Abstract
Older people are increasingly turning to digital technologies as ways of achieving everyday tasks and connecting to sources of practical and social support. This chapter looks at their particular engagement with digital technologies and considers what it is that motivates them to adopt and use them. Broader adaptations to ageing inform the ways that they use video games, mobile phones, the internet and social networking sites. The social potential of digital technology appears particularly significant to older people, and the reasons for this are considered, examining how their attitudes towards digital interaction diverge from younger generations. Finally, older people’s experiences are placed within their sociocultural context, where the dilemmas of ‘ageing societies’ are promoted as an imperative for their greater digital inclusion.
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Harley, D., Morgan, J., Frith, H. (2018). Growing Older. In: Cyberpsychology as Everyday Digital Experience across the Lifespan. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59200-2_8
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