people (15–29 years) of low income, 49.8 percentare Internet users, a higher proportion than those of high income over 50 yearsold (41.3 percent are users in this case). Similarly, 41.7 percent of young workersare Internet users in contrast with managers and executives over 50 (28.3percent users). When age and education combine, the percentage of Internet useis the highest: 93 percent of college and high-school students are Internet users.The same pattern of social structuration of Internet practice by age and educationappears when we analyze, beyond mere use, the frequency and intensity ofuse.The meaning of these findings is less obvious than it appears to be. Cataloniais a society in the process of rapid historical change. The cultural backwardnessand economic exploitation of Franco’s dictatorship (1939–1976) led to massivemigration to industrialized Catalonia by the huddled masses of peasants andworkers from southern, central, and western Spain. These “new Catalans” madea decisive contribution to the economic growth and social diversity of Catalonia,and were at the forefront of the social struggles that led to democratic Spain in1977, and to the new, autonomous Catalan nationality in 1980. Yet, their educationalbackground was minimal, and their ability to adapt to an informationalsociety somewhat limited. Thus, in 2002 our study revealed that 62.3 percent ofthe Catalan population over 15 had not completed secondary education, and only12 percent were college graduates. The data are similar for Spain as a whole, insharp contrast to France, Germany, the UK, and Scandinavia.