Digital ageing: How ageism and technology influence the ageing experience of older adults

The ubiquitous presence of digital technology means that the ageing experience has become entangled with technology. Older adults’ digital technology engagement is diverse and ranges from proficient and frequent users to non-users. However, there remains a generational difference in the acceptance of digital technology between the young and the old. An under-researched cause of this vulnerability to digital disengagement is discrimination based on age or ageism. There is an urgent need to examine how ageism and digital technology influence the ageing experience of older adults. Therefore, the aim of this PhD was to answer the question: what role do ageism and digital technology play within the ageing experience of older adults? This PhD addressed three key areas. Firstly, the PhD investigated how older adults are portrayed within the media discourse on digital inclusion. This analysis involved studying two decades' worth of Dutch language newspaper articles from The Netherlands and Flanders to comprehend how older adults are portrayed in these publications. The research scrutinized encountered stereotypes and the capacity for self-representation within the digital inclusion discourse. Concluding that older adults are prevalently depicted as incapable of digital inclusion, often a victim of digitalisation efforts, and presented in reductive ageist stereotypes.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of the Western Cape

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• van Leeuwen, Maartje Jacoba

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Craffert, Leonora

• Digital Inclusion
• Media representation
• ICT usage
• Age inequality
• Social constructivism

Licence

• https://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za/bitstreams/05950729-d526-46de-8f41-8ca8b053787c/download