Technology and Love for Everyone. Including the Elderly

Abstract

Technology for everyone is the trending goal. A quantitative study based on the Precaution Adoption Process Model and the theory of codes about everyone’s free time management has been applied to the middle class elderly in Puebla, Mexico. This study reveals that their concept of free time does not reflect any connection with the use of technology, neither in the family, nor in friendship or leisure activities. However, a qualitative approach analyzing their discourse in social network, particularly Facebook, shows that technology has made an important contribution to diminish the distance among family, to stay updated, to rekindle friendships and to engage in a new relationship. Then the habits of the elderly in a virtual environment may be linked to an emotional factor.