Subjective feelings of digital exclusion

Abstract

Background: Digital technologies play an important role in people’s everyday lives. This applies not only to younger people but also increasingly more to older people. Nevertheless, older persons in particular use the latest technologies less frequently. For this reason, do older people feel particularly excluded compared to younger people? To answer this question, the perception of digital exclusion was measured based on a population survey of people aged 18 years and older. Material and methods: The data were collected with a survey (n = 1604) of Swiss individuals aged 18–98 years. The survey was conducted as a standardized online survey and was combined with an optional telephone survey. Results: According to the survey results, some people under and over 65 years of age currently feel socially excluded because they cannot always master current everyday technologies. Among the group aged 18–64 years old 3.6% feel a very strong sense of exclusion, and among the older group (65–98 years) 5.5%, which means that older persons tend to belong to the group of persons with very strong feelings of digital exclusion; however, the multivariate correlation analysis showed that the influence of age was levelled out by other variables (income and attitude toward technology). Conclusion: Although digital transformation is progressing there are still inequalities in technology use, which can manifest in feelings of exclusion. In addition to the question of which older individuals use or do not use technology, the issue of subjective feelings of exclusion should be given greater consideration in the future.