Members of the Centre for Social Informatics published an article in the journal Technology in Society
Dr. Andraž Petrovčič, dr. Simona Hvalič-Touzery and Jerneja Laznik, members of the Centre for Social Informatics, in collaboration with dr. Anabel Quan-Haase (University of Western Ontario, Canada), dr. Bianca C. Reisdorf (The University of North Carolina, USA) and dr. Štěpán Žádník (Masaryk University, Czech Republic), have published an original scientific article titled »Categorical and resource inequalities in self-reliant internet use and use-by-proxy among older adults in Slovenia during the COVID-19 pandemic«. in the journal Technology in Society.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable impact how older adults engaged online, with many using the internet for the first time or relying on family, friends, and peers to perform an activity online on their behalf, a form of internet use known as use-by-proxy. Due to the lack of large-scale research comparing factors influencing self-reliant internet use and use-by-proxy in older adults during the pandemic, this study seeks to fill this gap. In the present study, the authors use the Resources and Appropriation Theory to analyse how categorical inequalities (e.g. age, gender, education) and resource inequalities (e.g. social and material resources) affect older adult's internet use, as well as the availability and activation of use-by-proxy among older internet non-users. The study was based on a survey of 701 older adults (65 years and older) in Slovenia, during the fourth wave of pandemic public health measures in 2021.
The results of three binary logistic regression models showed that personal and positional inequalities such as age, gender, education and social resources were significantly associated with whether older adults used the internet during the pandemic. Interestingly, among social resources, only bridging social capital was a positive factor associated with internet use. On the other hand, categorical inequalities played a less important role in the availability of use-by-proxy than social resources. Among social resources, bridging and bonding social capital were the only factors associated with availability of use-by-proxy among older internet non-users, apart from ocupation. The only factors that significantly influenced the activation of use-by-proxy were marital status and residential area. These results suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach is not sufficient to tackle digital inequalities among older adults in the aftermath of the pandemic. It is necessary to take into account the diversity of personal, social and material resources that shape independent internet use and the accessibility and activation of use through an intermediary. The diversity of these resources requires a comprehensive and tailored approach if older adults are to have equal access to digital services in the future.
The study was conducted as part of research projects J5-2558 (The Implications of Proxy Internet Use for the Internet Skills of Older Adults), V5-2275 (Digital inequalities and older adults in Slovenia: An evaluation of the measures implemented under the Digital Inclusion Promotion Act), as well as the research programme P5-0399 (Internet research).