Un’indagine sull’uso delle Ict tra gli over 50: considerazioni su nuovi fattori di disuguaglianza sociale e territoriale

Abstract

Ict use amongst the over-50s: a study of new aspects of social and regional inequalities The literature on the digital divide highlights the fact that the diffusion of Icts, and in particular the introduction of internet, has given rise to new dynamics in relation to the production and reproduction of social inequalities, based on a social division of access to the web and on different modes of accessing the web. Digital inequalities are associated to different degrees of exclusion from the use of Icts, in relation to the ability to access and exploit the new technologies, which depend on a range of variables, including age. As far as age is concerned, our research confirms the existence of an inverse relationship between age and levels and ability to use Icts. The article addresses the determinants of access and the ways Icts are used by adults, drawing on a telephone survey carried out in September 2006. The random sample consists of about 1,100 people aged between 50 and 70 living in the two Italian provinces of Naples and Bologna.