Abstract
We examine the media use in social relationship management of a group of highly educated and socially connected older adults aged 65+ in Switzerland. Based on a framework taking into account life-span theories of ageing and environmental factors we see older adults as active agents, shaping their social relationships in a polymedia environment. Drawing on empirical data we find that considering timing, content, etiquette and comfort guided our informants' choices according to situation and communication partner. It becomes clear that older adults consider their temporal and emotional resources in their interaction with others, in line with established life-span theories of ageing. WhatsApp has an especially positive and empowering significance, allowing spontaneous and easy communication of joyful messages between communication partners. The article contributes to research that combines established life-span perspectives on ageing with current environmental theories and provides evidence, that the needs, motivations and goals of older adults, as suggested by the socio-emotional selectivity theory and strategies used to reach these goals, as stated by the selection, optimization and compensation framework, remain unchanged in technologically shaped environments.
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Notes
- 1.
The study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, in a call addressing digital transformations in society. The participants were recruited through organisations for older adults and the institute’s network. Sociodemographic data were recorded prior to the interview to ensure a homogenous sample regarding age and gender [10].
- 2.
The interviews were anonymized and transcribed and are accessible at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3753978.
- 3.
The types were: diverse-supported, family focused, friend focused-supported, friend focused-unsupported, restricted-nonfriends, unsatisfied, restricted-nonfamily-unsupported. They are based on data from the Berlin Aging Study, where the authors identified six network types for older adults, taking into account structure, function and quality of social networks.
- 4.
Quotations have been translated from Swiss-German to English by the authors. The original transcripts in High-German are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3753978.
- 5.
All names of the interviewed persons have been altered by the authors.
- 6.
Depending on the way of use, WhatsApp can be seen as an asynchronous or synchronous communication channel.
- 7.
These correspond to the 2nd and 3rd circles of their network maps.
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Braunwalder, R., Reiner, J., Pauli, C., Hämmerle, V., Misoch, S. (2021). Older Adults’ Use of Whatsapp in a Polymedia Environment: Managing Timing, Content, Form and Practicality. In: Ziefle, M., Guldemond, N., Maciaszek, L.A. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health. ICT4AWE 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1387. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70807-8_4
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