“I DON’T KNOW A MAN WHO ISN’T KNEE-DEEP IN IT”: INTERSECTIONS OF AGE AND GENDER IN OLDER PEOPLE’S INTERNET USE

Abstract

Older people use the internet less than younger people, and older women less than older men (Office for National Statistics, 2014). This presentation examines intersections of age and gender in older people's internet use. The research perspective combines a focus on technology adoption in the tradition of domestication theory with the understanding of gender-technology relations developed in feminist technology studies, and research on ageing. Findings from a sociological study conducted in the North East of the UK, based on 33 semi-structured interviews with women and men between the ages of 55 and 80 about their computer and internet use are presented, demonstrating the significance of traditional age-gender-technology relations and the variety of outcomes of intersections between gender and age in older people's internet use.