The Elderly and The Internet

Can the elderly and the Internet 'get along'. My initial impression, was no, no they can't. Once a month my grandmother rings me and tells me she'd like some help with her research. My grandmother is a City & Guilds bead worker and by research, she means she wants to go online and use the Internet to try to find new bead work patterns. My grandmother does not have a computer, so comes to my house to use mine. My grandmother cannot use the Internet, so comes to my house when I'm there so I can use it for her. She does this once a month because her bead work magazine has a website and as a subscriber she can access 'hidden' patterns.

I don't look forward to this time of the month.

I enjoy seeing my grandmother, but I don't enjoy teaching her the same 'skills' anew each time. She tries hard, and acts like the understands and is interested in what I've shown her. By next month however, she has forgotten all I've shown her and insists I show her again.

I was of the opinion that all elderly people had this phobia of the Internet, coupled with the inability to learn.

The Internet Journal of Health defines this phobia as 'computer anxiety' and conducted a study on the elderly and computer usage. They reported that 39% of the elderly (over 65) participants in the study experienced computer anxiety before the study. Only 59% were confident they'd be able to find information on the Internet. During the study, they taught the elderly to use the Internet and computers more effectively. By the end, only 20% of the participants feared the computer, and 80% were confident they could find information on the Internet.

I had assumed that most people over a certain age were unable to use the Internet.

On YouTube, there's a self-proclaimed 'Oldest Man on YouTube', posting at the age of 82. He uses YouTube to post theories, jokes, rants and stories.

There's a 68 year old blogger, calling himself 'Big John', who uses the Internet as a space to 'express himself' and 'rant' for lack of a better word.

However, EarthLink compiled a report on Internet Usage Statistics and state that 79% of people of 65 say they will never use the Internet. It also states that only 4% of people of 65 use the Internet on a regular basis.