What is it about?
The facilitating conditions (FC) are one of the factors contemplated in the main theories that explain the use and acceptance of technology. For older adults, these FC can be implemented through digital literacy support (DLS) programs that promote the use of the Internet, reducing the obstacles derived from advanced age and the lack of resources. This research study, from the perspective of the studies on the digital divide, proposes to: (a) verify the relative effect of the socio-demographic factors on the different levels of access and use of the Internet by adults older than 55, and (b) verify the moderating ability of the DLS on these effects. For this, two studies were conducted using quota sampling of older adults who used both types of DLS. Using a structural equation methodology, the data showed that the socio-demographic factors were associated to the most basic levels of access and use of the Internet, and likewise, that the DLS could moderate the obstacles derived from age and socio-economic resources.
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Why is it important?
The increasing presence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in society has made the appropriation of technology by citizens become a factor of social inclusion.
Perspectives
This study has identified and verified three levels of Internet access and use that were correlated with each other. It shows how age is not a factor that determines Internet access and use in itself, but is associated with socio-economic status. However, sociodemographic factors appear to be associated with basic levels of Internet access and use.
Dr Ignacio Aguaded
Univdersity of Huelva
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The socio-demographic divide in Internet usage moderated by digital literacy support, Technology in Society, June 2018, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.06.001.
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