The Impacts of Global Inequality in Social Networks: Examined in Three Major Theories

The rapid growth of modern long-distance communication technologiesboth in term of quality and quantity and the consequent emergenceof cyberspace in parallel with the real world, has led to new forms ofinequality which can be interpreted in three different ways. Using thethree-generation theory of social networks (Oral networks; Longdistancenetworks; and, Digital networks), one can make domesticcomparisons, and find countries in which the majority of the populationare within the third category or the digital network. On the other sideof the extreme, are nations who are still under the limited conditionsof the first and second categories of oral and long-distance networking.This paper presents a chart using a combination of different statisticalindicators to illustrate the inequality in question. The focus of this paperhas been on the two countries of Iran and the United States as its casestudy. The conclusion at the end suggests that tackling and reducing theinequality in question has to do with ‘national will and national facilities’as well as ‘individual will and individual facilities’.