The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics by Luciano Floridi

Author:Luciano Floridi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2010-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

9.6 Older people and the Internet

Young people are quick to take up new technologies and to find ways of weaving them into their lives. Nevertheless there is evidence that ICTs offer a number of positive benefits to older groups. White et al. (2002) present evidence to show that Internet use can help older adults avoid social isolation as frequent contact with family and friends, opportunities to revisit former interests and ways of meeting new people are made available. These results are confirmed by Shapira et al. (2007) whose study of a group of older adults (mean age of 80) demonstrated that Internet and computer use contributed to a sense of well-being and empowerment, improved cognitive function and promoted feelings of independence and personal control. However, the potential of the Internet in older people's lives must be set against the problems of confidence in use of computer technologies. A study by Marquie et al. (2002) suggests that older adults may lack confidence in their abilities to use digital technology and this may be a possible source of difficulties that the elderly may have in mastering ICTs. This is confirmed by a UK study (Ofcom 2008) of consumers of communications services. The study found that, while the use of communications services is growing in the UK, there is still a gap between older and younger users. Take up of digital communications is growing fast among older users with content services, i.e. television, radio and Internet representing the most popular areas. Older users are keen users of communications services on the Internet with 63% of over 65s communicating online compared to 76% of all adults (Ofcom 2008, 42). Mobile phone usage was significantly lower among older adults. Older adults were less likely to use social networking sites and were less trusting of information available on the Internet. These findings suggest that much of the potential of advanced ICTs to ameliorate the lives of older people has yet to be realized. Studies suggest positive benefits and take-up is gradually increasing. Despite this, confidence in using advanced technologies remains low. This remains the main demarcation between older and younger users.

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