AGE DIFFERENCES AND PREFERENCES IN ONLINE BEHAVIOR. HOW AGEING AND DIGITAL CONNECTEDNESS ARE REFLECTED IN CURRENT RESEARCH REGARDING THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA.

Abstract

The people’s need for social connectedness was thoroughly documented and established in research literature. Currently, we experience rapidly increasing technological developments which not only allow for new ways of ‘digital’ connections, but, arguably so, require people to use digital channels of socializing. The use of Internet, in general, and social media, is not limited to searching for information but it includes also knowledge construction. However, not all of us react the same when faced with change in our lives, and even more so, with respect to the use of new technologies. Ageing is increasingly important because of the role of the elderlies in the modern society. Increasingly more elderly citizens live active and connected lives. The advances in medicine and the increase in welfare lead to an increase in life expectancy and to an unprecedented diversity in terms of age with respect to the use of social media. With a current 2.34 billion users of social media, and with a projected increase of 200 million new users in 2017, more than a few elderly users are expected to join social media. As such, the question arises, is there such a thing as a “generational gap/divide”, with respect to the use of social media, in general, and social networking, in particular? Current research provide some conflicting evidence, with most studies refraining from tacking age directly and resorting to considering age as a moderator of other pathways of influence between various predictors and outcomes of interest. We present a synthetic but thorough and updated review of the state of the art with respect to the past and current approaches to investigating the role of age in interindividual differences with respect to the adoption of social media, with a specific focus on social networking media.