Bianca Christin Reisdorf

Age-related digital inequalities have been one of the key aspects to understand and enable better ageing in the digitalized world. Although there is a large body of literature on direct forms and determinants of digital engagement among older internet users and non-users, only a few studies have focused on determinants of indirect internet uses among older non-users. To address this gap, this study investigates how the unequal distribution of resources among older non-users affects the availability and activation of supportive relationships, which enable them to ask other internet users to perform internet activities on their behalf—a practice known as use-by-proxy (UBP). Drawing on van Dijk’s (2005) resources and appropriation theory, we build a conceptual model with seven hypotheses. These hypotheses specify sequential pathways between categorical inequalities and differences in social and material resources as determinants of the heterogeneity of UBP availability and activation of networks. In turn, availability and activation affect the breadth of UBP engagement among older non-users. The model is tested on a representative survey sample of 241 respondents aged 65+ from Slovenia. Results from path analysis partly support the model and demonstrate the importance of investigating the sequential paths between social and age-related digital inequalities with respect to indirect forms of internet uses. The results also suggest that interventions aimed at supporting older non-users in their access to online services can be targeted at different levels, from addressing categorical and resource inequalities to providing UBP services.

Digital inequalities have been exacerbated for many marginalized populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is no different for one of the most marginalized populations in the United States, incarcerated people. Due to the pandemic, in-person visitations as well as educational and vocational programming were, and in many cases remain, suspended across numerous correctional facilities, leaving incarcerated people even more socially isolated than before the pandemic. Although an increasing number of facilities provide prison tablets for entertainment and communication purposes, high prices for electronic messages, video visitations, books, and entertainment content leave incarcerated people and their families unable to pay for these services. As best practice examples from California, Maine, New York City, and Pennsylvania demonstrate, connecting prisons to the internet and allowing incarcerated people secure access to the internet is possible, and long overdue. The pandemic has highlighted these issues and provides an opportunity to overhaul outdated ideas about prison communication.

During the COVID-19 pandemic information about the transmission of the virus came out slowly and recommended practices changed over time. This made communication media, like the Internet, especially important. Few prior studies have considered how digital inequalities influence information flows. Building on three research streams – vaccine hesitancy, information-seeking, and digital inequalities – we examine how digital inequalities, health media, and mass media affect COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Using representative survey data of US Internet users, our structural equation model demonstrates the importance of digital inequalities and media use for vaccine hesitancy. Digital inclusion plays an important role in public health. It leads to increased health information-seeking, which reduces vaccine hesitancy. Our model presents evidence supporting a comprehensive policy approach to vaccine hesitancy beyond factors like socio-demographics and prior health beliefs to include broader factors like digital equity measures and sources of health information. Where and how people find information on public health issues seems to be as important as demographics.