Ninth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

An unprecedented change taking place in the socioeconomic environment is aging. This phenomenon affects Poland, where demographic transition is probably the country’s most important long-term development challenge. Aging also has a variety of consequences for the public finance system, the labor market, care and health services, and the condition of civil society. At the same time, it is attracting increasing attention from the media landscape, policymakers, and interdisciplinary researchers. The elderly are a treasure trove of knowledge, playing important roles in families, organizations, and local societies. When describing the elderly and technology, two categories emerge. One relates to ICT technologies that target the broader population; the other concerns assistive technologies aimed at people with special needs (e.g., hearing loss and mobility difficulties). Both categories may result in the partial exclusion of the elderly and the widening of inequalities, as the digital divide, or the “gray divide,” affects seniors. Technology can further threaten social development, particularly in conjunction with the participatory potential of e-learning, e-government, e-elections, the e-economy, and the sharing economy. Digital exclusion affects the pervasiveness of e-banking, e-purchasing, and e-health. The elderly are important media consumers. Therefore, it is important to diagnose the sources and channels through which Polish seniors acquire information in their daily lives. It influences the consumption of certain goods and services (i.e., the silver economy), their perceptions of sustainability issues, and their knowledge of other relevant issues, such as climate change, alternative medicine, vaccines, global armed conflicts, energy security, and artificial intelligence.