Social Networks and the Spread of Information and Communications Technology Consumption

Some Insights from "Young Retired People"
By Vincent Caradec, Michael Eve
English

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THE DIFFUSION OF ICT' CONSUMPTION Some insights from "young retired people"

The article discusses diffusion of new communication technology among retired people, a group often supposed to have "resistance" to technical innovations. The first part focuses on the part played in diffusion by generations within a family. It analyses the flow of information between the generations (concluding that there are limits to this flow); the way in which meaning is constructed via the relationship to children and grandchildren; and the role of presents from children in initiating retired people to new technological goods. The second part of the article argues that the complexity of the concept of "useful" - so central in studies of adoption of new goods - has been underestimated. Material from interviews with retired people shows that usefulness rarely corresponds simply to ergonomic criteria of saving time or effort, but is a more social process of valorization. Some examples are given of how such valorization occurs.

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