The dual impact of online communication on older adults' social connectivity

Purpose – In today’s aging world online communication is often viewed as a means to enhance social connectivity, and therefore well-being, of older adults. However, previous research on the influence of online communication on social connectivity largely disregards older adults, yields conflicting results and fails to assess the – debatable − causal direction of relationship. The purpose of this paper is to overcome these issues by developing four hypotheses related to who uses what, how, with whom. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a panel data study to test the hypotheses, including 302 older adults. Response rates are between 62 and 75 percent. Findings – The authors find, first, that older adults differentiate between social connectivity with other village members, i.e., village connectivity, and connectivity with friends. Second, the impact of online communication varies among these two types of social connectivity. Where e-mail use has a negative impact on village connectivity, it does n...

[1]  Peter Nijkamp,et al.  The Death of Distance Revisited: Cyber‐Place, Physical and Relational Proximities , 2012 .

[2]  J. Witte,et al.  The Internet and social inequalities in the U.S. , 2013 .

[3]  C. Meijer,et al.  The effect of population aging on health expenditure growth: a critical review , 2013, European Journal of Ageing.

[4]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  Online Social Network Sites and the Concept of Social Capital , 2013 .

[5]  L. Kulik,et al.  Older adults as digital content producers , 2013, CHI.

[6]  Eveline Hage,et al.  Implementation factors and their effect on e-Health service adoption in rural communities: a systematic literature review , 2013, BMC Health Services Research.

[7]  Wenhong Chen,et al.  The Implications of Social Capital for the Digital Divides in America , 2013, Inf. Soc..

[8]  Mila Kingsbury,et al.  Friendship: An old concept with a new meaning? , 2013, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[9]  Petter Bae Brandtzæg,et al.  Social Networking Sites: Their Users and Social Implications - A Longitudinal Study , 2012, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[10]  Barry Wellman,et al.  Geography of Twitter networks , 2012, Soc. Networks.

[11]  H. Park.  Does Internet Use Crowd Out Face-To-Face Ties? : Empirical Evidence from the Cumulative General Social Survey Data , 2011 .

[12]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Social capital on facebook: differentiating uses and users , 2011, CHI.

[13]  Bartosz Przywara,et al.  Projecting Future Health Care Expenditure at European Level: Drivers, Methodology and Main Results , 2011 .

[14]  Debra Lauterbach,et al.  It's not that i don't have problems, i'm just not putting them on facebook: challenges and opportunities in using online social networks for health , 2011, CSCW.

[15]  Keith N. Hampton,et al.  How new media affords network diversity: Direct and mediated access to social capital through participation in local social settings , 2011, New Media Soc..

[16]  Lee B. Erickson.  Social media, social capital, and seniors: The impact of Facebook on bonding and bridging social capital of individuals over 65 , 2011, AMCIS.

[17]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  Causality: the elephant in the room in information systems epistemology , 2011, ECIS.

[18]  Marjolein van Offenbeek,et al.  Towards consistent modes of e‐health implementation: structurational analysis of a telecare programme's limited success , 2010, Inf. Syst. J..

[19]  Michael R. Ward.  Learning to Surf: Spillovers in the Adoption of the Internet , 2010 .

[20]  Milena M. Head,et al.  Computer use by older adults: A multi-disciplinary review , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[21]  L. Hawkley,et al.  Loneliness Matters: A Theoretical and Empirical Review of Consequences and Mechanisms , 2010, Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

[22]  Timothy B. Smith,et al.  Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review , 2010, PLoS medicine.

[23]  Cameron Marlow,et al.  Social network activity and social well-being , 2010, CHI.

[24]  Danah Boyd,et al.  Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[25]  Ben Pelzer,et al.  Consequences of media and Internet use for offline and online network capital and well-being. A causal model approach , 2009, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[26]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  Research Note - Social Interactions and the "Digital Divide": Explaining Variations in Internet Use , 2009, Inf. Syst. Res..

[27]  P. Valkenburg,et al.  The Effects of Instant Messaging on the Quality of Adolescents’ Existing Friendships: A Longitudinal Study , 2009 .

[28]  N. Ellison,et al.  Social capital, self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis , 2008 .

