Integration of Compulsory Needs:The Digital Socialization and Hidden Inequality of Silver-Haired Internet Surfers
As a group of elderly people who seem to be more adaptable to the digital society,it is worth further exploring whether there is still inequality among silver-haired surfers on the path from accessing the Internet to integrating into the digital society in the context of digital socialization.Through qualitative research on the daily digital practices of silver-haired Internet surfers,this article finds that the hidden inequality in the digital media access process comes from their latecomer disadvantage in three key nodes:infrastructure ownership,behavioral motivation catalysis,and knowledge system construction.In the daily practice of integrating into the digital society among silver-haired surfers,inequality is reflected in the contradictions and paradoxes that exist at three levels:digital menu selection,social role imagination,and relationship network construction.Therefore,it can be considered that the digital socialization of elderly people,belonging to a kind of rigid integration,is necessary in daily practice,basic in the degree of implementation,and mandatory in the information environment.This kind of compulsory needs can be a reflection of the hidden inequality and discrimination that the elderly population is facing in the digital society.
elderly peoplesilver-haired Internet surfersdigital socializationintegration of compulsory needshidden inequality
万方数据
维普
