An examination of why there are so few seniors online, and why this needs to change. Also poses some suggestions for growing the digital literacy of seniors.

1. The Digital Divide
Between the
Young and Old
why there are so
few seniors
online, and why
this needs to
change
image by _Davo_
a digital flipbook by @EmilyMarushko

2. can old dogs really be taught
image by Omega Man
new digital tricks?

3. don’t
seniors
deserve
to retire in
peace?
image by girl-meets-art

4. image by Old Shoe Woman
is creating Internet literate seniors...
possible?
worth-
while?

5. seniors
are not immune
to our
increasingly
digitized world
Image by Joe Shlabotnik
Regardless of
their affinity
for technology,

6. image from Kingstonist.com, source 1
even
simple
tasks like finding
phone numbers
for local
businesses may
soon require
Web access

7. image by cavale, source 1
the assumption is that you’re online
When it comes to
government
programs, financial and
insurance
statements, health
information or discount
coupons...

8. image by Raumwahrnehmung, source 1

9. amongtheolderold,thoseover
77,onlyaboutathirdare
online
yet that’s the
cohort most likely
to become
isolatedby
physical
limitations, poor
transportation and
the loss of social
connections
Image by christopher_brown, source 1

10. image by My name’s axel, source 1
the group, in
other
words, who
might
particularly
benefit from
being able to
interact with the
world digitally
for everything
from banking and
ordering
groceries to e-
mailing faraway
friends

11. “education, income, age and location
were all linked with significant disparity
in people’s
digital competency”
image by Neighborhood Centers, source 2

12. for Canadians 55 and older, incomewas a more
important predictor of Internet proficiency
Image by macattck, source 2

13. image by GWSA, source 1
in 2000, only 13 percent of seniors were
online
last year...a majority (53
percent)...of people over
age 65 used the Internet
progress

14. image by GWSA, source 1
in 2000, only 13 percent of seniors were
online
last year...a majority (53
percent) of people over
age 65 used the Internet
progress...?
anemic number compared to the rest of the
adult population, more than 80 percent of
whom use the Internet
back in 2000, more than 40 percent of the
group just behind them, those aged 50 to
64, were online. Maybe, 13 years later, the
people online just got older
maybe we haven’t made as much progress as it appears

15. “seniors are the
ones who’ve
probably fallen
behind the
most, both in terms
of access and skill”
image by GWSA, source 2

16. image by zen, source 3
“the main reason
people “don’t go
online is because...
...they don’t
think the
Internet is
relevant to
them.”

17. image by Jordan Brock, source 3
“with messages that
get at the relevance
of the Internet, how
you can do
something, or do
something better that
you may already
do, by being online”
To get seniors
online, encoura
ge them...

18. image by Old Shoe Woman, source 1
“if a person is
open and interested
and there’s something on there
that’s worth the trouble — like
video of family members or the
ability to Skype with family
they can
learn to use a
computer or
a tablet”

19. “we can’t simply assume that access
equates with efficient or beneficial use of
the Internet... You need to combine
access with appropriate digital
literacy to really take advantage”
image by CSD’s Learning Division, source 2
crossing the
digital divide
demands a
multi-faceted
approach

20. image by dkuropatwa, source 1
“A number of programs have tried
to address this disparity, but they
tend to be small-scale and local”

21. “we want faster adoption. It’s
going to take big national
organizations with deep
pockets...
to undertake a
bigger, faster and more
effective effort than our
current piecemeal
approach”
image by jaygoldman, source 1

22. image by arnybo, source 1
“tablets are cheaper than most desktops and laptops”

23. image by Oldwoodchuck, source 1
Just within
2012...
among those over age 77, tablet
ownership...
jumped to 12 percent from
3 percent”

24. image by keoshi

25. but it will take a
large, conscious, and
organized effort to
achieve real progress
image by Andrew Olanoff

26. Images
Licensed under Creative Commons and
sourced from Flickr

27. Sources
1. Online Habits Coming Slowly to Older
Adults. By Paula Span. New York Times.
April 2013.
2. Digital Divide Persists in Canada, both in
Access and Internet Fluency. By Misty Harris.
Financial Post. 2013 March.
3. A Campaign to Help People Learn Internet
Skills. By Jane Levere. New York Times.
2013 March.