[29]  Bo Xie,et al.  Multimodal Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Support among Older Chinese Internet Users , 2008, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[30]  Tetsurou Kobayashi,et al.  Causal relationship between Internet use and social capital in Japan , 2008 .

[31]  Wanda J. Orlikowski,et al.  Using Technology and Constituting Structures: A Practice Lens for Studying Technology in Organizations , 2000, Theory in CSCW.

[32]  Keith N. Hampton.  Neighborhoods in the Network Society the e-Neighbors study , 2007 .

[33]  A. Barak,et al.  Promoting older adults’ well-being through Internet training and use , 2007, Aging & mental health.

[34]  Ronald E. Rice,et al.  Configurations of Relationships in Different Media: FtF, Email, Instant Messenger, Mobile Phone, and SMS , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[35]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  The Benefits of Facebook "Friends: " Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[36]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  A face(book) in the crowd: social Searching vs. social browsing , 2006, CSCW '06.

[37]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  The Nature of Theory in Information Systems , 2006, MIS Q..

[38]  Peter Gregor,et al.  Computer use has no demonstrated impact on the well-being of older adults , 2006, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[39]  N. Charness,et al.  Factors Predicting the Use of Technology: Findings From the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) , 2006 .

[40]  Shanyang Zhao,et al.  Do Internet Users Have More Social Ties? A Call for Differentiated Analyses of Internet Use , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[41]  Christian Stegbauer,et al.  Is the digital divide between young and elderly people increasing? , 2005, First Monday.

[42]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  Social Interactions and the 'Digital Divide': Explaining Regional Variations in Internet Use , 2005 .

[43]  E. Saunders,et al.  MAXIMIZING COMPUTER USE AMONG THE ELDERLY IN RURAL SENIOR CENTERS , 2004 .

[44]  K. Warner,et al.  The lifetime distribution of health care costs. , 2004, Health services research.

[45]  Jonathon N. Cummings,et al.  Internet Paradox Revisited , 2002 .

[46]  N. Nie.  Sociability, Interpersonal Relations, and the Internet , 2001 .

[47]  John P. Robinson,et al.  Social Implications of the Internet , 2001 .

[48]  Robert D. Putnam,et al.  Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community , 2000, CSCW '00.

[49]  L. Berkman,et al.  From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. , 2000, Social science & medicine.

[50]  V. Venkatesh,et al.  AGE DIFFERENCES IN TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION DECISIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE , 2000 .

[51]  Christopher B. Mayhorn,et al.  A Survey of World Wide Web Use in Middle-Aged and Older Adults , 2000, Hum. Factors.

[52]  Pamela F. Wendt,et al.  Silver surfers: Training and evaluating internet use among older adult learners , 1999 .

[53]  L W Poon,et al.  A model of loneliness in older adults. , 1999, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[54]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Internet paradox. A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? , 1998, The American psychologist.

[55]  James E. Katz,et al.  Motivations for and barriers to Internet usage: results of a national public opinion survey , 1997, Internet Res..

[56]  Andrew B. Whinston,et al.  Discovery and Representation of Causal Relationships in MIS Research: A Methodological Framework , 1997, MIS Q..

[57]  S. Saxena,et al.  The World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL): position paper from the World Health Organization. , 1995, Social science & medicine.

[58]  M. Markus.  Electronic Mail as the Medium of Managerial Choice , 1994 .

[59]  Michael Lynn James,et al.  An exploratory study of the perceived benefits of electronic bulletin board use and their impact on other communication activities , 1992 .

[60]  S. Barley.  The alignment of technology and structure through roles and networks. , 1990, Administrative science quarterly.

[61]  C. Steinfield,et al.  A Social Influence Model of Technology use , 1990 .

[62]  M. Markus,et al.  Information technology and organizational change: causal structure in theory and research , 1988 .

[63]  J. Stevens,et al.  Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences , 1993 .

[64]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design , 1986 .

[65]  S. Barley.  Technology as an occasion for structuring: evidence from observations of CT scanners and the social order of radiology departments. , 1986, Administrative science quarterly.

[66]  R. Daft,et al.  Information Richness. A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organization Design , 1983 .

[67]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[68]  R. Cattell.  The Scree Test For The Number Of Factors. , 1966, Multivariate behavioral research.

[69]  L. Festinger.  Informal social communication. , 1950, Psychological review.