When the Internet Isn't Intuitive: What We Miss in the Digital Divide Conversation

There’s a moment that keeps sticking with me from our most recent episode of Bandwidth. It wasn’t about AI or policy deadlines or the billions tied up in broadband grants (though we talked about all of that too). It was a moment when Jessica Denson from Connected Nation said, “A scroll bar can be a barrier.”

She’s right.We talk about access a lot in our world, laying fiber, standing up infrastructure, getting homes and communities connected. But access doesn’t always mean ability. It doesn’t mean that teenagers trying to write school reports on phones suddenly have the same chance as kids with laptops and stable connections. It doesn’t mean that grandma, who finally got a tablet, knows what to do when a password reset link shows up in her email. It doesn’t mean that the new immigrant in a city center knows how to look up a bus schedule when it’s only available online...in English.

Those things aren’t intuitive. And when you grow up with tech, you forget that.

Jessica’s team at Connected Nation breaks down the digital divide into three pieces: access, adoption, and use. We usually stop at access, “Does the infrastructure exist?” But it’s adoption (“Can you afford it?”) and use (“Can you actually navigate it?”) that show us where the real equity gaps live.

When Teens Teach Tech and Everyone Learns Something

One of the most powerful examples we talked about was Connected Nation’s Teens Teach Tech program. It’s simple on paper: young people teach older adults digital literacy skills. But what it unlocks goes far beyond tech.

Suddenly, seniors who’ve felt isolated are reconnecting with family. They’re learning how to take photos, search online, and use Zoom. They’re not just “on the internet,” they’re in community again. And the teens? They’re not just teaching. They’re also seeing, maybe for the first time, just how powerful their everyday knowledge can be.

Jessica told the story of one student, Michael Schmaltz, who used the money he earned from the program to start a nonprofit and build a computer lab at a homeless center. Then he trained more students to keep it going. That’s the kind of ripple effect we rarely talk about when we’re chasing KPIs and buildout milestones.

This work isn’t just about broadband. It’s about dignity.

The Ethical Edge of AI

Of course, AI came up too because it’s coming up everywhere. And there’s a real tension in our industry right now: we know AI will change everything, but we’re still figuring out how to use it ethically.

Jessica’s background in journalism brought some critical perspective here. She talked about the “social contract” we make when we tell someone’s story, and how AI can muddy that. Just because the tool can spin a narrative doesn’t mean it should, especially if we’re erasing the person behind it.

Her take? Use AI for structure, inspiration, maybe a catchy headline. But when it comes to the human stuff, stay human. That hit home for me as someone who’s spent her career trying to make support and success feel personal. It’s easy to let AI run the show. But our job is to keep it grounded, to remember that tech should serve people, not replace them.

What’s Next: Funding Pauses, Policy Shifts, and the Need to Show Up

We couldn’t talk to Connected Nation without touching on the state of federal broadband funding. Jessica gave us a firsthand look at what’s happening with BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) and the recent pause that’s left state broadband offices scrambling.

Final plans were rescinded. The rules changed. Fiber is no longer the only tech that qualifies. And now there’s a 90-day window to get it right.

Meanwhile, support for programs like the Universal Service Fund is in flux, and that has big implications for schools, libraries, and rural hospitals. These are the anchor institutions that hold our communities together. If the funding dries up, the ripple effects will be real.

That’s why Jessica’s team is doing the quiet, consistent work: building digital literacy, supporting state partners, and reminding everyone that the people we’re serving don’t care about acronyms or policy fights. They care about being able to connect.

Final Thought

This episode was personal. It reminded me that even though I live in the customer success and client relations space, my job isn’t just about keeping accounts healthy. It’s about keeping people seen, heard, and connected.

And when we build a network, whether it’s fiber or friendship or shared knowledge, we do more than provide internet.

We give people a chance to participate.

Let’s not forget how powerful that is.

Catch the full episode on your preferred platform:

• Youtube
• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts