Research into reasons for Internet non-use has been mostly based on one-off cohort studies and focused on single-country contexts. This article shows that motivations for being offline changed ...between 2005 and 2013 among non- and ex-users in two high-diffusion European countries. Analyses of Swedish and British data demonstrate that non-user populations have become more concentrated in vulnerable groups. While traditional digital divide reasons related to a lack of access and skills remain important, motivational reasons increased in importance over time. The ways in which these reasons gain importance for non- and ex-user groups vary, as do explanations for digital exclusion in the different countries. Effective interventions aimed at tackling digital exclusion need to take into consideration national contexts, changing non-user characteristics, and individual experience with the Internet. What worked a decade ago in a particular country might not work currently in a different or even the same country.
This article examines explanations for both Internet use and non-use by older individuals. Older adults are often considered a homogeneous group with uniform reasons for Internet non-use, or when ...they are online, practising a uniform range of activities. The study gathered data concerning senior non-users through a national telephone survey. Data concerning senior Internet users were obtained through a nationally representative online survey. The findings suggest that although a substantial part of the senior Internet non-users live in surroundings that enable Internet uptake, they seem to be less eager or unable to do so. Important differences among senior non-users are based on gender, age, education, household composition and attitude towards the Internet. Differences among users were based on life stage, social environment and psychological characteristics. This article thus reveals that older citizens are a very diverse group in which some are more likely to be digitally excluded than others.
Research into digital inequalities has shifted from a binary view of Internet use versus non-use to studying gradations in Internet use. However, this research has mostly compared categories of users ...only. In addition, the role of attitudes in digital inequalities has been largely overlooked. This article addresses these limitations by performing a systematic analysis of factors that distinguish low Internet users from non-users, regular users, and broad users. In addition to socio-demographic characteristics, we examine attitudinal variables. Results drawn from multinomial regressions indicate that attitudes play at least as large a role as socio-economic factors in determining the likelihood of belonging to specific (non-)user categories. This identifies positive attitudes toward technologies and the Internet as a crucial step toward Internet adoption. Hence, digital inequality research needs to consider factors other than traditional socio-economic ones to draw a complete picture.
Internet non-use is increasingly concentrated in vulnerable groups of people, especially among ageing populations and those with low socio-economic status. As participation in society becomes largely ...dependent on use of internet-enabled technologies, internet non-users may seek alternative ways of using the internet. Proxy internet use (PIU), where internet non-users ask internet users to perform online activities on their behalf, is a strategy for obtaining (indirect) internet access. This study examines factors for engagement in PIU, focusing specifically on how non-users’ reasons for disengagement relate to their engagement in PIU. The results from multivariate analyses of survey data from a nation-wide representative sample show that 47% of internet non-users in Slovenia who report having someone available for PIU in fact engage in PIU. In analysing four types of reasons for internet non-use—those related to interest, access, costs and skills—the results show that access issues are negatively related to engagement in PIU. Conversely, reasons related to skills issues are positively related to engagement in PIU. Considering that access to online services through PIU offers an important degree of digital inclusion, the results of this study have important policy implications. Policy initiatives tackling digital inequalities should be sensible to access and skills issues resulting in disengagement. For example, policies directed at providing and maintaining internet access at a household level may result in non-users’ increased opportunities for PIU. In contrast, skills policies should be directed at creating opportunities for informal and person-centred learning of digital skills, considering that non-users who are more aware of their deficiency in skills might be more aware of online opportunities.
•Reasons for internet non-use influence non-users’ engagement in proxy internet use.•Reasons related to skills issues are positively related to proxy internet use.•Reasons related to access issues are negatively related to proxy internet use.•Reasons related to interest and cost issues are not related to proxy internet use.•Of socio-demographics, only education has a strong influence on proxy internet use.
This study examined the association between frailty and internet (non-)use, using representative data - collected between 2004 and 2021 - of community dwelling people aged 60 and older living in ...Flanders, Belgium (N = 43,048). Multidimensional frailty was measured by the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument (CFAI), which is a reliable and valid instrument to assess physical, psychological, social and environmental dimensions of frailty. Internet use was dichotomised into users and non-users. Multivariable regression analyses revealed that the physical domain is the most strongly related frailty factor to internet (non-)use, and this has been a constant trend since 2004. Those in the high physical frailty group have the highest probabilities of being non-user and are up to 8.0% more likely to be non-user than those in the 'no-low' physical frailty group. Future research should investigate how human-technology interaction can be improved and make internet technologies more manageable for physical frail older adults. However, average marginal effects indicate that sociodemographic variables are more strongly related to internet (non-)use than frailty domains. This result shows that internet non-use in older people is multifactorial in origin and not only attributed to their frailty status.
Older adults benefit considerably from Internet use, as it can improve their overall health and quality of life, for example through accessing healthcare services and reducing social isolation. The ...aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and characteristics of Indigenous older adults in Canada who do not use the Internet.
The Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) 2017 was used and analysis was restricted to those above 65 years of age. The main outcome variable was non-use of the internet in a typical month. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to assess the relationship between each of the sociodemographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle and health factors and internet non-use.
The prevalence of Indigenous older adults who reported never using the Internet in a typical month was 33.6% with the highest prevalence reported by residents of the Canadian territories while the lowest prevalence was reported in British Columbia. After adjustment, results indicated that older age (OR = 4.02, 95% CI 3.54-4.57 comparing 80+ to 65-69 years of age), being a male (OR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.41-1.63), married (OR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.25-1.44), and living in rural areas (OR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.79-2.13) increased the odds of not using the Internet. First Nation individuals and those who have a strong sense of belonging to the Indigenous identity were more likely to not use the Internet compared to their counterparts. In addition, those who were less educated (OR = 8.74, 95% CI 7.03-1 0.87 comparing less than secondary education to Bachelor's Degree and above), unemployed (OR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.26-1.57), smoked cigarettes, used marijuana and those with lower self-perceived mental health and unmet health needs were at increased odds of Internet non-use compared to their counterparts.
Findings from this study show that a large proportion of the Indigenous older adults in Canada do not use the internet. It is necessary to address Indigenous communities' lack of internet access and to create interventions that are consistent with Indigenous values, traditions, and goals.
Based on a qualitative scoping exercise in three British prisons, this article discusses digital inequalities experienced by prisoners and the potential opportunities that digital media in prisons ...offers for offender rehabilitation and resettlement. As they are currently denied access to online and social media that most of us take for granted, physically cut off from their communities, and unable to communicate with family and friends in ways that have become normal in society, we argue that prisoners experience profound social isolation and constitute one of the most impoverished groups in the digital age. Our results show that prisoners display high levels of both curiosity and enthusiasm as well as fear and reservation toward Internet-enabled technologies, depending on age and gender as well as the length of their sentence. On release from prison, they are not only faced with prejudice and poorer job prospects than the average citizen due to their criminal record, but their digital exclusion during incarceration may have compound effects and lead to supercharged digital and social exclusion. We argue that secure access would be highly beneficial to prisoners who pose a low risk to society, especially during the rehabilitation and release phases.
Despite the transformational impacts of the Internet on society and commerce, surveys have shown a sizable portion of non-Internet users reporting that they have no need for the Internet. Literature ...often explains Internet non-use as a result of lack of skills and/or informed decision to reject the Internet. This paper raises an alternative explanation: nonusers may report no need for the Internet because they are not fully aware of the Internet’s information and transaction benefits. Our survey data from rural Guangdong, China suggest that nonusers are comparatively under-informed about the Internet’s utilitarian benefits (such as aiding work and learning). Alternative explanations for the reported lack of need for the Internet are examined and policy implications are also discussed.
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