Older adults, computers, and the Internet: Future directions

The ‘twin challenges’ of the aging of the population and the development of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) is becoming a new research topic in recent years. Existing research on aging and new ICTs often focuses on such topics as the effects of age-related changes in visual, perceptual, motor, and cognitive abilities on older adults’ learning and use of computers and the Internet, barriers to and aids of their learning and use of new ICTs, and older adults’ attitudes toward, perceptions, and general usage of computers and the Internet. This current research focus, however, is very limited; many crucial issues are understudied or, in some cases, completely ignored. For instance, what social, political, economic, cultural, and technical factors have, either independently or synergistically, caused or facilitated the uneven computer and Internet usage between older and younger adults? What effects do various variables – nationality, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, education, class, profession, health status, age, etc. – have on older adults’ experiences with ICTs? What power asymmetries and social relations are embedded in the current technical design of ICTs? What impact might the dramatic development of ICTs have on the rapidly increasing older population? And, what are the potential influences of an aging population on the design and development of computers and the Internet? To answer these questions, this article argues, it is important to pay more serious attention to social and cultural factors that affect older adults’ interactions with computers and the Internet in various ways. The first four sections of this article review existing literature on aging and new ICTs. The fifth section, informed by general theories of the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies (STS), proposes a list of new research questions for future gerontechnology research.