Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an increasingly important role in all our lives, both at work and play. This website aims to use ICTs to tackle social exclusion of older people. We have incorporated many issues surrounding the participation and inclusion of the elderly, including health promotion and prejudice.
Computer technology is well-established in our Western society, in a way that it is often forgotten that it is a relatively new development. ICTs have become crucial for learning, accessing services, communicating and for obtaining information; and the ever growing population of the elderly seems to have been forgotten in this matter. As computer networking becomes increasingly important, there is a pressing need for a new liberation movement enabling the elderly community to play their part in the challenging world of the technological revolution (simey, 1998).
Age Concern (2009) found internet use has improved the lives of two thirds of elderly users and further state that only 1 in 6 people aged 55 and over have used a social networking site such as Facebook. According to a Nielson report on Social Networking’s New Global Footprint (Nielson, 2009), the constitution of the social networking audience is changing. Social networking started out amongst the younger generation; however, this is changing over time to encompass a much older audience. The report found that almost one quarter of Facebook’s subscribers are over 50 years of age.
Computer technology is well-established in our Western society, in a way that it is often forgotten that it is a relatively new development. ICTs have become crucial for learning, accessing services, communicating and for obtaining information; and the ever growing population of the elderly seems to have been forgotten in this matter. As computer networking becomes increasingly important, there is a pressing need for a new liberation movement enabling the elderly community to play their part in the challenging world of the technological revolution (simey, 1998).
Age Concern (2009) found internet use has improved the lives of two thirds of elderly users and further state that only 1 in 6 people aged 55 and over have used a social networking site such as Facebook. According to a Nielson report on Social Networking’s New Global Footprint (Nielson, 2009), the constitution of the social networking audience is changing. Social networking started out amongst the younger generation; however, this is changing over time to encompass a much older audience. The report found that almost one quarter of Facebook’s subscribers are over 50 years of age.
The late 20th Century has seen a transition in society with an increasing interdependence of world societies through the process of globalisation, however, this has been an uneven development, increasing inequalities within certain groups. The impact of globalisation on older people with the growing use of technologies such as the internet has shifted the thinking of status in old age on the individual level to an emphasis on some of the structural factors working against older people (Bond & Corner, 2004).
The changes in the way people are communicating are important as communication is the mechanism used to develop social relationships that are valuable to an individual’s health (Shklovski & Kraut, 2004). If the internet, therefore, is one of the dominant ways of communicating in the 21st Century, Shklovski & Kraut argue there is good reason to expect the internet will have a positive social impact in terms of social integration with a network of friends, family and communities and, moreover, the ongoing benefits of this networking. This website will benefit older people to be a part of the ‘modern way’ of communicating.
The changes in the way people are communicating are important as communication is the mechanism used to develop social relationships that are valuable to an individual’s health (Shklovski & Kraut, 2004). If the internet, therefore, is one of the dominant ways of communicating in the 21st Century, Shklovski & Kraut argue there is good reason to expect the internet will have a positive social impact in terms of social integration with a network of friends, family and communities and, moreover, the ongoing benefits of this networking. This website will benefit older people to be a part of the ‘modern way’ of communicating.
Quality of life is defined by an individual’s own sense of self and identity and different life course experiences of older people is the very nature of ‘self’ and, as a result, determines how they see their quality of life (Bond & Corner 2004). The promotion of successful aging through social and community factors is of a momentous importance and this website will help to promote the inclusion of the elderly and enhance their social capital.
This website is an example of how ICT can be used to tackle social disadvantage, and other issues related to the inclusion of the elderly, with there being no reason for older people to miss out on the benefits of ICT.
Jane Bibby
Jane Bibby
