The Use and Education of New Media on Chinese Urban Elderly

Abstract

The popularization of new media has enabled increasing individuals, including the urban elderly, to use these new media. The accelerative use of new media by the elderly, along with their insufficient media literacy, deeply affects the happiness in their later lives. This study focuses on the gratification and its influencing factors in elderly group. How to carry out the improvement of new media literacy education of the elderly is also studied by understanding their needs for new media equipment. This study is based on Uses and Gratifications theory, with literature investigations, questionnaire surveys, and in-depth interviews as research methods. Through statistical analysis of the questionnaire data and interviews, it is concluded that the age, gender, education background and attitudes towards aging separately exerts influences on the usage of new media gratification. Moreover, five gratification dimensions of gratification, which are respectively defined as, entertainment gratification, social gratification, and learning gratification, and escapism gratification and self-cognition gratification, in the usage of new media by the elderly were analyzed. Also, the elderly has diversified demands on the visual and aural effects, interfaces, input methods, operating systems, content interestingness, information usefulness, property security, and privacy security. According to the research results, possible measures of new media literacy education for the elderly are proposed. The younger generation plays the role of digital feedbacks to encourage the elderly to embrace new functions and integrate into the new media environment with a positive attitude. From the perspective of communities, carrying out new media classes and competitions would be an effective way to promote the use of new media by elderly groups. Providers of new media should develop products that fit the physiological and psychological needs of the urban elderly.