40-talister och internetanvändande : En kvalitativ studie om icke-användande av internet bland seniorer födda på 1940-talet

Sammanfattning: There’s been a rise of internet usage amongst every demographic group in Sweden the last 20 years. To use internet means that you’re a part of the information society and to be a part of the informatin society means that you’re a part of the democratic society. Even though more people use internet there are still those who does not use it. Within the group senior citizens we can also see a steady rise of internet usage. If we split the group senior citizens into a broader group, one can distinguish people born in the 1940’s as one of the most frequent users of internet. However, within the group there are still individuals who choose not to use internet. The purpose of this study is to help understand the concept of digital divides. Our aim was to do this through applying five different forms of capital: economic, cultural, social, technical and symbolic. With this theoretical framework we want to answer the following the following main question as well as try to answer a more descriptive research question without the use of the theoretical framework. – How can we understand a non-usage of internet through these five forms of capital? – How does individuals born in the 1940’s reason around their non-usage of internet? To answer these questions we did six qualitative interviews with people born in the 1940’s who don’t use internet. The results from the interviews have been analyzed with the previously mentioned capital forms. The result showed that all capital forms have in one way or another helped us understand a non-usage, though some capitals weighed more than others. Overall, the studie gave a greater understanding on how people born in the 1940s reason around their non-usage.