The Elderlies that Embrace Technology

In the past, research consistently reflects that older adults have negative attitudes towards the use and adoption of technology. In the first blog entry I wrote, I discussed why elderlies really fear technology  that it could possibly be because there's a lack of human emotion and touch behind it. However, more research shows that this fear may not be as prevalent as the public believes. For example, in Older adults talk technology: Technology usage and attitudes, the authors conducted an experiment with focus groups that revealed that there are more positive attitudes towards technology than what previous research has shown. This discovery reveals that elderlies are beginning to understand the convenience and usefulness of this technology and the elderly population as a whole is shedding this prior negative attitude. This creates an outlet of technology acceptance that leads to a brighter future for technology in the lives of elderlies. What was even more surprising about this information was that an article by Venard stated that the over-50 age group is the fastest growing sector of technology consumers (2011). With this recognition that older adults are more willing to embrace technology, I believe that they need to utilize not just the physical technological objects such as computers, cellular phones, tablets, etc. but also the services that technology brings. In the article, Center for Technology and Aging Expert Panel Identifies How Older Americans Can Use Technology to Enhance Social Action, the author voices how older adults need to use technology to explore services such as social media platforms to spread important social messages. Older adults are very active in the political world; however, during a time in which even the political world is moving towards high use of social media platforms, they run the risk of falling behind once more. For example, Obama's campaign with heavy usage of viral video and social media platforms, such as Twitter, was geared to invoking the attention of the younger, less politically active generation. This innovative type of technology garnered worldwide attention, but at the same time it alienated the older generation. The lectures constantly remind us the importance of bridging the generational gaps and reinforcing intergenerational relations. By having elderlies embrace the social services of technology, it will create a link of understanding and communication between older adults and the younger generations.

Resources


(2010, June 3). Center for Technology and Aging Expert Panel Identifies How Older Americans Can Use Technology to Enhance Social Action [Electronic version]. Internet Wire. Retrieved on 25 March 2012 from Business & Company Resource Center. 


Mitzner, T., Boron, J., Fausset, C., Adams, E., Charness, N., Czaja, S., Dijkstra, K., Fisk, A., Rogers, W., & Sharit, J. (2010). Older adults talk technology: technology usage and attitudes [Electronic version]. Computers in Human Behavior, 26 (6), 1710-1721. Retrieved on 24 March 2012 from SciVerse database.

Venard, L. (2011, October 8). They're older and tech-savvy: embracing technology - and loving it [Electronic version]. Newsday. Retrieved on 25 March 2012 from LexisNexis Academic database.