The Digital Divide Is Aging: An Intergenerational Investigation of Social Media Engagement in China

Yuqiong Zhou, Tao He () and Feng Lin
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Yuqiong Zhou: School of Media and Communication, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Tao He: Depart of Educational Technology, College of Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Feng Lin: School of Media and Communication, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: The aging-based digital divide has gained increased research attention in recent years. This research focused on two important aspects of the aging society, the digital divide and the intergenerational differences, with regard to social media usage in China. The data were collected through a household interview, using a nationally representative sample (n= 3790) from 58 cities in mainland China. The present study investigated the association between differentiated social media usage with demographic characteristics, social economic status, physical and mental health, and social media perceptions. The results show a significant digital divide and generational differences. The existing socio-economic inequalities and demographic variance largely explained older adults’ social media access and diversity of social media engagement. Social media perceptions play more essential roles in the intensity of social media engagement for each generation group. This study contributes a better understanding of the manner in which different factors are associated with different generations’ social media engagement. A discussion is included regarding the necessity to close the aging-based digital gap in order to cope with the issue of rapid aging.

Keywords: digital divide; grey digital divide; older adults; generational differences; social media; WeChat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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