Abstract:

For aging adults, productive interaction with digital technologies can diminish with age and accelerate through retirement. Though seniors increasingly rely on digital access for routine transactions, especially in the areas of health care, banking, and travel, separation from workforce rigors can reduce the intensity of online engagement and shrink exposure to new platforms. Worrisomely for marginal users, the proliferation of technology can add learning barriers due to the pace of electronic development. Individuals who do not frequently use technology have less opportunity to practice for competency and retention. New platforms regularly emerge and dominate. Older individuals can rapidly lose digital fluency and flexibility. One can quickly become dated.

This research project takes an entry look at the challenges facing seniors who lack status as digital natives. The data set is limited with 38 participants yet remains a relevant addition to queries about the impact of digital technology. The traditional communication model, such as the one originated by Wilber Schramm in the 1950s, sets a linear process of information exchange. Our study approaches the question: Has technology altered the traditional linear communication model as it applies to Baby Boomers? The foundation for this inquiry originated from an ongoing service project conducted by the Black Hills State University Enactus business competition team. Members periodically stage Tech for Retirees workshops to assist older citizens with technology challenges. The research team gathered data via both online surveys and face-to-face interviews. Project outcomes to date show that Baby Boomers have modified their communication outlook in such a way that they are recasting well-known communication formulas.

The Tech for Retirees workshops had filled with attendees until the confounding COVID-19 disruption to the study, which reduced our data pool access yet confirmed the morphing nature of the traditional communication model. With the pandemic a factor, the usual in-person workshops had to be staged via telephone and Zoom. These delivery challenges served to confirm the potential isolation for seniors operating outside the digital mainstream. Participant comments reveal that perceptions of competency can erode as new devices demand adjusted skills. Apprehension about steep learning curves can discourage engagement.

Our study has illuminated adjustments that might be made in the traditional communication model to reach and assist more seniors as they seek mastery within digital communication.

Keywords:

Social media, communication models, online technology barriers, Baby Boomer digital challenges.