The use of the internet has considerably increased over recent years, and the importance of internet use has also grown as services have gone online. Sweden is largely an information society like other countries with high reported use amongst European countries. In line with digitalization development, society is also changing, and many activities and services today take place on the internet. This development could potentially lead to those older persons who do not use the internet or do not follow the development of services on the internet finding it difficult to take part in information and activities that no longer occur in the physical world. This has led to a digital divide between groups, where the older generations (60+), in particular, have been affected. In a large study of Sweden’s adult population in 2019, 95 percent of the overall population was said to be internet users, and the corresponding number for users over 66 years of age was 84%. This study shows that the numbers reported about older peoples’ internet use, most likely, are vastly overestimated and that real use is significantly lower, especially among the oldest age groups. We report that 62.4% of the study subjects are internet users and that this number most likely also is an overestimation. When looking at nonresponders to the questionnaire, we find that they display characteristics generally attributed to non-use, such as lower education, lower household economy, and lower cognitive functioning.

中文翻译：

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瑞典老年人对互联网的使用和不使用

近年来，互联网的使用已大大增加，并且随着服务联机，互联网使用的重要性也在增加。像其他国家一样，瑞典在很大程度上是一个信息社会，在欧洲国家中使用率很高。随着数字化发展，社会也在发生变化，当今许多活动和服务都在互联网上进行。这种发展可能会导致那些不使用互联网或不关注互联网服务发展的老年人发现难以参与现实世界中不再存在的信息和活动。这导致了群体之间的数字鸿沟，其中特别是老年人（60岁以上）受到了影响。在对瑞典2019年成年人口的一项大规模研究中，据说总人口的95％是互联网用户，而66岁以上的用户的相应数字是84％。这项研究表明，有关老年人互联网使用的报道数字极有可能被高估了，实际使用的数字则明显偏低，尤其是在年龄最大的年龄组中。我们报告说，有62.4％的研究对象是互联网用户，而且这个数字很可能也是高估了。当查看问卷的未答复者时，我们发现他们显示出通常归因于未使用的特征，例如较低的教育程度，较低的家庭经济和较低的认知功能。最有可能的是，它们被大大高估了，而实际使用量却大大降低，尤其是在最老的年龄组中。我们报告说，有62.4％的研究对象是互联网用户，而且这个数字很可能也是高估了。当查看问卷的未答复者时，我们发现他们显示出通常归因于未使用的特征，例如较低的教育程度，较低的家庭经济和较低的认知功能。最有可能的是，它们被大大高估了，而实际使用量却大大降低，尤其是在最老的年龄组中。我们报告说，有62.4％的研究对象是互联网用户，而且这个数字很可能也是高估了。当查看问卷的未答复者时，我们发现他们显示出通常归因于未使用的特征，例如较低的教育程度，较低的家庭经济和较低的认知功能。