Older Adults as Media E-Audiences

• In Event: Top Papers on the Lifespan Communication Theme

Abstract

This study explored the extent to which traditional media are displaced by innovative communication practices within the older e-audience and whether this extent varies among different segments of this population. The study was based on a cross-European survey of 1,039 Internet users aged 60 and up from eight countries. Results indicated that older Internet users are significantly more inclined to use mass media than new social media and prefer synchronous to asynchronous mass media. This e-audience, however, is not homogeneous, as four subsegments were identified. These groups differed in their media practices, sociocultural background and leisure preferences. Overall, despite the increasing percentage of older Internet users, this audience tends to adhere to familiar media practices, with only a minority making intense use of new practices. With very few cross-national differences, this tendency appears to be universal, suggesting general media-use conservatism and a second-level digital divide among the older media e-audience.

Author

• Galit Nimrod, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev