What Would the Luddites Make of Digital Opportunity?

Our goal at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is universal, meaningful connectivity. Under our logo, we say that broadband builds opportunities and strengthens communities. But we haven’t been living under a rock. We know technology does not always build opportunity or strengthen communities. And right now, a real bleakness surrounds technology and what it is doing to us—or might do to us. If you work in digital inclusion, that can give you pause. What exactly are we working to include people in? Writing this talk became an exercise in thinking through that question. And I hope some of that reflection will be useful to you. So: What would the Luddites make of digital opportunity?