Internet in the life of elderly people: intentions and realities
Grigoryeva I.A.
Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Prof. at the Department of Theory and Practice of Social Work at the Faculty of Sociology, St.-Petersburg University, St.-Petersburg, Russia. soc28@yand2ex.ru
Kelasev V.N.
St.-Petersburg State University, both – St.-Petersburg, Russia socialwork@yandex.ru
Grigoryeva I.A., Kelasev V.N. Internet in the life of elderly people: intentions and realities. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2016. No 11. P. 82-85
Modern society may be characterized by rapid numerical growth of the elderly people. This process presents the state and society with new challenges associated with transformation of a number of social institutions for the elderly. However, modern society sees in the older people economic ballast, people excluded from cultural trends due to lack of skills in the use of new information technologies. To overcome these previously unknown forms of social and age inequality, social policy reorientation is needed to support employment of elderly people and to overcome the digital division. Equally important is public opinion reorientation, aimed at public and elderly awareness of idea of self-respect and seeing in the elderly a social resource.