This is an article I wrote for WiredLatinos.

A recent study by the Wikimedia Foundation revealed that only 13% of all Wikipedia entries are written by women. This is alarming for many reasons, but mostly because Wikipedia is an important information tool world-wide, and the lack of women indicates that knowledge construction on the site may be biased. Of course, true to its self-analytical nature, the Wiki community has already launched several initiatives to bring more women on board.

For early adapters, the study seemed more indicative of problems found not only on Wikipedia, but the web in general.

In the early 90s, many of us were attracted to the online world because of the alternative it provided to mainstream channels – lets admit it, most of us were considered quite “unique” back then. As the internet grew, it began to serve more as a type of mirror that reflected human nature than as a virtual gathering ground for geeks, misfits, and technologists.

As such, analyzing current macro problems, such as the lack of women on Wikipedia, provides us with a deeper understanding of the current problems we face not only online but in the real world as well.  It also provides us with a roadmap, since changes online produce powerful, real changes in our human culture. 

Misnomer: Everyone Has Access

Not only does a digital divide exist between the US and developing countries, but a digital divides exists within our national borders.  Both the lack of education and resources contribute to this division, which grows wider every day as technology becomes more sophisticated. Take the question of access into account.  According to Pew, 51% of Hispanics and 46% of Blacks use their phone to access the internet – a stark contrast to the 33% of Whites. Not only does this indicate that people of color may be spending less time online, but it also indicates that they may be consuming more information than they are producing.

Misnomer: The Internet is Representative of Everyone

Many factors contribute to being represented online, including the ability of a particular language to be represented electronically.  It is no secret that the web has been historically been “English” biased. While much progress has been made in this area, there are still many languages that will never have the ASCii character sets.

Human culture and behavior plays another key element in representation. While the rise of blogs has diversified the type of information found online, the reality is that most die after 6 months. Additionally, most people are lurkers, and are much more comfortable viewing content than actually producing it. Talk to an old skool web professional, and they may even cite the 90-10 rule which essentially means that 90% of all content is created by 10% of the population.

Why does this matter? Well, because it means that only certain stories are being told online. Thus, entire perspectives and views are eliminated from a larger conversation that is defining the future of our world.

Misnomer: As Technology Advances, So does Everyone Else

People have the tendency to confuse technology with progress. Technology is a tool that can be used in many ways, including empowering communities to improve their quality of life. However, technology can also be used to set up invisible but  real walls that push certain groups to permanently exist outside the modern world.

Take the community of people with disabilities. As the marketplace transitions over to a digital economy and website design becomes increasingly more sophisticated, many experts argue that it excludes people of disabilities from participating properly. Screen readers can read aloud text on a webpage but not graphical, multimedia representations. Additionally, even people with cognitive disabilities are being impacted thanks to the push towards design that lacks navigation elements.

What can I do?

While disparities exist, the internet is still a tool that helps empower and bring change. Produce your own content, help disenfranchised communities learn how to tell their own stories, and educate yourself on the new challenges technology brings. If you need guidance, why not join on of the many groups that are currently tackling different online issues, such as the following listed below:

Wikipedia Gender Gap   http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gender_gap

Create of Die 2  http://journalismthatmatters.org/createordie2/2011/02/02/create-or-die-2/

The Ada Initiative  http://adainitiative.org/

Save the Internet   http://www.savetheinternet.com/

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