ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to shed light on the relationship between ageism and digital technology, adopting a mutual shaping of technology and society perspective. We focus on three different but interrelated dimensions: (active) ageing as a social construction, ageism within the design process and ageism at the symbolic level. The relationship between older adults and digital technology can be read through the lens of the active ageing debate, as the construction of older adults as technology users, is problematically related to who they are. Considering the design process, each technological device contains a representation of the so-called “ideal user”, which is often characterised as young, white and male. At the symbolic level, we pay special attention to the stereotypical representation of older adults that can be found in users' narrations of the “appropriate” way to use digital tools. In the interrelations of these dimensions, important aspects of culture and power relations emerge. Indeed, studying older adults' stereotyping related to digital practices, in the context of uneven power relations, could potentially shed light on, at a broader level, how stereotyping and self-stereotyping work in Western societies.
