As discussed in class, digital media tends to have both good and bad extremes when relating to diversity.
On one hand, digital media could allow people who haven't personally experienced diversity to see it on a wide scale in a whole new way. The Internet in general allows for instant access to any culture, although limited because you just have to sit at your computer. Its ease of access, for example, could lead a student to IU's GLBT Office when a student may never actually step into the office himself, which can embrace different cultures.
However, the argument exists that digital media just provides further exclusion for already marginalized groups.
To show both sides, the Media Diversity Institute recently put together a debate.
Ben Hammersley, editor of Wired magazine, says digital technology allows for valuable diversity of opinion.
Hammersley, along with other journalists and bloggers, all discuss if the Internet has just allowed for a community of like-minded individuals talking about only like-minded things here.
I do believe digital media is generally used to the well-being of most people and that most people benefit from having "the world at their fingertips." There are always those people who use things the wrong way or try to promote ideas against diversity, but it takes the consumer to be smart and moral to dig through what is right and wrong about digital media.
One potential issue I can see with digital media is its influence on children, who can be easily swayed in different opinions. If a child runs across a hate website like those we talked about in class, it could sway his opinion on diversity and possibly lead to issues. The Internet isn't always a good thing if left in the hands of those who want to cause trouble or who aren't fluent enough users to understand the differences in certain websites.
