http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11999307

1 billion rich

1.5 billion in between

4 billion poor

(roughly, depending how you count, every time I put those numbers together I seem to do it differently.)

As the poor get wired, the internet becomes a poor place obviously enough. All kinds of dialogues about privilege etc. start there. I view social networking as the first line of defense that the rich are erecting against the poor – if you can’t just get random emails from half-starved peasants looking for food for their kids, because you only use Facebook, and those people aren’t on your friends list…

It’s the start of protecting people from reality online. Not good, but inevitable. It won’t be enough, there is far too much reality out there.