ABSTRACT
In his analysis of how societies manage disease outbreaks, Johnson (2006) argues that new information technologies have the potential to connect grassroots information and professional expertise. As he argues: “It has never been easier for . . . local knowledge to find its way onto a map, making patterns of health and sickness (as well as less perilous matters) visible to experts and laypeople in new ways” ( Johnson 2006, pp. 218-19). In Johnson’s formulation, the public benefits from information technology whether or not all members of society are online. Internet inequalities notwithstanding, everyone benefits from the management of disease outbreaks using Internet technology. This is a provocative argument that flies in the face of public concern over the “digital divide.” Does it matter that many individuals do not use the Internet on a daily basis if, in the end, society benefits from information and innovations provided by the Internet? This question
gets to the heart of the functionalist perspective. From a functionalist viewpoint, what matters most is not whether everyone is online, but whether society benefits in some way from Internet technology.
