Generational differences in informational technology use & political involvement

ABSTRACT

While Internet access steadily expands, the ability to take advantage of that increasing access hinges on information technology literacy (ITL) levels among citizens. Structural inequality is reproduced as social factors intersect with infrastructural barriers to IT access. The lack of access to and the desire to use IT among economically disadvantaged and aging citizens exacerbates their ability to function as citizens in a democratic society. Community members, particularly in certain more economically vulnerable groups, often lack basic skills and concepts required when navigating an expanding electronic interface with government. Information technology (IT) makes it easier for some citizens to participate in a democratic system; by the same token, it widens the gap between the haves and have-nots. Digital inequality is further compounded as the technology changes by leaps and bounds; existing skills become antiquated, and no ready path is available to acquire new skills. This study assesses the impact of generational and SES differences on IT literacy and political participation. Technological literacy, almost by its very definition, is evocative of generational differences in orientations to politics and of age-related differences in levels of political interest and political involvement, up to and including voting in elections at all levels. The theory that undergirds our research is redolent with generation gaps and evokes the notions of a younger "cyber generation" and an older generation for which Internet technology is somewhat episodic if not producing a mild case of technophobia. High school and college students who can program and Websurf circles around their parents provide a stereotype that often reflects reality.