Indian Journal of Gerontology
Year : 2021, Volume : 35, Issue : 4
First page : ( 556) Last page : ( 568)
Print ISSN : 0971-4189.

The digital-elderly: Conceptualizing ageing in the digital era-2030-2100

Vishal M.V.

Division of Medical Social Work Sree Chitra TirunalInstitute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum-695011 (Kerala)

Online Published on 16 September, 2022.

Abstract

This paper conceptualises ageing of the digital-era youngpopulation into the digital-elderly population expected to emerge from 2030 AD. The term “digital-elderly” denotes the sixty and above-aged population, who had exposure to digital technologies in their early life stages and are enjoying digital life in their elderly hood. The paper projects approximately 7.4 million digital youth will become digital elderly by 2030 AD, 1.4 billion by 2040, 2 billion by 2050, 2.3 billion by 2060, and 3.1 billion by 2,100 respectively. The Digital elderly might be a distinct demographic phenomenon having potential advantages over their predecessors of having active digital-engagement avenues. It is expected that digital engagement could be the determining factor of the quality of life of the digital elderly in the digital era. And digital disengagement might be a major concern at the advanced stages of the digital elderly hood due to bio-psycho-social and economic issues. The paper concludes that the upcoming digital-elderly population will transform the present social order of older adulthood by being a distinct socio-political entity in the upcoming constantly evolving information society.

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Keywords

Ageing, Digital Era, Digital Youth, Digital-elderly, Digital Life, Digital-dependency, Digital-Engagement, And Digital-Disengagement.

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