FROM THE DIGITAL DIVIDE TO DIGITAL CAPITAL: THEORETICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN EXPLAINING YOUTH INEQUALITY

Abstract

In the context of accelerating digitalization processes and the widespread implementation of generative artificial intelligence, the problem of digital inequality has moved beyond the issue of technical access and has become a complex structural problem of social stratification. This review article provides a systematic analysis of the theoretical evolution of the concepts of digital divide and digital capital in sociological discourse from 2000 to 2025. The main objective of the study is to deconstruct persistent myths about young people’s digital competence and to identify the mechanisms through which digital technologies reproduce social inequality.

Based on an analysis of contemporary academic literature, the article traces the transition from binary technocratic models (“haves” versus “have-nots”) to the multidimensional concept of digital inequality proposed by Paul DiMaggio and Eszter Hargittai, as well as to Jan van Dijk’s theory of the three levels of the digital divide. Special attention is paid to the critique of the digital natives concept and to substantiating the heterogeneous nature of youth. The theory of digital capital developed by Massimo Ragnedda is examined as an autonomous social resource that can be converted into economic and social benefits.

The findings demonstrate that by 2025, digital inequality is increasingly shifting towards the sphere of the algorithmic divide and differences in skills of interaction with artificial intelligence. Empirical evidence shows that young people with higher socio-economic status are more likely to use technologies effectively to accumulate human capital, whereas socially vulnerable groups tend to remain confined to passive patterns of digital consumption. The article concludes that overcoming the “utilitarian divide” requires a shift from infrastructure-oriented policies towards comprehensive strategies aimed at fostering critical algorithmic literacy and supporting processes of digital socialization.