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Ageing: The two faces of Janus in digital inclusion?

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Version 1 2021-01-20, 12:07
journal contribution
posted on 2021-05-05, 15:18 authored by Panayiota Tsatsou
Does aging present the two faces of Janus when it comes to digital inclusion, influencing older people’s digital inclusion in some cases, but not in others? This article presents qualitative research and finds that older people—namely, men and women at least 65 years of age—are highly selective in the digital domain, and diversity marks their attitudes toward and uses and critiques of digital technologies. Thus, older people’s digital inclusion is marked by intragenerational diversity, in which a complex interplay of structural/external and individual/internal factors exists and aging plays a context- and life-experience–driven role. Thus, this article supports a psychosocial approach that views age identity as formed not only by biology, but also on the basis of sociocultural and other systemic factors that are integrated and adapted and create varying differences at the level of the individual. The article closes with theoretical and empirical recommendations for future research on the role of aging in older people’s digital inclusion.

History

Citation

International Journal of Communication 15(2021), 1309–1329

Author affiliation

School of Media, Communication and Sociology

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

International Journal of Communication (IJoC)

Volume

15

Pagination

1309-1329

Publisher

Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, University of Southern California

issn

1932-8036

Acceptance date

2020-10-12

Copyright date

2021

Available date

2021-05-05

Language

en

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