Abstract

This paper studies the adoption of the new media by senior citizens, currently a more and more numerous and varied target group for Icts. The research focuses more specifically on the attitudes to and motivations for the use of digital technologies, with particular reference to the relational context involved. While the research findings highlight some specific uses of Icts by seniors to improve their everyday lives, they also show that older adults still have only very basic levels of usage skills in this field and confine themselves to a limited number of digital applications and services. We have found that seniors are in fact largely unaware of the potential benefits of adopting the new media in particular for their age group. Lastly, the study has identified the key role of age peers in fostering the adoption of Icts by older people.