China's elderly trapped in the digital age : A qualitative study on the elderly in a fourth-tier city

Abstract: China is moving into an aging society, and the quality of life of the elderly has become a topic of public concern. With the development of ICT technology, China’s digital level is increasing, and there is a digital literacy gap between the young and the elderly, and the intergenerational digital divide is widening. This paper combines the unique Chinese social context with smartphones as a representative digital tool aiming to analyze the dig- ital dilemmas experienced by the elderly living in Dongying, a fourth-tier city in China. Two research questions guide this study in the digital dilemmas of the elderly: 1)the role of smartphones in the lives of older people, and 2)the specific manifestations of digital dilemmas of older people and the influencing factors. The two theories UTAUT model and Cultural reverse form a theoretical framework to enhance our understanding of the digital dilemma.This study employed qualitative methods to collect (semi-structured interviews) and ana- lyze (substantive coding) data. Six elderly people over 65 years old living in Dongying participated in the study as interviewees. The results show that using smartphones is a re- quirement for the elderly from society and their children, therefore most of them no longer have difficulties in acquiring smartphones. However, smartphones still play an entertain- ment role in seniors’ lives, and most seniors only use their smartphones to make video calls with their children and watch short videos. They still lack an understanding of digital technology and are unable to apply it in a meaningful way. Such a dilemma is caused by a combination of technological limitations and psychological factors. They were born in an era when the country was still poor, their families were unable to support them in school, most of them did not graduate from elementary school, and their poor literacy skills would create obstacles for them to use smartphones. In addition, they did not have adequate learning access and had to rely on their children to help them learn smartphones, and their learning was entirely dependent on the cultural reverse ability of their children. In addition, they have resistance to learning smartphones, repeated learning due to memory loss, and a lack of confidence in themselves prevent them from further learning of digital skills.