New report: Older audiences and digital media

New report: Older audiences and digital media

Pedro Jacobetty and Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol  coauthor a research report titled “Older audiences and digital media: Spain, 2016. Preliminary results“. The report shows the first results of a survey that examines the differentiated use of media in everyday life of older online people in Spain. This study is part of an international research project that seeks to compare the usage patterns of information and communication technologies by older people, and counts with the support of the ACT Project. The report was presented at the joint conference in Qualitative Research on Communication and the COST Action IS1402, between October 4 and 6 at Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract: This report discusses preliminary, descriptive results of an online survey conducted in Spain in 2016. It belongs to the first wave of the “Cross-National Longitudinal Study: Older Audiences in the Digital Media Environment” study, part of the ACT project (http://actproject.ca). The universe under study are Internet users aged 60 + living in Spain. The document analyzes the socio-economic characteristics of that population, which differs from the average older population in terms of higher educational levels and higher level of income. Media consumption patterns indicate the articulation of traditional and digital media; and Internet activities mainly combine personal communication and information gathering. While media are mostly consumed at home, internet activities take place at more variegated places when compared to other media such as TV, radio or press. The mobile phone is central for older Internet users, who find it important for not only messaging or voice calling, but also for taking pictures and managing everyday life. Finally, the population under study are highly satisfied with their life in general, and with their physical health in particular.

Keywords: 60+ Internet users; Spain; online survey; Internet; mobile communication; media consumption; digital media; traditional media

Links:

 

Image by Tim Reckmann under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.