Should we be concerned that the eldery don’t text?

an article by Rich Ling (Telenor R&D, Oslo and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) published in The Information Society Volume 24 Number 5 (November-December 2008)

Abstract

The elderly are generally “out of the loop” when it comes to texting and other new technologies. On the one hand, the elderly do not often send text messages and thus signal their ability and willingness to use the medium. On the other hand, stereotyping by the younger users perhaps inhibits them from sending texts to the elderly. Is the non-use of texting by the elderly because of self-exclusion or lack of exposure or both? Should this be of concern to us?

Hazel’s comment:
I’ve been meaning to read this article for some time but more work-related items kept getting in the way. I finally realised that it would be more than a year old if I didn’t get around to it soon! The article presents some interesting sociological ideas about exclusion – by design, by choice, imposed by others and so on. What’s your first thought when wishing to communicate with someone who is aged 80+? It’s unlikely to be “send a text”. Why is that? Your Auntie Amy doesn’t have a mobile phone? Why should she when so many of the modern devices called phones are games machines, email readers, cameras and have lots of buttons which don’t aid the making of simple phone calls or the sending of messages? And given the size of the buttons she’ll need to get out a magnifying glass to use the thing even if she can get her poor arthritic fingers into the right place! (With sincere apologies to my late Auntie Amy who would have been one of the first to embrace new technology if she was physically able so to do.) Perhaps the technology is excluding the elderly rather than the other way round.
Apropos this there was an advert in the newspaper this morning for a phone which will be an ideal Christmas present for my father-in-law (aged 84) which not only has larger buttons and a larger screen to display text messages but comes in at a reasonable price of 49.99 GBP from Orange. (This type of gadget was available a couple of years ago priced well over 100 GBP.)

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