Old age, digital technologies and the pandemic: on the (im)possibilities of connectedness amidst social isolation

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, research on the ways in which older people linked with and through digital technologies (DT) acquired an unusual urgency. Aiming to contribute to its understanding, this article analyses the TD appropriation processes of older women living in La Plata and Ensenada between 2020 and 2022. For this purpose, thirteen biographical interviews conducted with students of the Continuing Education Programme for Older Adults (PEPAM) of the FaHCE (UNLP) are examined. In particular, we delve into the analysis of two practices mediated by mobile phones and the Internet: the exchange of messages and video calls (mainly through WhatsApp) and the use of videoconferencing platforms for virtual classes.

The findings indicate that these appropriation processes should be interpreted in the light of pre-existing structural inequalities in the conditions of access and use of TD, as well as the age construction of "old age as risk" consolidated during the pandemic. Likewise, based on the recognition of complex and ambivalent constructions of meaning about TD, it can be seen that in the interviewees’ perspective, digitally mediated bonds were relevant to mitigate the impact of social isolation, but not sufficient.