From connectedness to isolation: how the rise of networks exacerbates economic inequality and social reproduction

This study aims to examine how the development of networks exacerbates economic inequality and social reproduction, with a particular focus on the impact of the phenomenon of “isolation from connections” on educational opportunities. Based on the analysis of the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) data, the study used a multivariate linear regression model to estimate the impact of home internet speed, annual income, and age of the household head on educational achievement. In the data processing stage, the Z-score standardization method was used to perform logarithmic processing of internet speed. The regression results show that internet speed is significantly and positively correlated with the years of education of family members, family income also has a positive effect on educational achievement, while the effect of the age of the household head is relatively limited. For additional verification, the 5-fold cross-validation method was used, which showed that the model has good stability and predictive power. Despite the universality of network connectivity, technological advances have actually exacerbated inequalities in access to education and information, given the differences in access speed, leading to new social segregation. Based on these findings, policy recommendations are proposed, such as strengthening the construction of digital infrastructure, providing digital literacy training, and improving the oversight of platforms, to mitigate the negative impact of digital exclusion on social inequality.