Conference Paper: Motivation and Communicating Social Support in Education and Utilization of Computer Technologies among Older Adults

Jordan Soliz says:

In the initial part of the discussion section for the paper, “Motivation and Communicating Social Support in Education and Utilization of Computer Technologies among Older Adults,” Dong Zhuowen states, “This study argues that the pursuit of social support motivates older adults to learn computer technologies” (p. 19). I agree that this is one of the arguments in the paper and the rationale the author puts forth most explicitly. I thought the overall study and findings were interesting. In fact, I believe that the findings could be even more rich than currently presented. With the number of interviews and observations in the study, we could gain an even more in-depth understanding of individual experiences. Likewise, I would encourage the author to look to additional sources on supportive communication (e.g., Burleson, Goldsmith), general work on communication and aging (e.g., Handbook of Communication and Aging), and research on uses and gratifications theory to enhance the framing of the study and the interpretation of the findings. One indicator of an intriguing study is that it spawns some theoretical, conceptual, or methodological questions and this study did just that as I was reading it. In fact, I believe this study and the literature reviewed actually addresses a much larger issue that social support in the use of computer-mediated communication and technologies (CMCTs) among older adults. In an ever-increasing networked society, individuals become marginalized and disadvantaged if they are not active and knowledgeable in the latest technologies, social networking, and digital media. Many essays and books have addressed the arguments for and against the idea that these communication technologies have been beneficial for society so I will not spend time discussing these arguments. Whereas most of this discussion on marginalization has focused on digital divides based on SES, race/ethnicity, geographic region, largely ignored has been the older adult population. And, this is more than simply computer use—as you point out, its about technology and social networking (e.g., blogs, Facebook, Twitter) and the various associated devices (e.g., iPad). In other words, this article highlights an important social issue in that older adults, a group already viewed fairly negatively across many cultures, may become further marginalized with society’s increased expectations about familiarity and use of CMCTs. With that, I offer four general questions for which this paper served as a catalyst:

1. As with most research on aging populations, how do we investigate trends among a social group (in this case, older adults) but still caution against (over)generalizations of age groups and generational cohorts knowing that age groups are far from homogenous? Another way to think about this is: what differentiations those who embrace CMCT, those that reject them, and those that embrace yet struggle with incorporating these into their everyday life?

2. What is our responsibility as a society to work with individuals or develop programs for groups to make sure they are not disadvantaged by lack of familiarity and ability to use CMCTs? Do we have a responsibility to develop programs and offer government funding for such programs.

3. As discussed in this study, what are the instructional needs of older adults in learning how to incorporated CMCTs into their everyday lives? Once again, assuming that older adults are not homogenous, what differentiates these various instructional needs? Likewise, how is self-concept associated with becoming a student later in life? (I was especially struck by the “idiot” comment in one of the interviewee’s narratives).

4. I found it interesting that use of CMCT was used for both connection and differentiation for older adults. In other words, some indicated that they used it to connect (e.g., pictures from friends, emailing community volunteers, blogging and keeping up with family) whereas others used it for differentiation and independence (e.g., not having to rely on family members for assistance on various social tasks). In both of these cases, there seems to be a proactive motivation in that individuals seem to want to learn CMCT. Yet, there could also be a reluctant motivation in that many older adults may resist adopting CMCT yet believe they have to engage others, etc. In the latter group, CMCT are not looked at as convenient but rather inconvenient social changes. Your study seemed to capture the first group. What might a study (and findings) look like that captured this second group?