Silver surfers – safety first

Last week’s Ofcom report ‘Adults’ media use and attitudes’ shows that a quarter of over 75s are now using tablet computers and nearly half (48%) of internet users aged 65-74 have a social media profile.

This is fantastic news – more people in later life than ever before are getting online and increasingly using tablet and smartphone technology to connect with the digital world.

It’s not difficult to believe. I recently spent an afternoon at a digital skills session run by a local online centre. When I arrived spot-on 2pm for the start of the session the computer room was already full and the learners (all of whom were older) were in full swing.

I managed to grab some time with a few learners to find out a bit more about why they were here and what made them want to get online.

One learner, Fay* told me how she has started to become reliant on her children to do many tasks, as more and more services moved online. Security was a huge concern for Fay, it was her absolute priority. ‘Question everything’ she told me. The class was a place of safety for her to build confidence and try out new things. She’s working up to doing her first online shop, something she felt equal excitement and trepidation about.

Another learner Tim* told me how he’d been using a computer to send emails for years but felt he couldn’t keep up with the pace of the change ‘in the internet’. So, he came to class to learn more. However, when I asked what else he’d like to do he wasn’t sure. All he could tell me was that he would never do online banking. Again, a lack of confidence and security concerns were his main barriers.

These stories echo some of the other key findings in Ofcom’s report. Whilst older adults are more connected than ever, they still tend to have a more limited and cautious use of the internet. Perhaps most notably, over 65s report the lowest level of confidence in using the internet with 20% of 65-74 year olds and 23% of over 75s reporting they were ‘not confident’ (compared to 7% for all internet users). The report also highlighted that older adults are less likely to employ various safety measures and checks online.

As Fay and Tom demonstrate, safety concerns and low confidence can be significant barriers. And you can see why. At the end of the session as I tried to upload some notes from my tablet using the library Wi-Fi, I received this warning:

Whilst it’s a clear and valid warning, you can see how that would be enough to put anyone off using the internet.

If we want to support people in later life to get online and really unlock the full potential of the internet, we need to listen to their concerns and priorities, and ensure that they can navigate the internet confidently and safely.

Through our research project with Good Things Foundation we are talking to people in later life to understand the ways that they want to use the internet and the barriers they face. We then want to identify promising approaches – starting offline and responding to their needs and concerns – to help more people in later life access the information, advice and services that they want and need from the internet.

* Real names have not been used