Knowledge gap (Tichenor, Donohue & Olien, 1970)

As media information flooding a system increases, higher-SES segments acquire it faster than lower-SES segments, so the gap between them widens rather than closes. More information does not equalize; the already-informed have the prior context, motivation, and networks to absorb new input more efficiently, and pull further ahead.

Transfer. Producing more content does not democratize understanding — it advantages readers who already hold the surrounding context, exactly the inverse of the assumption that flooding a niche informs everyone. For agent-scaled output this predicts a widening comprehension gap: high-context readers compound, low-context readers fall behind and disengage. The concrete implication for being read: to reach the low-context audience you must supply the missing context inside the artifact (define terms, build the on-ramp) rather than assume it — otherwise volume only serves those who least needed you. Reach is a context-delivery problem, not a quantity problem.

Kin: cultivation-theory · diffusion-of-innovations · uses-and-gratifications · models · slop-is-a-context-deficit