Competencies of choice. The acquisition of the digital by seniors

A vast body of research addresses the changes caused by digitalization. While many studies focus on children and the young, older people are still underrepresented in research. Yet, how seniors cope with technological change is of great importance. This paper addresses this issue from a media and communications view, asking about the role of media in older people’s life courses and their perception of the ongoing digitalization.

To answer these questions, qualitative semi-structured interviews in the form of media biography interviews were conducted with 21 seniors. This method allowed for researching the interviewees’ media uses against their biographical context. The findings show that conventional media (TV, newspapers, radio) still dominate the media repertoires of seniors. Digital media are also being increasingly used, with the smartphone being the dominant device. Yet, the effects of digitalization on seniors are ambivalent. While on the one hand, they feel overwhelmed by the complexity of applications; on the other hand, they also profit from their benefits. Thus, seniors need to acquire new competencies related to media use. However, as the study reveals, there are different ways to deal with the challenges of digitalization, ranging from learning from the young to playful experimentation.