Bárbara Barbosa Neves|Jaime R. S. Fonseca|Fausto Amaro|Adriano Pasqualotti
Social capital and Internet use in an age-comparative perspective with a focus on later life
University of Melbourne|Instituto Superior de Educação e Ciências|University of Lisbon|Instituto Superior de Educação e Ciências|University of Lisbon|Universidade de Passo Fundo
older adults aged 65 still less likely adopt internet compared age groups although usage increasing explore societal effects internet usage scholars using social capital analytical tool social capital pertains resources potentially available ones social ties internet becomes prominent source information communication participation industrialized countries critical study affects social resources agecomparative perspective research found positive association internet use social capital though limited attention paid older adults studies also found positive association social capital wellbeing health sociability social support amongst older adults however little known internet usage lack thereof relates social capital address gap used mixedmethods approach examine relationship internet usage social capital whether differs age surveyed representative sample 417 adults 18 living lisbon portugal 118 older adults social capital measured bonding bridging specific resources analyzed latent class modeling logistic regressions internet usage measured frequency type use fourteen followup semistructured interviews helped contextualize survey data findings show social capital decreased age varied type internet user older adults less likely high level social capital yet within age group frequent internet users higher levels users nonusers one hand internet seems help maintain accrue even mobilize social capital hand also seems reinforce social inequality accumulated advantage known matthew effect