Old Technologies, New Technologies, a New “Old Generation”

• In Event: "Active Aging," Media, and Communication

Abstract

If we consider older adults living in Europe as a generation, understanding their use of ICT means to observe the wider connection that ICTs establish with traditional media uses. On the one hand traditional media played (and still play) an important role for the collective identity of this generation, with contents that are still available and circulated on digital media, sometimes in a nostalgic mood. On the other hand, ICTs represent an opportunity to stay connected with and within a rapidly changing world. The paper emphasizes the main differences between ICTs uses and traditional media uses by older adults; in particular, the different roles that different media play are discussed. The leading hypothesis is that, in the young elderly media use, we are facing an integration (and not a substitution) between old and new tools .

Author

• Fausto Colombo, Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore