To grasp the understanding and usage of “digital” among elderly a research will be conducted. Firstly a secondary research will portray what literature and globally collected data say about this matter. Secondly interviews will be held with senior citizens to understand their point of view. Then these interviews will be supported by the netnography data that is collected from social media. And finally insights on the research will be given.
Secondary Research
When sufficient amount of data collected, the result is that seniors have adjustability, memory and motor related problems when it comes to digital usage. Furthermore, there is an increase in the number of seniors who go online and own smart phones. Which drives the question of how this usage is shaped among elderly.
40% of older adults do not have basic digital literacy skills, and of those, more than half do not use the internet at all.
Fields, Jessica. “We Are Leaving Older Adults out of the Digital World.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 5 May 2019, techcrunch.com/2019/05/05/we-are-leaving-older-adults-out-of-the-digital-world/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKydI8Dx9DnE-RD-LmTngMdSBnWdW-OJm8GdSazDJ5zcRkyw3mnIvbUHgWJxpJdNmS3PieoR0FlZj2lfr-hBitUmExFx6DsJNv1EIF0dwjLSFwWks-H_9VVBrEtnY1T_gsOe5-7PGS1i25mosqYTDZW72U4tMBsaoeo8qZFp_pjO.
Interview Questions
- What does digital mean to you?
- When did digital get into your life?
- What can you name in your home which are digital?
- Do you have internet connection in your home? If so, for what purposes do you use it?
- What kind of devices do you use to use internet?
- How adapted do you feel yourself in this digital world?
- Do you use any assistive solutions while using your digital devices? (accessibility settings like bigger letters or louder audio etc.)
- How do you manage your daily work? (grocery shopping, banking)
- Are you aware of the services the digital world offers to deal with these types of works? If so, do you use them?
- What services do you use?
Netnography
According to the netnography results majority of the elderly users in social media use it to contact close ones and relatives. They use it as a tool to recall old memories and keep track of birthdays and close ones.
