Publication details
INTERGENERATIONAL AND PEER ONLINE AND OFFLINE SOCIAL RELATIONS OF OLDER ADULTS
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Background/Introduction In our presentation, we focus on intergenerational and peer relationships of older adults in the context of digital technologies. Older adults are often perceived as a group whose digital engagement needs to be encouraged, and greater online engagement should also help reduce their loneliness. Purpose/Objective The aim of this presentation is to analyse the interrelationship and ways in which older adults' social connections and engagement in the offline and online worlds interact and affect loneliness. Methods This aim is solved using a mixed-method approach. Specifically a representative survey of the older adult population (age 60+) in Czechia and in-depth interviews with 18 older men and women. The form of respondents' offline relationships, their use of online technologies and feelings of loneliness are analysed. In this contribution, however, we focus primarily on the relation, interconnectedness and mutual impact of these factors. The results of these analyses are interpreted in the context of the qualitative interview analysis. Results Although only about 20% of older men and women do not use and communicate with digital and online technologies, our analyses show significantly diverse forms of use of online space in the context of social ties. This heterogeneity makes it impossible to unambiguously confirm the direction. Not using the online space to communicate is not in itself related to higher loneliness; these influences are more complex. This heterogeneity is supported by qualitative interviews showing that the level of digital technology use is not a linearly increasing characteristic, but that older adults use some technologies while different do not according to their needs. Conclusions Our analyses show the need for more complex analyses and for stepping out of the assumption of an apriori positive impact of the online world on loneliness in later life. |
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