New generations grow up with the internet and all kinds of different gadgets while the older generations now aged 65 and over did not encounter it until their adulthood. Marc Prencky has used a term called “digital natives” (p. 1) for the younger generations, who have spent most, if not all, of their life skillfully forming the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet. The people who were not born into a digital world, but adapted it into their lives later on, are “digital immigrants” (p. 2). According to Prencky, no matter how well digital immigrants master using the digital information they will always be immigrants because they will always have an “accent.” Prencky explains that this generation will use the internet as a secondary resource instead because they have used a different method for acquiring information. (Prencky, M; 2001)
As Web 2.0 became more widely used in the past 30 years, the Prencky term “digital immigrants” can be applied to anyone who was not born into the internet age but instead is adapting it into their lives later on. This can be apparent even more clearly among older adults, aged 65 and above, mainly because they not only belong to the “immigrants” of the digital world, but also their ability to learn and adapt to new things becomes increasingly difficult with age. For example, when a member of the younger generations will turn to Google for the moment it is needed to acquire new information, the “digital immigrant” might try to find the same information from books instead. Being in this “immigrant” status, however, once these people aged 65 and over will adapt at least slightly with the digital world, they would probably appreciate it more than the younger generations that were born into it. This is especially due to the convenience and the speed of getting a new knowledge literally about anything in the world.
Whether or not older adults want to use smartphones and other gadgets varies on culture and the individual. From my personal observation, I have seen a difference between Asian and Western cultures, such that certain Asian cultures’ older adults might be able to accept new technology faster and more keenly than their counterparts in Western countries. This difference has been readily observed in the public spaces and also in my personal connections in Taiwan and Estonia.
For example, in Estonia, it is rather rare to see a senior taking a selfie with a smartphone while in Taiwan it is a daily occurrence.
Technology usage can help people with feelings of loneliness and make them feel more integrated into society. While being lonely is not a problem only for older adults, older people are more likely to be in this situation as the result of widowing, children living far away and other related issues, which can lead to feelings of depression. (Singh, 2015) Among the many platforms of social media that are widely targeted at the younger generations, there are also some that are specially made for reducing the loneliness felt by seniors. For example, there is Stitch, an Australian based social network founded in 2014, which is trying to help people 50 years old and above to find companionship, travel partners or people with whom to join for different activities.
(Stitch, 2016) In America, for example, 82 percent of 65-year-old and older users saw owning a smartphone as “freeing” and “connecting” instead of as a “leash” and “distracting,” which were the answers to many of their younger counterparts. (Pew Research Center, 2015)
If technology is designed to be simple and easier to use, there is a greater likelihood for the elderly to join the digital world. Too small and complicated devices can exclude older adults from using them mainly because of physiological reasons. The research conducted about health devices (that involve screens) meant for older adults (2014) pointed out some perceptual changes that come with aging. One of the mentioned changes related to vision and how people might encounter loss of visual sensitivity as they age. Loss of vision could create difficulties reading scrolling text on the device; reading small, or poorly weighted fonts; distinguishing between
similarly shaped software icons on screens, etc. The second problem can occur when our touch sensation in our fingers is diminishing. The studies found that “as a person ages, the tactile thresholds of various modalities such as light touch, vibrations sense, spatial acuity, and pain are increased.” (p.258) (Harte; Glynn, 2014) Smartphones are made to react quickly, but an aging person’s sensation of touch is slowing down, therefore making it a possible problem for the elderly when they use smartphones. I have encountered an older adult trying to use the touch screen, but in that case, she held her fingers on the screen for too long, which resulted in the device not performing the task that she intended.
When it comes to older adults using phones, one can predict that seniors will use the basic phone features the most. This is also backed up by research completed in Hong Kong and Finland, (K.Chen, 2013; V. L.Vuong, 2013) where they realized that some of the most frequently used functions by older adults were the basic ones - calling and messaging for example. According to Pew Research Center survey, the American elderly use smartphones for a small range of purposes, such as calling and emailing. (2015)
Many statistics from different countries reveal the percentage of the older adults aged 65 and over who own and use a smartphone. These rates from around the world listed from highest to the lowest are stated in figure 9. Without a doubt, these statistics must be scrutinized because most statistics are not able to get the information of all the population. However, it still gives an estimated overlook of the elderly smartphone penetration in these particular countries.
Figure 9. Source: Emarketer, 2014
Among these nine countries, Norway with its GDP 68,400USD per capita (CIA FactBook, 2015), had 48% of older adults using smartphones in 2013 (eMarketer) while Mexico, with its GDP 17,500USD per capita (CIA FactBook, 2015), scored only 3.1% in 2014 (Emarketer). In Taiwan, according to the most recent survey, around 47 percentage of population aged 65 and over are using mobile messaging apps. (The China Post, 2016) In Estonia, it is estimated that by now around 40% of older adults over 65 years old in Estonia own a smartphone, and this percentage is expected to rise higher in 2016. (Lilleorg, 2016)