“I have had mobile and I have learned to use it on my own. “They send me photos, I read the news and I ask Google to play music,” says Asunción Pulido, 86 years old. Llorenç Guasch, 74, defends himself skillfully and Loli Hurtado, 92, still gets tangled, he admits, too often. Like all age groups, older people are an extremely heterogeneous group – also in their relationship with mobile phones – but the general feeling is that devices, appreciated insofar as they connect them with the world, They are not designed with them in mind.
“We’re not useless, but they exclude a lot of people. Sometimes you feel like you’re missing out.” leaving the sight. And I have acquaintances who find it difficult to use the touch screen because they begin to have pulse problems“explains Maria Martín, 71, who reports some incidents involving senior users. Often, she explains, they share photos or videos that they store and then cannot find. Or they get nervous if they don’t answer as quickly as they would like. . EITHER They click on suspicious links, when not directly dangerous ones. “I have had to deactivate my husband’s service from an operator that charged him 10 euros a month for having given a ‘like’ where he shouldn’t have,” María adds. Beyond that, last year scams targeting seniors – a large part of them online – increased by 78%.
More than 60% of people over 65 have a mobile phone, according to the INE
The relationship of the elderly with the mobile, from usability to its daily and emotional impact, it is a almost unknown territory for academic research, concentrated – one would almost say obsessively – on children and young people. Even so, there is beginning to be data and reflections on a device that use frequently more than 60% of people over 65 years of ageaccording to INE data.
“There is no doubt that phones are designed for young individuals who know how to navigate intuitively,” says Lucía Velasco, economist and author of the book ‘Is an algorithm going to replace you?’. “For older people, who generally see worse or begin to have less precision, everything is more complicated,” he adds. “If you go too simple with the device, you can’t do half of the things online. And, of course, many They feel desperation and frustration, and they come to think that they are no longer worth it.
“The design of the mobile phone excludes many people: sometimes you feel like you are losing your sight and there are those who have problems with their pulse and the touch screen”
From the association Som Seniors, Lourdes Charles Jaimejuan also questions the exclusionary biases in the design of mobile phones (which not only older people suffer), although he emphasizes that the experience of the group is much richer than all that bundle of clichés that refer to retirees hooked on the device , accidentally entering porn websites –“mom, what have you touched?” “I haven’t done anything, daughter, this has come out on my own” – and sending untimely messages – and double, triple or quadruple – to friends and family. “Smartphone problems are not exclusive to older people,” he reiterates.
The flat rate factor
Still, the challenge is there. “We have begun to see how older people receive a smartphone as a gift at Christmas,” he explains. Eugenia Madrid, responsible for the Greater People Unit of the Badalona City Council. “And they have I really want to access and use it, but there is a large group that does not know how to do it.” The city council has launched courses on smartphones for the elderly.
“The phones are developed with young individuals with intuitive navigation in mind”
Lucía Velasco, economist and author of ‘Is an algorithm going to replace you?’
In this sense, a study by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) published last year already denied that getting older implies using digital technologies less. In fact, a key factor is affordable rates. According to this report, carried out by researchers Miria Fernández-Ardèvol, Andrea Rosales and Francisca Morey Cortès, older people use mobile phones more in countries where prices are more accessible.
More stimulated and less isolated
“Knowing how to use a cell phone makes them more stimulated and less isolated”, says Eugenia Madrid. “With these courses we want them to realize that they can enjoy them, that they do not see them as a difficulty, but as an ally.” More of 120 people They have already signed up for the training offered in eight schools. Although there are different levels, they will start teaching you from the most basic, such as the buttons on the device or how to use various applications.
“Knowing how to use a cell phone increases their self-esteem and makes them more stimulated and less isolated”
Eugenia Madrid, head of the Greater People Unit of the Badalona City Council
“We are seeing that when people start to learn, they also increases your self-esteem”, he adds. However, not everyone can access these courses. “I wish there were classes in my residence,” he says. Polished Ascension, who travels in a wheelchair and lives with her husband in a residence. Thanks to the cell phone, she says, distracts, talk with friends and watch videos on YouTube. The phone’s font, which is at its maximum size, also allows you read the news. You would like to know how to do more things like use WhatsApp better or search for things on the internet. In her old residence, there was a woman who helped her, but in the one where she now lives, no one else has a telephone.
More complicated for women
“Me it doesn’t get into my head”, explains Loli Hurtado. His son gave her his old phone so he could communicate with the family. “If I can turn it on, I can call, but if they call me and I pick up, it is difficult for me to hang”. She, however, is eager to learn. Precisely older women are the group that usually has the greatest difficulty using the telephone. “Are doubly forgotten“Many were unable to have qualified jobs, and it is more difficult for them to access these technologies,” says the head of the Badalona Gran Gent Unit. However, they are also more proactive when signing up for classes.
“Among older people there are few cases of addiction because they consciously set more limits: young people have to try everything new, they don’t.”
Andrea Rosales, social researcher
There is no doubt that the diversity is great. There are older people who need more help and many others are autonomous. Llorenç GuaschFor example, he has had a telephone for more than two decades. “I use it to contact my daughter and family -Explain-. And how “I’m involved with pensioner movements, I also get messages and some things from Facebook,” he explains. He hasn’t had help from his family to learn. “I’ve been waking up alone,” she adds. Still, he is happy with what he can do, since it is what he needs.
WhatsApp, the star application
“Older people use mobile phones for the same things as everyone else,” he explains. Andrea Rosales, expert researcher in the analysis of digital records and focused on older people. “Those who did not know how to use it before, now they learn because they want to do the same as their acquaintances. Whatsapp, he claims, is the most used application.
Rosales has carried out various studies on technologies and older people. “There are many options to learn how to use the telephone. Some jump in headfirst, others need more help from family or civic centers. The main difference that has been found between the elderly and the young is that in the elderly they have “more critical sense”. “There are few cases of addiction to technology because they consciously set more limits. “Young people have to try everything new, they don’t.”
The danger of addiction
Related news
Despite being more cautious, older people can also fall into a excessive use of the telephone. The different applications and new ways of communicating can absorb your attention more than you expected, as your family members are also beginning to realize.
“Four years ago I gave him my old smartphone to my grandmother”, explains Naomi Díaz, 21 years old, “Facebook and Instagram were created, and she started going to cell phone classes.” From that moment on, the woman Got hooked completely. “She said that she had to practice and at every family gathering we saw her on her cell phone,” she explains. “Even the Christmas day“He spent hours looking at the screen and didn’t even talk to us,” he adds.